mmmm… cheesecake. Is this a cheesecake though or is it more of a fool served on a biscuit base?
Traditionally I make cheesecakes using a combination of cream cheese, jelly and cream but lately I’ve tried some made without the jelly and they’ve worked just fine. It hastens the preparation time and anything that speeds things up gets my vote. I thought I was a bit of genius coming up with the rhubarb & custard cheesecake combo but a quick google tells me that approximately 100,000 others thought of it before me. But did they use a custard cream biscuit base though?
For the uninitiated custard creams are a vanilla/custard flavoured sweet biscuit sandwiched together with a buttery cream filling. They’re popular in Britain and Ireland and if you’re overseas you can order them from http://www.irishcandystore.com and have them shipped to you. I know that whenever I’ve lived away from Ireland there are certain things that you just can’t get hold of and that taste of home, like a bag of cheese & onion Taytos, Irish marmalade and indeed the humble custard cream with a cup of Barry’s tea.
This quantity makes 1 deep filled 9 inch cheesecake. (If using a smaller tin cut back on the mascarpone)
You will need:
9 inch spring-form tin (advisable to use a tin that has a spring release side and removable base – if you don’t have one just used a well lined deep cake tin however it will be difficult to get the cheesecake out)
5 or 6 stalks rhubarb + 2 tbsp water
50g caster sugar
2 X 150g packs of Custard Cream biscuits
100g butter
250ml fresh cream
500g (2 x 250g tubs) mascarpone
2 tbsp icing sugar
300ml ready-made custard
2 tbsp icing sugar
Method:
Rinse and chop the stalks of rhubarb and place in a saucepan with 2 tbsp water and 50g sugar and cook over a medium heat until the rhubarb has softened and broken up. Set aside to cool.
Place the custard cream biscuits in a plastic bag and bash to a crumb with a rolling pin.
Melt 100g butter in a saucepan and take off the heat. Stir in the biscuit crumb and mix well with the melted butter then pour the mixture into the base of a spring-form tin.
Place the tin in the fridge to allow the biscuit base to begin to set while you prepare the filling.
Whip the cream until holding peaks in a bowl and set aside.
Mix the mascarpone with the custard, 2 tbsp icing sugar and cooled rhubarb until smooth and well combined.
Fold in the whipped cream, mixing gently until well combined
Pour this mixture on top of the custard cream biscuit base and allow to set in the fridge overnight.
Enjoy.
Til next time, Sheila.