Do you remember the first time you had your first heavenly bite of blackforest cake? I do, but I didn’t know it was blackforest at the time. Still I thought it was the most magnificent piece of cake ever! I didn’t even know that the dark purplish squishy stuff in between the layers were cherries. In my youth I always thought that cherries only came in bright scarlet candied form. You know, the sort that are put on top of sundaes. When I was finally told what the cake was called I remember thinking, “Well that’s a pretty weird name for a cake”.
While the original gâteau contains cherry liquor, the Kirschwasser, this cheesecake doesn’t … so no need to panic. However, this dessert still holds all the promise of the original cake, complete with cherry layers inside the chocolate cream cheese filling, all craddled in a crunchy chocolatey biscuit base.
Ingredients:
- 2 – 3 cups dark chocolate cookies (I used Oreo’s)
- 100 g butter, melted
- 400g plain cream cheese
- 100g dark chocolate, chopped
- 100 mls heavy whipping cream
- 3 tbsp fine sugar
- 2 leaves gelatine, pre-soaked in cold water
- 50 mls hot water
- 1 cup dark Morello cherries in syrup
- dark chocolate shavings to decorate
1. Spray a loose-bottom tart tin or spring form pan with cake lubricant. Set aside.
2. Combine chopped chocolate pieces with heavy cream in a heatproof bowl and zap it in the microwave on 30-second bursts until everything is melted. Stir to combine in between microwaving to distribute the heat evenly.
3. Crush all the biscuits and mix with melted butter. Then press the biscuit crumbs into the pan base, running up the sides as well if you so wish. Press firmly to compact everything then place in the freezer to chill.
4. Beat cream cheese and sugar together in a bowl using an electric mixer until fluffy. Now add the melted chocolate and beat again until well incorporated.
5. Dissolve the pre-soaked gelatine sheets in hot water. Stir to get rid of any lumps. Now add this to the cream cheese mixture and beat again. Taste the mixture for sweetness. You might want to adjust the sugar content depending on the chocolate you are using. I used a semi-sweet variety with 54% cocoa solids.
6. Remove the biscuit tin from the freezer and layer some cherries on top. Be sure to drain as much of the syrup as you can before placing on top of the biscuit base. Remember, these are cherries in syrup NOT cherry pie filling! Now pour over the chocolate cream cheese mixture. Bang the tin slightly on the table to settle the mixture and to remove any air pockets. Return this to the fridge to set completely. This may take several hours.
7. Once the filling has set, remove the cheesecake from it’s tin and place it on a serving platter. Pipe the borders with freshly whipped cream, grated chocolate and extra cherries. If you’d like a sauce to go with your dessert simply heat some of the cherry syrup over low heat in a pan. To this add some sugar ~ about a tablespoon ~ and reduce it slightly. To thicken add 2 tsps of diluted cornstarch. Now you have some fancy cherry sauce to go with your wonderful dessert.
I really enjoyed making this one. I think it’s my prettiest no-bake cheesecake yet. My sudden cheesecake craze has given me good practice and confidence in the kitchen. More to come as well. In the near future I will be experimenting with tropical flavoured cheesecakes since tropical fruit compliments the tartness of cheesecake superbly. Some tme in the coming weeks I will be dancing to the tune of Tango Mango & Passionfruit Cheesecake and a Malibu Cheesecake … even a Minty Mojito Cheesecake (oh dear, the last two kinda gives away my love for tropical cocktails). After that who knows? I might go even further with my cheesecake experiments and come up with some outrageous ones. So watch this space!
Other cheesecakes I have previously done so far include :
With that I leave you to ponder if you will indulge your cheesecake fantasy and try a few of my recipes here. Better yet, how about dropping me a line in the comments box below and tell me what your favourite no-bake cheesecake is and I will try to make it myself. Would be a fun project, me thinks. Anyway, I hope everyone likes todays post. Gimme a shout-out on Twitter (@FoodFlurriescom) or Facebook if you do. Until next time …
~ ENJOY!! ~
2 comments
Sarah Volpe
October 13, 2012 at 11:06 am (UTC 1) Link to this comment
Viv all of these cheesecake recipes are cheese-tastic. Even if it is just a phase it’s awesome!! Not low fat but awesome!!
bubviv
October 13, 2012 at 3:20 pm (UTC 1) Link to this comment
Oh but it is (low fat). In both the blackforest and lemon-raspberry cheesecake I used a 2% fat creamcheese. Coz the chocolate kinda makes up for the creamy-ness, and in the lemon-raspberry one I wanted it to be light and fresh; not so much heavy on the cream side. I swear you will hardly notice the difference.