Chocolate and pear cheesecake

I was always under the impression that cheesecake would be hard to make but it’s actually one of the easier things that I bake. I originally made it for my boyfriend the very first Christmas we were together because it’s a popular dessert in Poland at that time of year. This one went down a treat the first time I made it so I thought I’d share it on here! I always feel like chocolate and fruit together make a good summertime treat. This recipe is from the Philadelphia website but I actually used Sainsbury’s cream cheese, chocolate bourbons instead of digestives and double cream instead of sour cream! It worked perfectly though. So here it is!

For an 8 inch in diameter cheesecake (serves about 12 or less if you are hungry!):

175 g bourbons, crushed

40 g butter, melted

400 g full fat cream cheese

140 ml double cream

3 eggs, beaten

100g caster sugar

25 g plain flour

25 g cocoa powder

75 g dark chocolate, melted

2 ripe pears, pealed and cubed

Heat oven to 170^oC (gas 3 or 340^oC)

Line the bottom of an 8 inch springform cake tin with greaseproof paper (not baking parchment – it’s RUBBISH!) and grease with butter.

Mix the bourbon crumbs and melted butter together and push into the bottom of the cake tin. Beat the cream cheese, cream, sugar and eggs together until light and smooth. Mix in the flour, cocoa powder and melted chocolate. Fold in the pear once completely combined and pour onto the biscuit base. Bake for about an hour (always check at around 45 minutes to see how it is going) until set. Once the cheesecake is cooked, turn off the oven and leave it inside for another hour. After this, take it out of the tin and refrigerate for at least 3 hours although overnight is better. And here is the final product!

Lizzi :)