Original recipe of the week: Chocolate and ginger cheesecake laced with Captain Morgan’s Spiced Rum

As the nights get colder, we all need a little something to warm up our cockles. Whether it is a roaring fire, a soak in the tub, an indulgent dessert or a good old stiff drink, we all have our savours. It’s fair to say that cheesecake is always a winner in an indulgent dessert stake and a well-rounded “feel-gooder” when it comes to a pick-me-up. When laden with chocolate, a crisp ginger base and laced with spiced rum, a normal-style cheesecake becomes something of its own. Capable of curing even the smallest sniffles, don’t under estimate the power of the cheesecake.

Chocolate and ginger cheesecake

Preparation time: 10-15mins

Chill time: 4 hours

Serves: 6-8

What you will need:

100g Hobnob biscuits

100g Ginger Nut biscuits

10g butter (softened)

400g cream cheese

300g extra thick double cream

200g icing sugar

150g chocolate chips

8 tbs Captain Morgan’s Spiced Rum

Cocoa powder for dusting

What you need to do:

1. Grease and line a spring-form cake tin and set aside.
2. Preheat your oven to 230°C and place half of the biscuits into a food processor. Blitz until crushed and add the rest of the biscuits and repeat.
3. Tip the crushed-up biscuits into a mixing bowl and add the butter. Mix until all combined. Press this into the base of the cake tin and bake in the oven for five minutes.
4. When slightly browned remove from the oven and set aside to cool.
5. In a clean mixing bowl add in the cream cheese, cream and icing sugar. Give this a mix at first to combine, but once combined start to whisk with a hand-whisk until firm. Be careful not to over-whisk.
6. When the mixture is firm, add in the rum, a tablespoon at a time, and mix to disperse.
7. Now add the mixture to the base and chill for two hours. After two hours remove from the fridge and add the chocolate chips and cocoa power to the top and return to the fridge for a further two hours until completely set.
8. Simply enjoy on its own for a delicious autumn treat.

Bethany Stone