Baked Chocolate Philadelphia Cheesecake

I got a request!

When taking the cats photos at the place my Mum works, one of her colleagues mentioned the new Cadbury's Chocolate Philadelphia, which is on offer in every supermarket at the moment because it's new. This made it a fairly cheap option for a cheesecake, and of course I couldn't turn down someone asking me for cheesecake... I've been itching to make another one since our New York Cheesecake and I'm most fascinated by the baked ones, especially as I have a vegetarian mother so gelatine is a no-no. There appeared to be only one recipe specifically using this new Philadelphia, so I did a slight mixture of that one and Smitten Kitchen's New York Cheesecake, and sugared to taste... I will do my best to remember what I did, as most of the rest of the recipe followed "AMummyToo"'s recipe fairly excatly apart from the sugar, and that was just personal preference.

Then I topped it with my first home made chocolate curls, using the method described here, minus the shortening because I didn't have any. Worked a treat still and I was pleased with the overall effect, and white chocolate was a nice contrast.

However, I did learn one very important lesson. Don't put your chocolate curls on the cheesecake until it is completely cold. They WILL melt.

Um, then it sort of never made it to Mum's work. Because my brother sampled a piece (just to check, y'know...) and declared it the "best... cheesecake... EVER." He's a tough customer sometimes so I am more chuffed with this critique than I can possibly express, especially as he's in the middle of food GCSE and I'm starting to feel a bit homegrown and hodgepodgy sometimes. I just had some in the garden, in the sun, after 2 night shifts, and I may have to agree with him. I really think it was better than our New York Cheesecake! The (comparative) thinness worked in its favour, meaning it was, as "AMummyToo" said, fudgy. And delicious.

Baked Chocolate Philadelphia Cheesecake
Quick and easy. An amalgamation of recipes, the majority of it from this recipe by "AMummyToo" and some inspiration on sugar amounts and bases taken from Smitten Kitchen's New York Cheesecake. 

For the Base
300g milk chocolate coated digestives
100g unsalted butter/margarine

Approx 50g sugar (to taste, really)

For the Filling

100ml double cream
480g chocolate (Cadbury) Philadelphia (3 standard 160g tubs)
About 100g sugar (to taste, again)
2 well beaten eggs
20g plain flour

For the Chocolate Curls
Approx 6 squares white chocolate


To make the buttery biscuit base


1. Grease a springform pan. The original recipe didn't specify a size - I used a 23cm one and ended up with a fairly thick cheesecake.  (I just realised that I'd written 23 inch when I wrote this post over a month ago... oops. I doubt anyone actually tried to get hold of a 23 inch pan...)


2. Mash up 300g of chocolate coated digestives (or any biscuit that takes your fancy) fairly finely. I used the end of a wooden rolling pin.

3. Add the sugar and mix.

4. Add the butter and mix.

5. Press down firmly into the tin with the back of a spoon until level and well packed. Cook for 5 minutes at 200C/180C Fan.

This is best done while dancing around your kitchen to this song. I cannot thank my boyfriend enough for introducing me to it (except when you have it stuck in your head... You're welcome).

Also, yes, my netbook lives with me in the kitchen now. I'm saving paper by not printing recipes out... so far I haven't got too much chocolate/water/assorted kitchen gloop on it.

To Make the Cheesecake Filling

1. Turn the oven down to 170C/150C Fan/Gas Mark 3.
2. Put the chocolate Philadelphia and sugar into the blender and start whizzing at full speed.
3. While still whizzing, pour in the eggs bit by bit, then add the flour and cream.
4. Blend until it’s lump-free. Make sure to scrape down the sides AND give it a mix with a spoon because otherwise you're likely to end up with unmixed Philadelphia, especially if you use a stand mixer.

5. Pour the mixture on top of the biscuit base and bake in the oven for 45 minutes to an hour (mine took 45 minutes in a 150C fan oven in a 23 inch springform) until it’s well-cooked at the edges and firm but slightly wobbly in the middle.
6. Turn off the oven and leave the door ajar for another 45 minutes to an hour (again, I left it for 45 minutes with the door only very slightly ajar).
7. Take out the oven, run a knife round the edges and chill in the fridge for an hour minimum. My brother had his bit about an hour after I'd put the chocolate curls on, so an hour after it was truly cool, and Mum says it was a bit runny still. After a night in the fridge it had firmed up to a perfect fudgy consistency.

To make the Chocolate Curls

1. Melt the white chocolate in a bowl
2. Spread fairly thinly on the back of a baking tray
3. Pop into the freezer for 5 minutes
4. Take it out and use a knife, sharpish spatula, potato peeler, cheese slice etc. (I used the last one) to make curls. You might want to leave it a few minutes to melt very slightly, there will be a sweet spot before it gets too melty where you get good curls.
5. MAKE SURE THE CHEESECAKE IS COMPLETELY COOL BEFORE PUTTING THE CURLS ON!!!!