Tin Roof Cheesecake

Sometimes, our favourite foods have really weird names. Case in point: Tin roof ice cream. Who the heck decided that chocolate + peanuts = tin roof?! I mean, I'm bad at math but seriously? Apparently someone thought that the sound peanuts made when they fall out of the tin (obviously back in the day when plastic didn't exist), made them think of rain on a tin roof. Dunno about you, but peanuts rolling out of a tin sounds like dinnertime to me. 
And speaking of dinnertime - CHEESECAKE! 

You know why I love cheesecake? 

Because it's both cheese and cake. (Hey, you asked) And because I love it so much, I 

shall cover it in all sorts of delicious and wondrous things! 

Tin roof ice cream was a favourite of mine as a kid - and I'm pretty sure we all have our childhood memories of the flavour so this cheesecake is packed with peanut and chocolate nostalgia which basically means it's oozing chocolate sauce and crammed full of  chocolate-coated peanuts. Did I mention the toffee sauce? 

Because I always go next-level, I do it for you, really I do, I've added a toffee sauce to the Tin Roof rif, which seriously, SHOULD have been there all along! What's ice cream without a toffee ripple? Boring that's what. My legendary toffee sauce is made with the Natura Sugars Soft Brown Sugar. It looks like beach sand - and yes, I want to put my toes in it and wiggle them around which is totally inappropriate, but, come on, I know you're thinking it too! I also want to put it in just about everything. It's got this creamy fudgy flavour that makes mindblowing toffee sauce (as well as biscuits, chelsea buns and anything else that you want to taste like a toffee flavour bomb). 

I'm thinking this would be a pretty spectacular Christmas dessert but kudos to you if you can wait that long! Heck, why not just make it this weekend for no other reason than you want to shove your face in it. I'm here to tell you that's totally okay. But if you do choose to share it, remember when someone asks you, 'What flavour is that deliciously incredible-looking cheesecake?!" your answer should be: 'The Kate Tin Roof'.

Tin Roof Fridge Cheesecake

Serves 10-12

250g chocolate biscuits

75g melted butter

Toffee sauce

4 tbsp Natura Soft Brown Sugar

40g extra butter

4 tbsp cream

Chocolate sauce

4 tbsp cream

100g milk chocolate, chopped

Cheesecake

3 tsp gelatine

60ml water

500g full fat cream cheese

110g Natura Soft Brown Sugar

250ml cream, whipped

60g chocolate coated peanuts

60g peanut-nougat chocolate bar, chopped

Place chocolate biscuits and butter in a food processor and process until fine. Press into the bottom of a lined 20cm springform cake tin. Refrigerate until set.

Make the sauce by placing the sugar in a small saucepan and heat until melted and caramelized. Add the butter and cream and swirl to form a sauce.

Heat the cream and chocolate until melted and smooth.

To make the cheesecake: sprinkle the gelatine over the water and allow it to soak up all the water. Melt over gently simmering water until dissolved then allow to cool slightly.

Beat the cream cheese and caster sugar together until smooth then stir in the gelatine. Fold in the whipped cream, peanuts and chopped chocolate bar.

Pour half the cheese mixture into the prepared tin, drizzle 1/3 the butterscotch sauce, 1/3 the chocolate sauce. Top with remaining cream cheese mixture and sauces, leaving 1/3 of the sauces for the top. Cover and refrigerate for 3 hours or until set.  

Disclaimer: This post has been sponsored by Natura Sugars who produce a range of really special sugars that are unrefined and made according to traditional Mauritian sugar-making techniques. The sugars are non-GM, non-irradiated and unbleached with no preservatives, colourants or syrups added which basically means they are pure, natural and packed with flavour!  They're available from Spar, Checkers and Pick 'n Pay stores. 

No-Bake Chocolate Christmas Pudding

Does anyone actually LIKE Christmas pudding? Sure, it wouldn't be Christmas without it, but in our hot South African climate, who wants to eat a heavy, steamy, piping hot custard-coated winter pudding? Bleh. Yes, our Christmas is peppered with all kinds of snow-covered European traditions but that doesn't mean we can't put our own twist on them. Forget reindeer - we should have springbok instead! But let me not get ahead of myself here, let's start with the important stuff; dessert. 

Looks like a figgy pudding - yes! Tastes like a figgy pudding? Well, erm no. It's a gajillion times better! 

