Strawberry Cheesecake with Chocolate Topping

This is a divine dessert which we had to top off a fantastic spinach and cheese lasagne.  The vessel here is just nice for compartmentalising if you are taking enough cheesecake for a small group of people.

Ingredients

For the crust

- 1 packet of Arnotts Milk Arrowroot biscuits http://www.arnotts.com/our-products/products/plains.aspx
- 1/2 a stick of butter (125grams, melted)

For the filling

- 2 packets of Cream Cheese (low fat or reduced fat)
- 4 eggs
- 1 can of Nestle Sweetened Condensed Milk
- 2 dozen strawberries pipped and washed
- 3 tablespoons of whipped cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla

For the topping

- 200g of Sour cream
- 150g of bitter sweet chocolate
- 1/2 a cup of icing sugar

Directions

Put the Milk Arrowroot biscuits in a sealable food storage bag.  Using a rolling pin, gently crush the biscuits.  They don't need to be pulverised, just nicely broken up into tiny coarse pieces.  In a medium mixing bowl combined the the biscuits crumbs and melted butter and combine so that they have a chance to inteact.  A lot of recipes add sugar to the crust but I've found, at least folks in Malaysia prefer their sweets a little less sweet, so dropping the sugar out of the crust is one way to achieve that and the taste is still great.

Transfer the combined crust mixture to a greased springform pan.  If you use a large springform pan this quatity will give you a half-inch thick crust.  If you want to use a 9 inch pie dish and have crust on the edges, you'll require another half pack of biscuits and half as much butter again.

Press the crumbs firmly into the pan or dish using the outside of a cup to ensure the edges are compressed.

Bake the crust at 150C for 10 minutes and then take out of the oven and allow to cool.

For the filling and note that if you are using a springform pan these ingredients give you about 3/4 inch of cheesecake.  If you want a really high cheesecake use 4 packs of cream cheese.

In  a large mixing bowl and using hand beaters, beat the cream cheese and condensed milk until the lumps are taken out.  Add one egg at a time and the vanilla essence and continue to beat.  I like to cook a dozen or so of the strawberries and whipped cream together for a few minutes and then use a potato masher to mash the strawberries and then add the contents to the large bowl of filling and beat in.  And that's it - don't overbeat the mixture.

Pour the filling into the springform pan or pie dish and then wrap the bottom of the pan with alfoil and place in a baking tray filled with an inch of water.  This will keep the oven moist when it bakes.

Bake at 150C for 45 minutes (cooking time will vary with oven and the quantity of filing.  Check regularly to see the the cheesecake is done by wobbling the pan. The middle of the cake should still wobble a bit when it is done.)  Once cooked leave the door of the oven ajar and let the cheescake cool competely in the oven before taking out.

Run a sharp knife around the side of the pan to release the edge of the cheesecake.  Place the pan in the fridge for 6 hours or overnight to let it set.

For the topping, combine the topping ingredients in a small saucepan and cook on a low heat until chocolate melts and the contents combine to give a thick consistency with a shiny appearance.

Release springform pan and top the cheesecake.  Put it back in the fridge for a few hours and the choloate will set.

Cut the cheesecake into the desired sizes and if you want paint more topping on the edges of the cheesecake and continue to refridgerate.  Cut a half strawberry to decorate the slices and you're ready for your occasion.

Enjoy!