Baileys and Chocolate Miniature Cheesecakes

Hi everyone,
I've not been around over the past few weeks for one reason and another ... mostly on account of work, but also because I've had some persistent sinus trouble for the past three months which is not the best recipe for baking!!  I've also done one or two repeat bakes plus had the odd baking disaster (my recent albino Battenberg may have tasted good but it certainly wasn't ready for its close-up!!) so I decided to draw a blogging veil over my recent efforts!

Anyhow I'm feeling quite a bit better right now, and also I've got a bit of a boost to my mojo with the start of series 5 of Bake Off .... so I thought I would make some miniature cakes like they did for this week's showstopper challenge!! Not 36 though ... much as I like cake, I don't think that me and my husband could get through that many lol!!

I have a bottle of Baileys in the cupboard which needs finishing, so I decided to use it to make some miniature cheesecakes, also using my Lakeland 12 cup mini sandwich tin as seen on this week's Bake Off (oh how I would love one of those gadgets that Norman invented to make all the cakes pop out at once ... Lakeland why don't you patent it??)

By the way, please excuse the pictures ... it's been a while since I took pics of my baking, and today I forgot to set my macro on, so the close ups are a bit blurred!!

Baileys & Chocolate Mini Cheesecakes

Taken from: Lakeland website

Ingredients:
100g butter, plus extra to grease
250g digestive biscuits, crushed
600g soft cream cheese
25ml Baileys liqueur
100g icing sugar
300ml double cream, whipped
100g good quality dark chocolate, coarsely grated
100g dark chocolate, roughly chopped

Equipment:
Lakeland 12 Cup Mini Sandwich Tin

Method:
1. Grease the Mini Sandwich Tin with a little butter (I used Cake Release).

2. Crush the biscuits, either in a food processor, or (as I did) by placing in a freezer bag and crushing with a rolling pin.

3. Melt the butter in a pan, add the crushed biscuits and stir well until the biscuits have absorbed all the butter. 

4. Remove from the heat, divide the mixture equally between the cups in the cake tin and press firmly into place. Place in the refrigerator and allow to set for one hour.

5. Lightly whip the cream cheese then beat in the Baileys and icing sugar. Fold in the whipped cream and roughly half of the grated chocolate. 

6. When smooth, spoon evenly onto the biscuit bases. Refrigerate and allow to set for at least two hours.

7. Once set, carefully remove by running a knife dipped in hot water round the edge of each cheesecake and gently pushing up the tin’s loose bases. Just before serving, sprinkle the remaining grated chocolate then the chopped chocolate over each cheesecake.

Observations:
I  made half the recipe amount listed above, with a view to baking a manageable (for eating!) 6  mini cheesecakes ... but it actually made 7, and had so much cheesecake mix I wished I had divided my biscuit base into 8!!  I also found that I needed considerably less than half the amount of chocolate listed in the recipe.

This was only my second ever attempt at cheesecake (my first was a baked cheesecake) and it was incredibly easy  .. the most difficult part was getting it out of the tin.  After 2 1/2 hours it was set enough (just!)  to get  2 out of the pan to eat with our evening meal; but I left the rest in the fridge overnight to firm up more.  I was very pleased with the flavour and texture of the cheesecake mix though .. absolutely delicious!

I'd like to enter this for a couple of baking challenges ....

Firstly, this month's Treat Petite challenge, hosted this month by Stuart at Cakeyboi, and alternate months by Kat aka The Baking Explorer. This month's theme is No Bake - perfect for these little desserts.

Secondly, I'd like to take part in Lucy from Super Golden Bakes' #GBBO Bake Along (Episode 1)

I am of baking along with this week's showstopper challenge of  "miniature British classics". I doubt I'll be troubling the Bake Off tent any time soon, but I still really enjoy it. ... nonetheless I have also tweeted this post to #Extra Slice ... you never know!!

Update: I have just spotted August's Baking With Spirit challenge hosted by Janine at Cake of the Week, which is to go crazy  and do whatever you want with alcohol (oo-er!).