Opening Night Cheesecakes

I'm not the kind of person that shows up empty handed to anything. So when my housemates new play had Opening Night on the same night as the lead performer's birthday my house-mate and I got to work to ensure the birthday boy felt extra special. It's an incredible play so I also sort-of considered it a way to say "thank you" to the cast for sharing such a beautiful experience with us. We got free tickets and a bit of booze out of it so it only fair really. And it's a gay play so we had to make this cake pretty fabulous!!

Saucy Raspberry & White Chocolate Cheesecake

200g Oreos
90g Melted Butter
125g Premium Cocoa
3 tsp Gelatin
200ml hot water
250g Cream Cheese
250g Mascapone
400g Sweetened Condensed Milk
300ml Cream
150g White Chocolate
500g Frozen Raspberries
125g castor sugar
125g water

1. Annihilate the Oreos with a rolling pin. Normally I'd do this imagining an ex-boyfriend's face but this cake was being made with lurve so no room for anger here. I begin by smashing the Oreos whilst still in the packet then dumping them into a bowl and go at it until a consistent but slightly course texture is reached. Mix in cocoa & melted butter and stir until evenly combined.
2. Scoop mixture into a spring-form pan lined with greaseproof paper; smooth out to the edges. Stick it in the fridge.
3. Melt white chocolate by being very careful using a Pyrex bowl and a plastic spatula in the microwave. 30 seconds; stir; 30 seconds; stir; 30 seconds; stir. That ought to do it. Ensure that you give it a good stir before putting it back in for more.
4. Boil the kettle and pour 200mls of the water into a small mug. Add the gelatine & stir continuously until dissolved completely without lumps. Stir it Una!
5. Ensure that cream cheese, mascarpone & condensed milk are at room temperature - beat until smooth.
6. Whisk cream to soft peaks.
7. Add gelatine to cheese mixture & combine. Gently stir cream & chocolate through. We also added pink food colouring at this point to ensure the cake was flamboyant enough.
8. Pour half the mixture onto the prepared base. Add a layer of frozen raspberries (about 375g) then top with the remaining mix.
9. Bash the bubbles out by holding the mix 10cm above the bench and firmly dropping back down. Repeat only 2-3 times to ensure that raspberries remain suspended and do not sink to the bottom.
10. Stick it back into the fridge overnight.
11. Place 125mls water on the boil with 125g castor sugar and 125g raspberries. Bring to boil; reduce temperature and simmer for 3-4 minutes. Cool. Blitz when cooled.

We decorated the cheesecake with edible gold stars that are pretty readily available. Feel free to decorate with some fresh raspberries or white chocolate shavings.

Cut the cheesecake with a hot knife, pour the sauce over each individual slice liberally (please lets be fabulous about this!). I prefer to eat without cutlery but by all means be a little civil if you really must.

Continental cheesecakes really are so easy and fast to prepare. There are so many types of fruit you can replace the raspberries with. Why not try mango, mulberry or strawberry? You'll always get invited back when you arrive with one of these beauties!