White chocolate cheesecake recipe

White chocolate cheesecake made with cream cheese and deliciously rich chocolate is the perfect dinner party dessert. This baked cheesecake is worth the effort - with a prep time of only 20 minutes it'll be ready in no time. All you need to do once you've got the ingredients mixed together is stick it in the oven for 40 minutes where it will set and become perfectly creamy, ready to be served up once it's cool. Dish it up with either ice cream or fresh fruit - or even more chocolate curls for the ultimate indulgence that you'll find yourself making time and time again.

Ingredients

For the base:

• 2 tablespoons cocoa
• 75g unsalted butter, melted
• 150g digestives, crushed
• 50g caster sugar

For the filling:

• 2 x 100g bars white chocolate
• 3 tablespoons warm water
• 600g good quality cream cheese
• 75g caster sugar
• grated zest of 1/2 unwaxed orange
• grated zest and juice of 1/2
• unwaxed lemon
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
• 2 large free range eggs

To finish:

• Divine plain chocolate shavings or cocoa
• 23cm spring-clip tin, greased and base-lined, set on a baking tray

Method

1. Heat the oven to 150C/300F/Gas 2.
2. Make the base first: mix the cocoa with the melted butter then stir in the biscuit crumbs and the sugar. When thoroughly combined tip the mixture into the tin and, using the back of a spoon, press firmlyonto the base and about 2cm up the sides. Chill until needed.
3. Break up the white chocolate and melt gently with the water. Remove the bowl from the heat, stir gently and leave to cool until needed. Put the cream cheese, sugar, orange zest, lemon juice and zest, vanilla and eggs into the bowl of a food processor.
4. Run the machine until the mixture is very smooth, scraping down the sides from time to time. Add the melted chocolate and run the machine until thoroughly combined.
5. Pour the mixture into the chilled base, then set the tin (on the baking tray) into the heated oven and bake for 40 minutes.
6. Once cooked turn off the oven but do not remove the cheesecake and leave to cool for an hour. Then removethe tin, leave to cool completely then cover and chill overnight.
7. When ready to serve, run a round-bladed knife inside the tin to loosen the cheesecake then unclip the tin. Decorate with plain chocolate shavings or dust with cocoa.