Mini egg cheesecake

This mini egg cheesecake is a showstopper with a thick and buttery biscuit base and a creamy, velvety smooth, tangy cheesecake topping. Crushed mini eggs and broken Easter egg milk chocolate is generously mixed through the base and piled on top.

Time to make : 45 minutes (+ chill time)

Serves : 12

Ingredients

Cheesecake Base

300g digestives

180g butter

Pinch salt

Filling

500ml double cream

560g full fat Philadelphia cream cheese

1 tsp vanilla

140g icing sugar

1/2 lemon, juiced

240g mini eggs

80g milk chocolate (broken easter egg or any chocolate bar)

Toppings

80g mini eggs

Extra broken chocolate easter egg, chocolate shavings etc.

Method

1. Roughly chop the 240g of mini eggs and 80g milk chocolate for the cheesecake filling.

2. Grease and line the base and sides of an 8" springform tin with baking paper.

3. To make the base, melt the butter over a low heat in a large saucepan. Remove from the heat once it's melted and set to one side.

4. Put the digestive biscuits in a ziplock bag (or food processor) and crush with a rolling pin until you have fine biscuit crumbs. Tip these into the saucepan with the melted butter and a pinch of salt, mix well until evenly combined with a 'wet sand' consistency. Tip this into the prepared tin, spreading the mixture out to the sides and pressing it firmly down with a spatula to create a solid base. Chill in the fridge whilst you make the filling.

5. In a mixing bowl use a hand-held electric mixer (or standing mixer with whisk attachment) to whip the double cream into stiff peaks.

6. In a separate mixing bowl, use the electric whisk again (no need to wash) to mix the cream cheese until smooth. Sieve in the icing sugar and then add in the vanilla and lemon juice. Whisk on a low speed until just mixed through.

7. Fold the whipped double cream into the cream cheese mixture until nearly combined. Add in the chopped mini eggs and chocolate, fold through again. Pour most of this on top of the chilled base and smooth the top with the back of a spoon, saving a few tablespoons of mixture for decorating at the end. Cover any leftover mixture with cling film and store in the fridge.

8. Chill the cheesecake in the fridge for at least 5 hours (or overnight if possible).

9. To decorate, spoon the extra cheesecake filling mixture on top of the chilled cheesecake, creating a small mound in the centre. Then, pile on top the toppings (mini eggs, broken easter eggs, anything you like.)

Nutritional Information

(per slice)

649 cals

51g fat, 42g carbs, 7g protein

Good to know:

• You could use a 7 or 9" tin for this if you don't have an 8"one, it will just be a different

  size and you might have more/less leftover filling for the mound topping.

• I prefer using a springform tin with a loose base as it makes it much easier to remove the cheesecake from the tin. You could also use a square or circular baking tin, just line it with greaseproof paper to act as 'handles' to pull the cheesecake out once it's chilled.

• Use full-fat, ideally branded (I prefer Philadelphia) cream cheese. Low fat or supermarket own brands don't 'set' as well in the fridge.

• Mini eggs in the UK are gluten-free, use GF digestives in the base to make this GF.

• Store in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

• Store in the freezer in an airtight container for up to 3 months, either whole or in slices,

  without the extra toppings.