Culture

I’ve got something to share with you. I haven’t been entirely honest this year. From the recipes featured, my tastebuds would appear to lean towards the savoury; clearly I am a carb-consuming, meat-eating, spice-loving, caramelised-onion-obsessed lunatic. What have failed to grace these pages are the recipes that satisfy my uncontrollable sweet tooth. Usually I will tame my sugar cravings with a comical quantity of chocolate (anything with nuts in it, be they almonds or macadamias, is a sure winner), but sometimes you need a more indulgent vice, requiring dedicated preparation, but which absolutely tells that sweet tooth of yours who’s boss. These miniature cheesecakes are one of the many dribble-inducing desserts gracing the pages of The Delicious Cookbook. Tart raspberries, zesty orange, and a velvety filling are held together by a very naughty chocolate base. For the latter, I acted on an extravagant whim and used Lurpak, a Danish butter which, I swear, is delicious enough to eat on its own.
A word of warning: if your flatmates see these, you will have to share them.

Ingredients

250g packet Krispies, wine biscuits or digestives
100g Whittaker’s Dark Cacao Chocolate, or similar
50g butter
250g tub cream cheese, softened at room temperature
5 tbs icing sugar
140ml cream
Juice and zest of one orange
250g frozen raspberries, thawed at room temperature

Method

01 | Place the biscuits inside a plastic bag, then this inside another plastic bag. Tie a knot at the top of the bag. Bash vigorously with a wooden spoon, or similar, until finely crushed. A few larger chunks of biscuit are fine.

02 | Break up the chocolate and place it in a saucepan with the butter. Heat over a low heat, stirring occasionally until melted. Remove from the heat and add the crushed biscuits. Mix to thoroughly incorporate.

03 | Line a tray with 20 cupcake cases. Place about a tablespoon of the mixture into each cupcake case then press down firmly with the back of a spoon. Refrigerate for 15 minutes. Any leftover biscuit mix is delicious with yoghurt and sliced bananas.

04 | In a large bowl, whisk together the cream cheese and 4 tablespoons of the icing sugar until lump-free. Add the cream about 50ml at a time, whisking to incorporate. Slowly add the zest and 2 tablespoons of the orange juice, and whisk until soft peaks form (if you lift the whisk upwards from the mixture, peaks will form but will fall over slightly). Use a fork, or a whisk for this whole process, rather than an electric beater. Divide the mixture between the cases, and refrigerate for at least an hour.

05 | Place all but 20 of the raspberries, the remaining icing sugar, and the remaining orange juice in a saucepan. Place over a medium heat and stir until the icing sugar is dissolved. Simmer for a few minutes. Set aside to cool.

06 | Top the cheesecakes with the remaining raspberries, drizzle over the sauce and eat.