Black Forest Cheesecake

“Taking 1970’s flavours and bringing it up to modern-day”

Ingredients

90g butter, softened

40g caster sugar

100g plain flour

1½ tbsp cocoa powder

200g double cream

280g full fat cream cheese

100g icing sugar

Juice ½ lemon

1 jar of Opies Black Cherries with Kirsch, syrup reserved

3 sheets of gelatine

100g best quality dark chocolate, melted

100g best quality dark chocolate, peeled to create curls

Method

Pre-heat oven to 180°C /160°C fan/gas 4.

Rub together the butter, sugar, flour and cocoa powder in a bowl or pulse in a food processor until a dough forms. Press the mixture down into the base of the lined cake tin and smooth the surface over with the back of a spoon. Prick with a fork then bake in the oven for 20 minutes until golden. Remove and leave to cool completely in the tin. Beat the cream, cream cheese, icing sugar and lemon juice together in a clean bowl until thickened.

Drain the cherries over a bowl and reserve the syrup as well as half of the cherries. Mix the remaining cherries into the cream cheese, then add to the tin. Smooth the surface over and chill in the fridge.

Meanwhile, place the gelatine leaves in a small bowl of water to soften for around 10 minutes. Add the reserved kirsch syrup to a small saucepan and gently heat for 3-4 minutes.

Remove the gelatine sheets, squeezing out the excess water, then add to the syrup and heat through until completely dissolved, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool completely. Once cooled, pour the syrup over the top of your cheesecake and chill for at least 3 hours but ideally overnight until completely set.

When ready to serve, remove from the fridge and dot with the remaining cherries. Drizzle over the melted chocolate and sprinkle the chocolate peelings on top before serving.

Recipe from: www.opiesfoods.com