Chocolate Cheesecake: so easy you'll be amazed!

The easiest cheesecake ever, served with some ready-made raspberry coulis

When I made a couple of these mini cheesecakes I couldn't believe how wonderful they tasted and with only four ingredients! My husband and children soon gobbled these up and couldn't get enough of them! So where did I get this recipe from I hear you cry? The book is entitled The Takeaway Secret (2010) by Kenny McGovern http://www.amazon.co.uk/Takeaway-Secret-Cook-Favourite-Fast-food/dp/0716022354/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1365931770&sr=1-1&keywords=the+takeaway+secret  and is absolutely perfect to recreate all your favourite takeaway foods at home at probably a lower cost and in a more health-conscious way without nasty additives and preservatives and the like. According to Kenny, this book was a complete labour of love where he experimented, recreated and did trial after trial over years to capture the tastiest and most authentic takeaway food at home. It was also born out of Kenny's diagnosis with Social Anxiety Disorder. To put it briefly, it meant he struggled with leaving the house and enjoying the pleasures of dropping in to the bakery for a sandwich or stopping off at the local fast food takeaway for a burger. Hence, he thought why not create your own dishes at home?

The book is divided in to chapters such as burgers, kebabs, the chip shop, Indian, Chinese, Pizza and pasta, drinks and desserts etc The other thing you need to know is that once you've enjoyed all the recipes in this book there's a second book More Takeaway Secrets (2012) http://www.amazon.co.uk/More-Takeaway-Secrets-Kenny-McGovern/dp/0716023008/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1365932724&sr=1-1&keywords=more+takeaway+secrets which is again packed with more tasty delights and you may be pleased to know I do own a copy!

 As with so many of my cookbooks, and this is partly the reason for doing this challenge, I hadn't got round to cooking anything from either of these books until now. Flicking through The Takeaway Secret there are lots of tasty looking recipes that I'm intending to try, including the chicken fajita wrap (page 154), the homemade pitta bread (page 146) and the kebab shop style onion rings (page 116).

To make the Easy Chocolate Cheesecake (Deli-style) (page 169) you need a dessert ring. At the time I couldn't find my larger dessert ring so used two small rings about 6.5cm/2.5inches in diameter and obviously ended up with two small mini-cheesecakes which was fine as the recipe stated it was to serve two. The other alteration I made was instead of using just plain digestive biscuits I used plain chocolate digestives and this made it a wholly more chocolate affair! Anyway, here is this incredibly simple but extremely moreish recipe, you will not be disappointed!

Easy Chocolate Cheesecake (Copyright Kenny McGovern 2010)

Serves 2
4 digestive biscuits (I used plain chocolate ones)
2 tbsp butter
3 tbsp hazelnut and chocolate spread, Nutella is brilliant!
2 tbsp soft cheese (I used full fat Philadelphia)

Just four ingredients!

The blitzed biscuits mixed in with the melted butter.

1. Add the digestive biscuits to a blender and blitz to crumbs.
2. Melt the butter and combine with the biscuit crumbs. Press the mixture into a dessert ring or two smaller rings and pat down firmly.

   

   The biscuit base pressed into the dessert rings
   
   
   

3. In a bowl mix the hazelnut and chocolate spread with the soft cheese until well combined. Have a little taste and add a bit more chocolate or cheese if need be and depending on taste.
4. Spoon the chocolate and cheese mixture onto the top of the biscuit base. Refrigerate for about 2 -3 hours or until set.
5. Remove the dessert ring/rings and serve.
6. As you can see from the first photo, I served my cheesecakes with some raspberry coulis which you can buy ready-made in a jar or easily make at home by blitzing some raspberries and icing sugar in a blender and pushing through a sieve.

Mixing the cheese and chocolate together

Turned out and ready to eat

These cheesecakes took just minutes to prepare and because they tasted sooooo good they would be excellent as pudding when entertaining friends and family!













Next time: Continuing my April Chocolate Fest, more chocolate recipes to include Snickers Mousse and Boozy Chocolate Terrine both from the same book to suit children and adults alike.