Now all you Easter Bunnies can enjoy a dessert inspired by the festive holidays stable treat!
I love Easter. Parents skulk around their gardens, secretly hiding chocolate eggs for their little ones to find. Once all the treats are found, families gather round a feasting table to enjoy the spoils of their labour.
Easters in the Sibiya household were always bursting with excitement. From Good Friday, our pantry and bread bin were stockpiled with hot cross buns. We enjoyed them plain (toasted slightly in the oven), with a generous lashing of butter, or lathered in strawberry jam. When I really got into my baking, I messed around with a few hot cross bun recipes.
Then one day I successfully managed to merge these go-to holiday confections with cheesecake and, well, the rest is history
Ingredients
BASE
225g digestive biscuits
100g unsweetened butter
FILLING
600g PHILADELPHIA cream cheese
200g cream
160g caster sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons vanilla essence
Zest from one orange
200g raisins
DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat the oven to 160 degrees celsius.
2. Lightly grease the base and sides of a 23cm baking tin.
3. Crush digestive biscuits into fine crumbs.
4. Stir crushed biscuits and softened butter in large bowl until combined.
5. Press biscuit mixture into baking tin and flatten with a masher or back of a wooden spoon until evenly distributed.
6. Cover and place in the fridge for 30 minutes to set.
7. Beat cream cheese and sugar until the mixture has a smooth consistency.
8. Introduce the eggs one at a time, mixing well
9. Add cream, vanilla essence, cinnamon and orange zest and beat lightly until well combined and mixture thickens slightly. DON'T OVERMIX
10. Fold in RAISINS and stir by hand.
11. Pour the mixture into baking tin.
12. Bake cheesecake in a water bath: place tin in a roasting pan (first wrap the cake tin in foil). Fill water up to about 5mm from the top of the cake tin.
***This method prevents the cake from drying out and cracking in the oven***
13. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until firm on the top with a very slight wobble in the centre.
14. Keep the cheesecake in the oven with the door ajar until it cools completely.
15. Place in the fridge to chill and set for 3-4 hours.
16. Place one tablespoon of orange zest and caster sugar in a saucepan with 30m of water and bring to the boil.
17. Set aside until cold.
18. Spread a thin layer of the glaze onto the cake.
19. Place back in the fridge to cool.
20. When you are ready to serve, remove from the fridge and serve with whipped cream.
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I love baking just as much as I love eating. That's why I've posted a number of simple but scrumptious recipes that you can try at home too. Try my simple honey granola recipe (it'll be a welcomed addition to your breakfast cereal options). If you're a little more ambitious, I have a traditional amagwinya recipe you have to check out.
A little death by chocolate muffins never hurt nobody either.