Lotus Biscoff Cheesecake

This was a recipe that involved trial and error. But it definitely taught me something: listen to your spirit! When I came across the recipe on Good Housekeeping, I was very sceptical about the cream cheese to double cream ratio. A ratio I knew that if I got wrong, would not let the cheesecake set. I thought, 'Nigella's recipe never fails, no matter what flavour I make it'. But I also thought, 'well it's Good Housekeeping, they know what they're saying and maybe it's because of the addition of the blobs of Lotus Biscoff spread'. So I followed the recipe, wincing and gritting my teeth the whole way through. Crossed my fingers and prayed it would set in the next 20-ish hours. Come Saturday night for my friend's birthday dinner, when it was time to release it from the prison of its tin and into the cake box, this thing just oozed out like melted ice cream. 'How am I gonna carry this all the way to London on public transport?' 'This is meant to be the birthday cake!' 'I can't (and can) believe this!' 'I think I'm having a panic attack - help!' I had to keep it in the tin, I couldn't risk turning up at the restaurant and having the birthday girl blow out her candle from a puddle. I was embarrassed, but at the same time, I knew this all could have easily been avoided #Nigella4lyf. So when my mum asked me to make it for the family last week, I knew what needed to be done. I followed Nigella's recipe like I have done for my Vanilla Cheesecake and Strawberry Sauce and Blueberry Cheesecake and this beauty you see below was ready to eat in 6 hours - that's right, 6 hours! All set and creamy, sweet from the caramel, crunchy from the Lotus biscuits and delectable. Had me licking the spoon after it was gone. So here's the right way to make this cheesecake.

To start off, I had the butter in a small pan melting away while I greased and lined a 24cm (9 inch) springform tin.

Next, I moved on to crushing the biscuits for the base. Lotus biscuits are quite hard, harder than your normal digestive biscuits, so if you have a food processor, I would advise crushing them in there. But I don't have one, so it involved using a rolling pin and bashing them for what felt like forever, until I had crumbs.

To this I added the melted butter and stirred until it was all combined.

This was tumbled into the tin and flattened down with the back of a tablespoon. And then using a trick I learnt from British chef, James Martin, I used the back of the tablespoon and gently pushed the biscuit base to the edges of the tin to form a ridge. It's a very gentle action because you don't want there to be gaps in the base, you just want it spread around to feel comfortable. The ridge doesn't have to be the same height all the way round and that defined, but just enough to lightly cuddle the filling when you spoon it on top. 

This was popped in the fridge while I got on with the filling. 

In a large bowl, I placed the cream cheese, icing sugar and vanilla extract together and whisked them until smooth. In a separate bowl, I whisked the double cream until it formed soft peaks and then folded that into the cream cheese mixture. 

When I made this the Good Housekeeping way, I was to whisk the cream cheese with the sugar and vanilla until smooth, then pour in the un-whipped double cream into this and whisk until it all thickened together - this didn't happen. It just remained runny... This was the first time I had come across this method of making a cheesecake filling, and I still decided to follow it. Normally it's: all ingredients banged in, then whisked, or cream and cheese whisked separately before being folded together. Again, I didn't listen to my spirit. And as you can see below this is what it looked like when I followed the Good Housekeeping method.

It was super runny. 

Back to the right way, after folding the double cream into the cream cheese, I took half the filling and put this into the tin. 

Then getting into the Lotus Biscoff spread, I dolloped teaspoons of this onto filling. I am not going to tell you how many dollops to add because that would be cruel, this stuff is delicious and less is not more in this recipe. Just follow your spirit. 

When I made this the 'GH' way, the filling was so soft, the dollops just sank inside of it like it was quicksand. This time they sat gloriously on top, all proud to be seen. 

The next step was to spoon the remaining filling on top and smooth that. You can use the back of a spoon, spatula or palette knife to do this. 

The cheesecake was then put into the fridge to set for 6 hours. If you want to be on the safe side, you can set it overnight. 

Just a few more steps and we were ready to go. When we were ready to eat, I took a heaped tablespoon of the Lotus spread and melted it in a bowl over a pan of hot, but not boiling, water. When it was liquid I removed it. 

In a small bowl, I roughly crushed around 6 Lotus biscuits. Then using a teaspoon I drizzled half the melted spread on top of the cheesecake which was so enjoyable. Then I toppled the broken biscuits on top of this and finally, the remaining melted spread was drizzled on top of the biscuits - lush. 

I held my breath and removed it from the tin and lo and behold, it stayed together! It didn't move! I could cut out slices and serve with a smile on my face. 

This cheesecake nearly had me there for a second, but life is about making mistakes. How can we learn unless we get things wrong? I didn't let this cheesecake overcome me, I overcame it with many, many spoons. 

Serves: 10-12 

Prep Time: 30 minutes 

Setting Time: 6 hours or overnight 

Ingredients:

For Biscuit Base:

• 150g Unsalted Butter, melted
• 250g Lotus Biscoff biscuits, crushed

For the Filling: 

• 600g Cream Cheese
• 120g Icing Sugar
• 1tsp Vanilla Extract 
• 500ml Double Cream, whipped 
• Multiple teaspoons of Lotus Biscoff Spread 

For the Topping:

• 1 heaped tbsp Lotus Biscoff Spread, melted 
• 6 Lotus Biscoff Biscuits, broken 

Method:

1. Melt 150g of  butter in a small saucepan on a very low heat. If it starts to sizzle, swirl the pan around to calm it down. Using some of the melted butter, lightly brush the base of a 24cm/9inch springform pan with it, and line with baking parchment. 
2. In a large bowl, crush 250g of Lotus Biscoff biscuits until they resemble fine crumbs. If you have a food processor, pulse the biscuits until they are fine. Pour in the melted butter and combine before tumbling into the prepared tin. Using the back of a tablespoon, smooth out the base and gently push toward the edges to form a ridge. Leave this in the fridge to set while you make the filling. 
3. In another large bowl, whisk together 600g of cream cheese, 120g of icing sugar and a teaspoon of vanilla extract until smooth. 
4. In a separate bowl, whisk 500ml of double cream until it forms soft peaks. Spoon this into the cream cheese mixture and lightly fold until fully incorporated into the cream cheese. 
5. Spoon half this filling into the tin with the base and smooth it out with the back of a spoon or spatula or palette knife. Then taking the Lotus Biscoff spread, dollop teaspoons over this layer. 
6. Spoon over the remaining cheesecake filling on top of this and smooth it out again. Place this in the fridge to set for at least 6 hours or overnight. 
7. When ready to serve, remove from the tin and place on serving plate. 
8. Place a heaped tablespoon of the Lotus Biscoff spread into a heatproof bowl and set it over a pan of hot water. The water should not be boiling. When the spread has melted, remove from the pan and set aside. 
9. Roughly crush 6 Lotus Biscoff biscuits in a small bowl and set that aside.
10. Drizzle half of the melted spread on top of the cheesecake and then scatter the crushed biscuits over that. Finally drizzle the remaining spread and serve.