Three tier cheesecake topped with chocolate covered strawberries
You will need three differently sized tins. Dip the strawberries on the day you plan to eat the cake, as they do not do well in the fridge.
INGREDIENTS: For the base:
300g digestive biscuits 150g butter, melted A bit of milk if needed
For the filling:
One vanilla pod
800g full fat cream cheese, softened
170g caster sugar
6 large eggs
For the decoration:
30 medium to small strawberries
150g dark chocolate 150g milk chocolate 150g white chocolate
You will also need: Cocktail sticks, a plastic or metal tray; and a polystyrene half dome, florist’s foam or similar to dry the strawberries on.
METHOD:
To make the base: you will need three round baking tins of 23cm, 20cm, 15cm diameter approximately.
Process or crush biscuits finely and add the melted butter. Mix to combine, adding a bit of cold milk if you need to hold it together. Press the crumbs into the three baking dishes — add 250g to the 23cm tin; 150g to the 20cm tin and 115g to the 15cm tin.
Heat oven to 160°C and prepare the filling: soak the vanilla pod in warm water to soften, then scrape out the grains with a sharp knife. Beat the cheese and sugar in a bowl with an electric mixer until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla and beat well. Spoon the topping onto the bases and bake for 45 minutes.
Cool then refrigerate ideally overnight or at least for a few hours, so they set firmly.
To decorate: Reserve a few strawberries and keep the stalks on — they will be for decoration. Hull the rest.
Wash and dry the strawberries well with kitchen towel. Melt the three chocolates separately.
Use a cocktail stick per strawberry to dip it into the chocolate then ‘plant’ it in the polystyrene half dome to set. If you do not have a dome, lay the dipped strawberries gently on baking paper. When they have set you can drizzle with another colour of chocolate if you like.
To assemble the cake, place the medium cake on top of the large one and the small one on top of the medium.
Decorate with the strawberries – as pictured — and eat the same day.