So when I stumbled across Gordon Ramsay's Amaretto and Pear Cheesecake Recipe, I just had to try it and give it my own twist.
Super easy, no cooking required. Perfect.
(Hover your mouse over 'Gordon Ramsay' to be linked to the original recipe).
What you will need:
Base:
- 150g caramelised biscuits (i.e. Lotus; not the gooey ones)
- 50g unsalted butter
Filling:
- 300g full-fat cream cheese (I used Philadelphia)
- 125g caster sugar
- 450ml double cream
- 2-3 standard shots of Amaretto Liquer (I used Disaronno)
- 100g amaretti biscuits, (roughly crushed cave-man style)
- 1.5 tins of pear quarters (chopped into small cubes ~1cm)
- 70% cocoa dark chocolate
Method:
1. For the base: toss the 50g of unsalted butter and the caramelised biscuits into a food processor and blitz. Then tip the mixture into a 24cm springform cake tin, and press it down gently. Send it to the refrigerator to set.
2. For the filling: whisk the cream cheese and sugar until it's well blended, and then add in the double cream and amaretto liquer (have a swig of liquer yourself as well) and whisk away to form soft peaks. Fold in the the crushed ameretti biscuits and chopped tinned pears.
Have a taste of your filling and add more liquer if you're feeling naughty (this always happens to me).
3. Spooning:] Spoon out the filling and dollop on top of the biscuit base.
4. Chill: Leave your cheesecake in the refrigerator until it sets, so approximately 1 hour.
5. Decorate: (Optional) Since I didn't have a grater and I used a sharp knife and shaved off curls of dark chocolate on top of the cheesecake, for added seduction.
6. Undress from the tin and serve.
This cheesecake is one of my most favorite one's to make, because it's not too sweet at all and the double cream makes the filling really light; so you won't get that full fat over-kill feeling.
Also, the pears really soak up the amaretto and adds a refreshing yet alcoholic (depending how much amaretto you add) crunch to it.
Irresistable.
Do yourself a favour, make this one at home and you will never buy a cheesecake from a store again.
