Maltesers Cheesecake

This cheesecake will always have a special place in my heart because it was the cheesecake I made for my GCSE food tech final. My theme was Easter so instead of using Maltesers on the top, I used mini eggs. I remember, after weeks of making this cheesecake over and over again with no problems, it was on the day of my final that my white chocolate separated and left that layer looking grainy! It had to be the top layer, it had to be that day, and it had to be the last cheesecake. But I had such a lovely teacher. She told me not to worry and to use a picture of one of my previous cheesecakes as the final image. She then told me to write about the grainy cheesecake in my evaluation to show my development and what I had learned. And boy, did I learn something: do not melt chocolate in the microwave. It was because I had left the white chocolate in the microwave for too long that the fat separated from it, so when I added the cold cream, it had a moment and seized up, forming a stiff, dry and grainy mixture. Whenever you melt chocolate and want to add a cold liquid to it you have to be careful because the sugars in the chocolate lump together and separate from the fat rather than coming together if everything was at the right temp. And because the sugar content in white chocolate is higher, the chances of this happening increases. Now, there's nothing wrong with melting chocolate in the microwave, but there's something about not being able to see what's going on in there that makes me anxious, hence why I always do the bain-marie method. This involves putting the chocolate in a heatproof bowl and sitting this bowl on top of a small pot of hot (not boiling) water. It takes longer but being able to see the chocolate melt before my eyes is worth the wait. So here it is, 10 years after I first made it, Maltesers cheesecake! And just like the baked cake version, it is filled with chocolatey, malty goodness, but more indulgent because of the cream. I must admit that this cheesecake is quite filling, and I think the fact that it has two layers contributes to this, so cut yourself some small slices. The good thing about this is that you can treat yourself for longer. 

As with every cheesecake, I started on the biscuit base. I melted the butter on a very low heat while I crushed the biscuits. When the butter had melted, I poured this into the crushed biscuits and then pushed them into the bottom of my 23cm springform tin. The bottom of this had been lined with greaseproof paper. 

I popped this into the fridge while I got on with the filling. 

Starting with the milk chocolate layer, I put a small pan of water on to boil. When it came to a boil, I turned off the heat and sat a bowl of the broken pieces of milk chocolate on top. I made sure that the bottom of the bowl didn't touch the water. 

I would move the chocolate pieces around with the spatula to encourage them to melt a bit faster and just so I could see that all the little pieces had melted down properly. 

I left this to the side to cool slightly while I got the other components ready. 

In a large bowl, I put one of the tubs of cream cheese, half the double cream, sugar and 2tbsp of malt powder. 

I then poured in the melted milk chocolate and whisked them together until smooth.

I spooned this on top of the biscuit base and smoothed it out the best I could with the back of a tablespoon. 

While this started the setting process in the fridge, I got on with the white chocolate layer. 

I repeated the same method of melting, using the bain-marie.

In another large bowl went the other tub of cream cheese and the remaining double cream, but no sugar and no malt. And when the white chocolate had cooled a bit, it went into the bowl of snow-white ingredients. 

Again, this was whisked together... 

and then spooned onto the top of the milk chocolate layer and smoothed out with the back of a tablespoon.

I covered the top with foil and left this to set in the fridge for around 4 hours. Ideally, I like to let my cheesecakes set overnight, but 4 hours is the absolute minimum that I will give a cheesecake of this size. 

When the cheesecake had firmed up, I carefully removed the outer part of the tin but was too scared to remove the bottom of it, so left it on. Better to be safe than sorry! Then I simply decorated the top with Maltesers. Normally, I scatter them around the top or pile them into the middle, but this time I went for an around-the-edge look - it looked a bit like a crown made of Maltesers.   

I have made this cheesecake for friends and family and it never disappoints. I nearly forgot to mention that this was my dad's second birthday cake this year, with the Madeira cake being the first one that he had on his actual birthday. There are some cakes that I can make without looking at the method, where I just have to check the measurements, and this is one of them. Whether it's the creaminess, the crunch of the Maltesers themselves or the addition of the malt powder, there's something that keeps luring us to eat this cake. You're gonna have to make it to find out. 

Serves: 8-10 people 

Prep time: 30 minutes 

Setting time: at least 4 hours to overnight 

Ingredients:

    For the biscuit base:

• 200g malt chocolate biscuits, crushed 
• 100g salted butter, melted 

    For the milk chocolate layer:

• 200g milk chocolate, melted 
• 250g cream cheese, at room temperature
• 150ml double cream, at room temperature 
• 3tbsp caster sugar 
• 2tbsp malt or Horlicks powder

    For the white chocolate layer:

• 300g white chocolate, melted 
• 250g cream cheese, at room temperature 
• 150ml double cream, at room temperature 

    For the top:

• 1 bag of Maltesers 

Method:

1. Line the base of a 23cm springform or loose-bottomed tin with greaseproof paper. Melt the butter in a small saucepan, and while this is melting, crush the biscuits into sand-like crumbs. Add the melted butter into the crumbs, mixing it in fully. Pour this into the prepared tin and flatten and push out to the edges to make a fine layer. Put this into the fridge while you get on with the filling. 
2. Melt the milk chocolate and leave it to cool slightly. In a large bowl, add the cream cheese, double cream, caster sugar, malt and melted milk chocolate, and whisk together until it's all fully mixed and smooth. Take the base out of the fridge and spoon the chocolate layer on top of this, smoothing it out as best as you can with the back of a tablespoon. 
3. Melt the white chocolate and leave it to cool slightly. In another large bowl, add the cream cheese, double cream and cooled white chocolate. Again, whisk this together until smooth and spread this over the milk chocolate layer. Wipe around the edge of the tin to give it a smooth look. Place this into the fridge to set for at least four hours or overnight. 
4. When the cheesecake is set, carefully take it out of the tin and decorate the top with Maltesers in any design that you wish. Slice, serve and enjoy.