April 10, 2018
April is a big birthday month for us! My partner, my sister, a few of my friends and me all have birthdays that fall within April, and so it is always a busy time with a lot of celebrations. Definitely not the worst problem to have! April starts with my partners birthday on the 2nd, and I decided to throw a little party for him to celebrate with our friends. He doesn’t like organising these things, and so wasn’t going to do anything until I suggested I decided that we couldn’t let his birthday go by without a celebration! And celebrations for birthdays always need a delicious cake, so I decided to make him a delicious birthday cake rather than buying something (I am a food blogger after all, so it seems silly paying for a birthday cake when I can make him something myself…then blog about it later).
My partner and I are big fans of cheesecake, but we don’t really eat it that often. If I’m honest, I don’t really have cake as often as I would like to be eating cake in general, but if I were to pick a cake, it would have to be cheesecake. I have been a huge fan since I can remember, and my partner is the same (we demolished many pieces of New York cheesecake when we were there a few years ago). So there was really no question when it came to the type of cake, it was just what flavour I should make. There are so many recipes for crazy and delicious tasting cheesecakes online that it was a little overwhelming deciding what to make, so I ended up mashing a whole heap of things I had read together and hoping for the best. What formed my base was a recipe for Baileys Cheesecake that I read which sounded absolutely delicious. My partner loves Baileys and so this felt like the perfect match for his birthday cake!
I wanted to make his birthday cake as special as possible to truly celebrate, and so I took a few recipes I found and brought them all together into one super charged cheesecake which was probably a bit over the top, but it definitely suited my partner’s birthday. He has a bigger sweet tooth than me (I didn’t think this was possible) and so this decadent cheesecake with all the toppings went down a treat. What went down even better was that there was so much left over for him to enjoy during the week! It definitely isn’t for those who aren’t lovers of sweets, chocolate and sugar, but if those are your bag this is the cheesecake for you!
- 1 packet original Oreos
- 1/2 packet digestive biscuits
- 57 grams butter, melted
- 910 grams cream cheese, room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups caster sugar
- 3/4 cup Baileys Irish Creme
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup plain flour
- 300 grams chocolate chips
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1/4 cup icing sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 packet mini snickers, chopped into chunks
- Salted caramel sauce, to drizzle
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Preheat the oven to 180C (300F). Line a baking tray with baking paper, then line a cake tin with baking paper on the bottom and grease the edges with butter.
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In a food processor combine the Oreos, digestives and melted butter until a fine crumb has formed (If you don't have a food processor I used a rolling pin with a zip lock bag to bash the biscuits before mixing with the butter). Press into the bottom of the cake tin ensuring that it completely covers the base evenly. Place the cake tine in the fridge to cool the base.
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Using a stand mixer, combine the cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add the Baileys, beating until combine, and then add the eggs one by one, allowing each to mix through fully before adding the next. Add the sour cream and vanilla, then once that is mixed through add the flour and beat until just combined. Stir through half of the chocolate chips.
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Remove the cake tin from the fridge and place on the baking tray. Pour the cake batter into the cake tin, and fold in the remaining chocolate chips to the top of the cheesecake (don't worry too much about it being too full as it won't rise too much).
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Bake for 1 hour on the baking tray, then turn off the oven and leave the door closed. Allow the cheesecake to sit for 3-5 hours to cook fully through, and then remove from the oven and refrigerate to cool completely.
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When you are ready to serve the cake, remove from the tin and place on a serving plate. Using the whisk attachment of your stand mixer, beat the heavy cream, icing sugar and vanilla extract until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.
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To decorate the cake, use a spatula to generously dollop the cream around the edge of the cake. You can use a piping tool for this but that's up to you, I personally liked the dolloped look. Once you've placed all the cream around the edges, push in the snickers pieces to the cream intermittently, and then garnish by drizzling salted caramel sauce over the cream and snickers. Place in the fridge until you are ready to serve.
I have never made cheesecake before, other than cheesecake brownies and I have no idea why! I mean for someone who loves cheesecake and also loves baking, you’d think I would be all over baking cheesecakes. I guess it’s because I don’t bake cakes that much in general as they require an occasion to bake for, and if I don’t have one of those I would probably eat the whole thing myself!
Now that I’ve tried making cheesecake I’ve realised how easy it is. In the grand scheme of cakes, a baked cheesecake is actually quite simple and once you’ve got a good batter, it is really quick and easy to make the base, bake it and decorate it. Or you could just leave it bare, which I think I would do with this cheesecake if I were cooking it for another occasion. That’s what is great about cheesecakes; you don’t need to ice them so it really reduces the time it takes to make them. They are a great way to make something impressive and delicious without having to spend hours in the kitchen preparing. You just need a bit of time up your sleeves to let it cook, which is probably my only frustration as I was cooking this at nighttime so needed to stay up to give it enough time in the oven! But it was definitely worth the effort.
You could easily make this cheesecake for any occasion and I encourage it! The flavours were absolutely delicious, and the Baileys really brought the cheesecake to the next level. It wasn’t so overpowering that it took away from the other flavours, but it was enough to get a little kick. It went really well with the Oreo base which was something I’ve always wanted to try making, and I think the flavours of the toppings complemented the Baileys well. Like I said though if you aren’t a fan of cream or don’t want it to be too decadent, just leave the toppings off and have it as is!
My partner absolutely loved this cheesecake, and I was so chuffed when our friends thought that I had bought the cake not made it. I’m not a big cake baker so it felt good to have found my niche and been able to make something that looked so professional! I think I’ll try baking cakes more often after this success, and now that I know how easy cheesecake is to make, it’s going to be difficult to stop myself from making it all the time!
Until next time, happy eating!
Ella xx
