Let them eat cheesecake

Banoffee pudding

Shavuot is the perfect time to make this pudding as you can be assured that your guests will gobble every last crumb. Leftovers are a serious hazard to late-night snackers. If you use the Woolworths salted caramel, don’t forget to leave out the salt in the recipe.

Ingredients

30g butter (2 Tbsp)

1½ bananas, the riper the better

2¼ cups of milk

210g of tinned caramel or Woolworths salted caramel spread

½ tsp kosher salt if you are using plain caramel

¼ cup of flour

2 Tbsp sugar

4 egg yolks and 1 egg

2 tsp vanilla essence

1½ cups thick cream

½ cup of sour cream

1 pkt Nuttikrust Biscuits

4 Tbsp caramel

Method

Slice the bananas and cook in the butter until they begin to caramelise. Add the salt, caramel, and milk. Using a hand blender or food processor, blend until smooth.

In another bowl, whisk the eggs, sugar, and flour. Add the milk and gradually whisk until smooth. Put into the pot with the banana mixture and cook on medium heat until it thickens. Remove from the heat, and add the vanilla essence. Place in the fridge for at least four hours.

Assembly

Whip the cream and sour cream until thick. Layer the pudding in a glass bowl. First, the custard, then a few Nuttikrusts and a few dollops of caramel, and finally the cream. Repeat three or four times, ending with the cream. You can swirl a small amount of the caramel into the cream to garnish the top. Refrigerate for a few hours or overnight before serving.

Crunchie cheesecake

The cake can be made in advance and frozen without the topping. I seem to be on a major Woolworths punt, but it has brought out the most delicious chocolate-enrobed crunchies, and so I felt compelled to use them in my cheesecake. They don’t yet have a stamp, but I’ve triple-checked with the powers that be, and they are indeed kosher. Cheesecake must be made with room temperature ingredients for the best results.

Ingredients

Base

2 cups crushed digestive biscuits

115g butter melted

2 Tbsp cocoa

2 Tbsp sugar

Filling

1kg cream cheese (careful not smooth cottage)

1⅓ cups of castor sugar

4 eggs

1 cup cream

2 tsp vanilla essence

1 Tbsp lemon juice

100g chocolate honeycomb crushed

Topping

1 cup sour cream

½ tsp vanilla essence

2 Tbsp of castor sugar

100g of chocolate crunchie for garnishing

Method

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees centigrade and line a 26cm springform tin with baking paper. Combine the ingredients for the base, and press them into the tin. Bake for 10 minutes, and allow to cool.

Turn the oven down to 150 degrees. Beat the cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add the eggs one at a time. Beat in the cream, vanilla, and lemon juice. Fold in the crunchies. Pour onto the base. Cover with tin foil shiny side up, and bake for 90 minutes to two hours until set. Switch off the oven, and leave the cake in the oven to cool. Refrigerate.

Mix all the topping ingredients together, and spread over the cake. Crush the Crunchie chocolates and use them to decorate the cake.