HOW TO MAKE RED VELVET CHEESECAKE

Ingredients

200 g packet of chocolate digestive biscuits, crumbed 150g butter, melted

Filling

3x250g thick cream cheese 250ml castor sugar

60ml cocoa powder

3 eggs

250ml sour cream

30-40ml red food colouring

Topping

125g butter 250g thick cream cheese 500ml sifted icing sugar 10ml lemon juice 5ml vanilla extract red sprinkles or castor sugar, coloured red for the top

Method

Put the crumbed biscuits in a bowl and add enough butter to make the crumbs stick together. Press the crumbs on to the base of a 22cm springform cake pan. Wrap the outside of the pan in a double layer of foil and put it in the freezer while you prepare the filling.

For the filling

Beat together the cream cheese and castor sugar until smooth. Beat in the cocoa powder.

Add the eggs and beat until smooth. Mix in the sour cream and food colouring.

Pour the mixture on to the crust. Place the pan into a large roasting tin and add about a litre of water to the tin. Bake at 150°C for 1 hour. Turn the oven off, leave the door slightly ajar and leave for another 30 minutes. Refrigerate until well chilled.

For the topping

Cream the butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy. Add the icing sugar a cup at a time, beating after each addition. Beat in the lemon

juice and vanilla. Spread a thick layer on top of the chilled cheesecake and sprinkle over red sprinkles or coloured castor sugar.

Tips:

If you don’t want to use red food colouring, use beetroot juice concentrate. The colour is not as deep and the texture grainier.

To make the beetroot concentrate, boil 250ml fresh beetroot juice and 60ml castor sugar until it has thickened and reduced to about 125ml.

Woolworths sells a bottle of beetroot juice which can be used to boil down as an alternative to juicing your beetroot in a juice extractor.