The March cakes for the office were only two as some people took time off to have a longer Easter break. And since we had burgers for lunch the same day I expected some cake to be left over. But no, they went down a treat!

Especially this white chocolate cake courtesy of Mary Berry was very popular! It is not too sweet, and that is probably part of the success. That, and using good quality chocolate. There are so many bad and far too sweet versions of white chocolate in the shops. I used Green & Blacks and it was good enough to eat plain and really worked in the cheesecake too.

I decorated my cake with Easter eggs as it was the Thursday before Easter, but other choccies or some fresh berries work well too.

White chocolate cheesecake, serves 8

Adapted from Mary Berry’s recipe.

Base:
50g butter
25g dark chocolate  
150g digestive biscuits, crushed

Filling:
300g white chocolate, broken into pieces 
400g full fat cream cheese
150 ml soured cream
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

To serve:
Dusting of cocoa powder 

Pre-heat oven to 160°C. Grease and line the base of a Ø 20 cm spring form cake tin with non-stick paper. Melt butter and chocolate in small saucepan over a low heat. Stir in crushed biscuits and press evenly over the base of the tin – chill in the fridge.

Break the white chocolate into a bowl and melt very gently over a pan of hot water (do not allow the chocolate to become too hot), stir occasionally with a spoon until runny and smooth.

 Whisk the cream cheese and eggs together in a large bowl until smooth, add soured cream and vanilla and whisk again until completely smooth with no lumps. Stir in the melted chocolate and mix together.

Pour in the tin and spread evenly over the chilled base. Bake in preheated oven for about 45 minutes until firm around the edge and just set in the middle. Remove from the oven. Using a small palette knife run the knife around the edge of the tin and then allow to cool and chill. Remove the outside ring and lift base onto serving plate.