No-bake gingerbread and white chocolate cheesecake
Original written for Clique Mag
Although the festive season may conjure up ideas of roasted vegetables laden in gravy and baked treats fresh from the oven, the reality of Adelaide’s December sun leaves little room for days spent in a blistering hot kitchen.
And while we may be dreaming of a white Christmas, traditional gingerbread, fruit mince and eggnog flavours don’t naturally lend themselves to the Southern Hemisphere’s scorching hot festivities.
This Christmas, don’t compromise on merry indulgence. To help you enjoy the flavours of Christmas without sweltering over an oven, we’ve combined classic gingerbread spices with an easy, breezy, no-bake cheesecake recipe.
The perfect balance of sugar and spice, our no-bake gingerbread and white chocolate cheesecake is the ultimate addition to any dinner table this December.
Ingredients
Gingerbread crust:
125 g gingerbread biscuits
¼ cup almond meal
60 g butter, melted
Spiced white chocolate cheesecake filling:
500 g cream cheese, softened
½ cup caster sugar
200 g white chocolate
1.5 tsp ground ginger
1.5 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp mixed spice
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground nutmeg
½ cup thickened cream
½ tsp vanilla extract
100 g white chocolate, shaved
Method
Lightly grease and line the bottom of a 20cm springform pan.
Pulse the gingerbread biscuits in a food processor until they resemble fine breadcrumbs.
Add the almond meal and melted butter, then pulse until combined.
Press the crumbs into the base of the pan and refrigerate for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, combine ground ginger, cinnamon, mixed spice, cloves and nutmeg in a small bowl, set aside.
Melt the white chocolate over a bain-marie, remove from the heat, and mix through 1 tbsp of the spice mix until combined.
Use an electric mixer to beat softened cream cheese and sugar together until smooth.
Add the white chocolate mixture, vanilla extract and cream to the mixer and mix until well combined.
Spoon filling mixture over crumb base and level with a spatula.
Refrigerate for four hours or overnight.
Top with shaved white chocolate and serve.