Chocolate cheesecake with cherries

A delicious chocolate cheesecake with cherries, or more precisely, cherry frużelina (cherry gel). This is a no-bake cherry chocolate cheesecake made without gelatine in the cheesecake itself: it relies on good-quality, thick curd cheese and chocolate, which allow the cheesecake to set, while whipped cream gives it a lighter, fluffier texture. It has a simple biscuit base and is decorated with chocolate curls. A foolproof recipe for chocolate cheesecake with cherries, with an exceptional flavour you’ll remember :).

Ingredients for the biscuit base:

• 160 g wholemeal biscuits such as digestive biscuits covered in dark chocolate
• 50 g butter, melted

Place the biscuits and butter in the bowl of a food processor and blitz until the biscuits are finely crushed and the mixture has the consistency of wet sand. If you don’t have a food processor, place the biscuits in a sturdy bag (e.g. a resealable one) and crush them thoroughly with a rolling pin. Finally, combine with the melted butter.

Line the base of a 23 cm springform tin with baking paper. Tip the biscuit mixture into the tin and press it firmly over the base, smoothing it out with a spoon.

Ingredients for the cheesecake filling:

• 750 g full-fat or semi-fat curd cheese, passed through a sieve three times
• 1 cup icing sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 250 g dessert chocolate (54%), melted in a bain-marie
• 3 tablespoons cocoa powder dissolved in 50–60 ml boiling water
• 150 ml double cream, chilled

All the ingredients for the cheesecake filling, apart from the double cream, should be at room temperature.

Place the curd cheese, sugar, vanilla, cocoa and slightly warm chocolate in the bowl of a mixer. Mix using the whisk attachment. The cheesecake mixture should be smooth and free of lumps.

In a separate bowl, whip the chilled double cream until stiff. Add it to the cheesecake mixture in two batches and gently fold it in.

Spread the cheesecake mixture over the biscuit base. Smooth the surface with a spatula. Chill in the fridge until completely set.

Ingredients for the cherry gel:

• 250 g cherries (fresh or frozen)
• 3 g (1 teaspoon) powdered gelatine
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon potato starch dissolved in 1 tablespoon water

Pour 30 ml cold water over the powdered gelatine, then stir and leave to bloom.

Place the cherries and sugar in a small saucepan. Heat over a medium heat until the sugar has dissolved (the fruit will release plenty of juice). Add the starch mixture, stir well, bring to the boil and remove from the heat. Add the bloomed gelatine to the hot fruit and stir until the gelatine has completely dissolved. Leave to cool, then chill briefly in the fridge until it reaches a gel-like consistency. If it sets too firmly, simply warm it briefly in the microwave or in a bain-marie.

Ingredients for the chocolate curls:

• 70 g dark chocolate (54%)

Melt the chocolate in a bain-marie. Spread it into an even, thin layer over a steel baking sheet or marble worktop. Once the chocolate has set but is still pliable, use a sharp metal kitchen utensil (such as a knife) to make chocolate curls. Hold the sharp edge almost vertically against the chocolate, angled slightly outwards, and scrape the chocolate from the sheet or worktop to form curls.

Method:

Release the chilled chocolate cheesecake with cherries from the springform tin and transfer it to a cake stand. Decorate with the chocolate curls and cherry frużelina. Store in the fridge.

Enjoy!