For Christmas, I was kindly gifted with not one, but TWO of the same GBBO diary. In the diary, it gives you a different recipe to try each month. So I thought I would I would make every single recipe and document it on here!January’s recipe is a Caffe Latte Gingerbread Cheesecake, although, I do have a confession to make, I absolutely HATE cheesecake! Although, I did say I would make every recipe, and that’s exactly what I intend to do.

I had to try the finished product no matter how much I dislike cheesecake, and, honestly, it was gorgeous! I don’t know if its because recently I’ve really been enjoying coffee but I will definitely be going back for another slice.

The recipe:

For the base:
190g spiced wafers (I used ginger biscuits)
70g unsalted butter, melted

For the filling:
800g full fat soft cheese
150ml soured cream
4 medium eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 rounded tablespoon of instant coffee powder (I used 2)
1 tablespoon of boiling water (I used 2)
1 tablespoon of coffee liquor (I did not have that which is why I used 2 tablespoons of coffee powder)
40g chopped glace ginger (I did not have this so I used 1 tablespoon of ginger marmalade)

For the topping:
Cocoa powder, for dusting

Pre-heat oven to Gas mark 2/150°C/300°F
Prepare your springclip tin by lining the bottom with greaseproof paper.

Method:

In a food processor, add in the ginger biscuits and crush until they are all crumbs. If you do not have a food processor, you can put the biscuits into a plastic bag and hit with a rolling pin.
In a bowl, combine the crumbs with the melted butter. Mix well until thoroughly combined. Once combined, add into your prepared tin and press with the back of a spoon.

Bake in the oven for 10 minutes, leave to cool while you make the filling.

Next, add the soft cheese, sour cream, sugar, vanilla and eggs into a food processor and blitz until combined. (If you don’t have a food processor, you can use an electric whisk like I did or just a normal whisk with a lot of elbow grease!)
Then put approximately 200ml of the mixture to one side. Next, add your coffee powder and boiling water together (and coffee liquor if you’re using it) pour this into the remaining mixture and mix well. Then add chopped ginger of choice and mix well.

Put the springcrip tin onto a baking sheet and bake in the oven for 1 hour. At this stage, the cheesecake will still wobble in the middle but do not worry.Add on your 200ml of mixture you left aside. Bake again for another 20-30 minutes.
Some of the mixture may leak out of the tin which is why the baking tray is so important!

Then cover in clingfilm and refrigerate overnight. Don’t worry if your mixture is still wobbly, the fridge helps with this.Once the mixture has set overnight, run a blade around the outside of the cheesecake, then carefully remove the springclip tin. Word of advice, do not try to lift the cheesecake off the tin base! I tried this and cracked the entire top of it.
Next, dust with cocoa powder in your own way. (I just covered all the cracks on mine!)

I tried to make the finished product look as pretty as possible and it was a bit of a struggle! But, it was really easy to make even though it does take a while, it also tasted really good! The family approved, I just hope the girls in work approve!!

Thanks for reading.

Kate.