Chocolate Crunch Cheesecake

Serves 12

Ingredients For the base

34 chocolate-covered wafer fingers (you can use milk, white or dark chocolate or a mixture; I use Kitkats)

300g digestive biscuits

150g salted or unsalted butter, melted

For the Filling

450ml cold double cream

500g full-fat cream cheese, at room temperature

120g icing sugar

200g milk chocolate, melted and cooled slightly

For the topping

100g dark chocolate, broken into pieces

100ml double cream

6 chocolate-covered wafer fingers, broken into small pieces

Method

■ Line the bottom of a 20cm round springform cake tin with a circle of nonstick baking paper. Place the chocolate-covered wafer fingers around the inside edge of the prepared tin with the branding facing outwards. The edge of each finger should line up with the neighbouring finger. If there is a gap at the end, slice a finger in half vertically to fill it.

■ Put the digestive biscuits into a food processor and process until finely crushed or put them into a plastic bag and crush with a rolling pin.

■ Tip into a large mixing bowl, then pour in the melted butter and mix until fully combined.

■ Carefully scoop the mixture into the tin, making sure you don’t knock any of the chocolate-covered wafer fingers over, then press it down firmly with the back of a spoon (this will secure the wafer fingers in place). Pop into the refrigerator while you make the filling.

■ In a large mixing bowl, whip the cream with an electric hand mixer until stiff peaks form.

In a separate large bowl, beat together the cream cheese and icing sugar with the electric mixer until smooth, then pour in your melted milk chocolate and beat until just combined.

■ Fold in the whipped cream with a rubber spatula until just combined. Remove the chilled base from the refrigerator, then spoon in the filling, smoothing it out to the edges of the wafer fingers and pressing it down onto the base to avoid any gaps.

■ Put the chocolate pieces and cream into a microwave-safe bowl and microwave on high for 1 minute 20 seconds (the cream should be warm enough to melt the chocolate without boiling and curdling).

■ Leave to stand for about 2 minutes, then stir until the cream and chocolate start to come together. Continue to stir until smooth and creamy.

■ Pour the topping over the filling and quickly smooth it out to the edges using a metal spatula or the back of a spoon.

■ Sprinkle the broken chocolate-covered wafer pieces evenly over the top and chill in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours, or overnight, if possible, until completely set.