Firstly-  it has chocolate in it. 
2) Condensed milk 
3) It's no-bake / no-steam / no-effort
4) It's still got all the Christmassy stuff in, but it's cold
5) You can put whatever the heck you want in it!
6) It's low-fat - JOKES! Oh heck no. Hear that? It's the sound of diets crashing everywhere! But hey, that's what January is for, right?!

Now, you might be thinking, this looks familiar. Remember my Peppermint Crisp Fridge Cake recipe? In celebration of it being shared over 21 500 times on Facebook (see there are LOTS of sugar addicts out there like us) I gave it a festive makeover with an unhealthy amount of Christmas cheer (and treats)! 

I've added ginger biscuits, cherries, pistachios, toasted hazelnuts, candied peel, dried figs, booze-soaked raisins, heck I even threw in some spices and drenched it 

in white chocolate. 

It's like a Christmas party - in your mouth! 

But also, it's muesli. 

No-Bake Chocolate Christmas Pudding

Serves 6-8

100g butter

300g milk or dark chocolate, chopped

½ tin (190g) sweetened condensed milk (eat the rest with a spoon)

1 tsp mixed spice

200g biscuits, crumbled (I used spiced ginger)

240g toasted nuts/soaked dried fruit/cherries/candied peel/caramel popcorn/marshmallows etc

100g white chocolate, melted

Start by lining the inside of a medium-sized 1.5L mixing bowl with 2-3 layers of clingwrap. 

In a saucepan, combine the butter, milk chocolate and condensed milk over low heat and stir until melted.

In a separate bowl, mix together the spice, biscuits, nuts and fruit. Stir into the chocolate mixture and mix well. 

Pour into the lined mixing bowl then place in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours or until set. 

Remove from the mould and turn onto a serving plate. 

Spoon the melted chocolate onto the top and coax it down the sides. 

Decorate with sprinkles or Christmas decorations.

Serve thin slices with strong coffee or a glass of brandy. 

MORE CHRISTMAS RECIPES WITH A TWIST:

Gingerbread Train

Christmas Malva Pudding

Spiced Chocolate Cheesecake

Gingerbread Macarons

Easy Passion Fruit Cheesecake Ice Cream {No Churn}

If there is ONE ingredient that perfectly sums up the flavour of summer it would be passion fruit right? (side note: we call it granadilla here in South Africa and I'd love to be able to tell you a funny, quirky story as to why we do but frankly the internet let me down on this one!) And if there is ONE dish that perfectly sums up the feeling of summer, it's of course, ice cream. Put them together and you're basically eating a summer holiday! My kinda food.

Also, incase you haven't noticed yet, there are TWO desserts in ONE here. Bonus! Cheesecake and ice cream are always a good idea. 

Put them together and you have a damn good idea! 

This ice cream is for those days when someone asks you, would you like cheesecake or ice cream? And your answer? Just say 'YES!'

Now if you're not a passion fruit person (are you even human?!) then imagine this frozen creamy cheesecakey goodness swirled with strawberries, or blueberries, 

or mango - no pineapple! 

I crumbled in my favourite Eet Sum Mores (appropriately named, yet innappropriately spelled) but you could use Oreos or gingersnaps or chocolate chips, throw in some caramel swirl or lemon curd, or crushed up meringue! 

*sigh* I love my job. 

No Churn Passion Fruit Cheesecake Ice Cream

Makes 1L

225g full fat cream cheese

1 tin (400g) sweetened condensed milk

1 1/2 cups cream, whipped to stiff peaks

230g passion fruit pulp

5-8 shortbread biscuits, crumbled

Beat cream cheese until smooth then add in the condensed milk and mix until creamy.

Fold in the whipped cream gently and lightly to retain the air.

Pour a third of the mixture into a freezer-proof container (a metal loaf tin works well), swirl 1/3 of the passion fruit into the mix then crumble over some of the shortbread.

Repeat with the rest of the mix, swirling and scattering in between each layer.

Freeze until firm (about 4 hours). To serve, remove from the freezer for 10 minutes then serve scoops with extra passion fruit pulp and crushed shortbread, if desired.

TIP: Swop out the passion fruit pulp for any fruit puree of your choice - think mango, pineapple, strawberries or blueberries!