I love a creamy no-bake cheesecake, especially one with fruit! The tartness of the apricot matches perfectly with the richness of the cream cheese. Not to mention the delicious white chocolate and vanilla truffles it is decorated with which add a crunch to the smooth cheesecake. Furthermore this is a dessert which looks easily impressive, making it perfect for occasions! And I have to say it must be delicious as it always seems to disappear so quickly whenever I make it, which is why you should totally make it!
For recipe see bottom of page.
I would recommend using a spring form pan for this cake as it makes it much easier to remove. Likewise I generally also line both the sides and the bottom of the pan to make it even easier to remove. After all there's no worse feeling than spending a long time making a delicious cake and it not looking every bit as good as it tastes!
In this recipe I used tinned apricots in juice (simply because I prefer them in juice), but I imagine you could use them in syrup if you prefer. I imagine you could also use fresh apricots I used about 18 halves in the cheesecake and 4 for the top. So you could quarter about 11 fresh apricots and use these instead of the tinned apricots. This might give an exciting freshness to the cheesecake, especially for those who grow their own!
For the apricot jam I like to use one with bits (I just used the Tesco Apricot Jam), this adds smaller bits of apricot to the cheesecake which in my opinion gives a more satisfying texture as you get smaller bits of apricot throughout the cheesecake as well as the quarters. Obviously a jelly could be used for the top as you sift out the bits.
To make sure the cheesecake mixture is smooth you want to make sure the chocolate does not set immediately when you mix it (it will have tiny lumps of white chocolate in it). The best way to do this is to get your cream cheese to room temperature before you start and allow the chocolate to cool until you can comfortably touch it with your hands.
Also add a little bit of the melted chocolate at first and mix it in then test it, if it isn't incorporating to form a smooth mix you can wait a bit longer till the chocolate and cream cheese mix are a more similar temperature. Remember you don't ever need to add your ingredients all at once! Sometimes a bit of patience can make a big difference to the outcome in baking.
So I hope you enjoy this recipe, if you have any questions about quantities or technique, just pop it in the comments. Also even if you don't fancy the cheesecake I would highly recommend the truffle recipe on its own, they have been receiving excellent reviews all round! Also if you do decide to make this please let me know, there is no better feeling than knowing someone else thought your recipe looked good enough to try!
Happy Baking! (and I know I said I would post an apple crumble cake recipe its coming soon I promise!! took rather a bit more fine tuning than some!)
Recipe
Ingredients:
Cheesecake:
600g Full Fat Cream Cheese
300ml Double Cream
200g White Chocolate
1 tin Apricot Halves in Juice
75g Icing Sugar
225g Apricot Jam
1tsp Vanilla Bean Paste
200g Digestive Biscuits
100g Butter
White Chocolate and Vanilla Truffles (makes 25):
200g White Chocolate (for melting)
100g Chopped White Chocolate (for rolling)
15g Butter
50g Double Cream
1/2tsp Vanilla Bean Paste
Other Decoration:
120g Apricot Jam
Small Handful Finely Chopped White Chocolate
Instructions:
Cheesecake:
Line a deep 20cm springform pan with grease proof paper.
Blitz the biscuits till they resemble a general fine crumb but with some slightly larger bits left for texture.
Melt the butter and then mix it with the biscuits. Tip the mixture into the pan and press it down with the bottom of a glass until there is an even compressed layer covering the base of the pan. Pop the base in the fridge to chill.
Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of boiling water. When smooth set aside to cool.
Sift the icing sugar into a bowl, then add the cream cheese and vanilla bean paste. Whisk with an electric whisk until smooth. Leave out of the fridge (to prevent the chocolate setting immediately when you add it).
Open the tin of apricot halves, set aside 4 of the most attractive ones for decoration and put in the fridge for later. Halve the rest of them to make apricot quarters.
Gradually add the cooled chocolate to the cream cheese mix whisking as you add it, it should incorporate to form a smooth texture.
Then add the double cream and whisk until the mixture is thick and holds its shape (this can take a few minutes even with an electric whisk).
Fold the jam into the cream cheese mixture until it is well combined. Then fold in the apricot quarters.
Get the tin with the biscuit base out of the fridge and pour the cream cheese mix over it, making sure to push it into the edges and smoothing the top with the back of a spoon.
Refrigerate overnight to set the cheesecake.
Decoration:
First prepare the truffles: Finely chop up the chocolate for melting and place it in a bowl. Then add the cream, butter and vanilla bean paste to a saucepan and heat gently until just before it starts boiling (take it off the heat when bubbles start appearing, the butter should be melted) and pour it over the chocolate. Leave to allow the chocolate to melt (if it doesn't all melt transfer it to a heatproof bowl and heat over a pan of boiling water until the mixture is smooth).
Place the truffle mixture in the fridge for 30mins to an hour to thicken.
After the truffle mix has thickened weigh out 10g truffles and shape them with your hands into balls (do this quickly to prevent them becoming melty!) then roll them in the chopped white chocolate. Place them in the fridge to set.
Mix the apricot jam with 10ml of boiling water with a whisk until pourable. Then push through a sieve so you get a smooth apricot sauce.
Quarter the 4 apricot halves you reserved earlier.
Drizzle this around the sides of the cheesecake, with drips down the side.
Arrange 8 truffles equally spaced around the circumference of the cheesecake, then place an apricot quarter next to each.
Sprinkle the finely chopped white chocolate around the circumference of the cheesecake.
Enjoy!
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