Serves 10-12
I still remember making this for dessert for one of our first Christmases in Australia. We were still fresh off the boat (and when I say boat, I mean plane) and we hadn’t quite got the hang of Aussie Christmas. To be fair, we still haven’t really got the hang of Aussie Christmas, having spent almost all of our Christmases in sub zero temperatures. We only know Christmas with hot food and daggy jumpers.
We planned our first Christmas dinner with delicious precision and included all the things we knew and loved from Christmas feasts gone by . There was roast pork, stuffing, roast potatoes, Yorkshire puddings and gravy… And the there was also the small matter of the mercury peaking at over 40 degrees. We were so hot, it wasn’t just the pork and the potatoes that were roasting!
At least we had this delicious cheesecake to cool us down! Needless to say, we learnt our lesson the hard way and haven’t cooked a full roast for Christmas since. We have made this cheesecake though because we scream for cookies and cream (and never say no to value added white chocolate.) It’s had a bit of a makeover with some new pics and a Thermomix conversion but one thing hasn’t changed… It’s still one of our all time favourites, whatever the weather!
Ingredients
3 packets Oreo cookies
80g unsalted butter
500g cream cheese
160g (2/3 cup) caster sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
150g white chocolate, plus 80g extra to decorate
How to – Traditional
- Preheat oven to 170 C/150C fan-forced. Grease and line the base of a 23cm springform tin.
- Crush 2 packets of Oreos in a food processor until fine crumbs. Add the butter and press into the base of a 23cm base-lined spring form cake tin.
- Place base in fridge while while you make the filling.
- Place the the remaining packet Oreos in a processor and pulse until chopped in small chunks and set aside.
- Break the 150g chocolate into chunks and melt in the microwave in 30 second bursts. Set aside.
- Place the cream cheese in an electric mixer and beat with the sugar until smooth. Add each egg separately, beating well after each addition.
- When the mixture is very smooth, add the vanilla, chocolate and half of the crushed biscuits, reserving the other half to decorate with later. Stir to combine.
- Pour the cream cheese mixture over the base, place on a baking tray and bake in preheated oven for 50 minutes. Turn the oven off and allow to cool completely with the oven door slightly ajar and then chill for at least 2 hours before serving.
- When ready to serve, melt the 80g extra chocolate and using the back of a spoon, drizzle half the melted white chocolate over the top of the cheesecake and scatter the remaining Oreo crumbs on top. Drizzle with the remaining chocolate.
How to – Thermomix
- Preheat oven to 170 C/150C fan-forced. Grease and line the base of a 23cm springform tin.
- Melt butter for 2 minutes at 60C on speed 2. Check butter is completely melted. Add 2 packets Oreos to TM bowl and crush for 5 seconds on speed 9. The mixture should have the texture of damp sand. If necessary, blitz for another 5 seconds.
- Place base in fridge while while you make the filling. Chop the remaining Oreos in the Thermomix for 1 seconds on speed 5. Set aside.
- Break the 150g chocolate into chunks and melt in the microwave in 30 second bursts. Set aside.
- Wash and dry bowl. Add cream cheese, vanilla and eggs and mix for 30 seconds on speed 4. Scrape down lid and sides of bowl. If necessary, mix again for another 5-10 seconds.
- Add the white chocolate and half the Oreo chunks (reserving the other half for decorating) and mix on reverse speed 3 for 10 seconds.
- Pour over the base, place on a baking tray and bake in preheated oven for 50 minutes.Turn the oven off and allow to cool completely with the oven door slightly ajar and then chill for at least 2 hours before serving.
- When ready to serve,melt the 80g extra chocolate and using the back of a spoon, drizzle half the melted white chocolate over the top of the cheesecake and scatter the remaining Oreo crumbs on top. Drizzle with the remaining chocolate.
