NO BAKE MINI SPECULOOS SWIRL CHEESECAKE

Remember this speculoos, this is one of the many awesome things you can do with it. This recipe is one of my favourite ones as its super easy and will be a great part of your Christmas menu; whenever I make it everyone has multiple servings. 

This is my go to cheesecake recipe as I don't particularly like the texture of baked cheesecakes, plus I refuse to live in fear of the dreaded cracked cheesecake top (cue dramatic music!!!!).

To make these more party friendly I have served them in disposable shot glasses but feel free to make a full cheesecake and cut that into portions (notes at the end of this post). Although I have put in a measurement for the icing sugar, it’s really down to personal taste so I suggest starting with half the quantity in the recipe and then taste and adjust to suit you.

NO BAKE SPECULOOS SWIRL CHEESECAKE

Makes 20 mini cheesecake 

Servings 10

Ingredients

100g lotus biscuits

40g melted butter

160g cream cheese

140g mascarpone cheese

¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

140ml double cream

80g of icing sugar

2 tbsp speculoos

Red and green sanding sugar (optional)

Directions

Crush the biscuits by whizzing in a food processor or placing in freezer bag and bashing with a rolling pin. I recommend the latter; it’s a great stress reliever.

Melt the butter in a bowl, add in the breadcrumbs and mix to coat all the crumbs.

about a teaspoon and a half of the biscuit mixture in the shot glasses and use another shot glass to push down lightly to make an even layer (make sure you don’t push down too hard or else the base will go almost rock hard when its chilled making it difficult to get a spoon through). Place the biscuit bases into the fridge for about 15 minutes to set

Meanwhile, whisk together the cream cheese, mascarpone cheese and vanilla until smooth. Sift in the icing sugar and whisk to incorporate. Add in the double cream and whisk until the mixture reaches soft peaks (this means if you lift your whisk out of the mixture it should fold over on itself but not plop back into the bowl. 

Take out a third of the cream cheese mixture and stir in 2 tablespoons of speculoos.

Spoon the speculoos mixture into one side of the piping bag and spoon the plain mixture into the other half.

Pipe the mixture onto the chilled biscuit bases and put in the fridge to set for about an hour. 

bring out the cheesecakes about 10 minutes before serving and for a festive touch sprinkle on some green and red sanding sugar just before serving.

(To make a full sized cheesecake, double the recipe and use an 8 inch (20cm) loose bottomed or spring from pan; also you will need to chill the biscuit base for about an hour and leave the cheesecake to set overnight )