Mint Slice Cheesecake

 

Today was my last day of work before a little break over Christmas and New Years, I'm very much looking forward to relaxing for a short while. In what's become a bit of a tradition for me I made goodies to gift to the people I work with, this year they each got a Mint Slice Cheesecake. I made the cheesecakes directly into containers instead of pans, which might seem a bit odd, but was easy, safe way to transport them.

 

I made 4 smallish/regular sized cheesecakes and 8 mini cupcake sized cheesecakes using a double batch of the mixture in the recipe below. In the instructions I've included directions to make either one full pie sized cheesecake or a bunch of mini ones from a single batch of filling mixture.

The cheesecakes a festive variation on the cookies and cream idea, with a mild minty flavour added to by the mint slice pieces mixed through the filling. I especially enjoyed the single serve cupcake cheesecakes with  the whole mint cookie base. 

Sadly shortly after taking pictures of the mini ones, I dropped them while trying to fit the container in the fridge. So now I have a box of squished messy cheesecakes, I guess I can't be too sad, at least now I have a great excuse not to share them.

Mint Slice Cheesecake

Chocolate Base
250 grams plain chocolate biscuits (cookies)
120 grams butter (melted)
or
12 mint slice biscuits

Cheesecake Filling
2 teaspoons gelatine
2 tablespoons water
375 grams cream cheese (softened)
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
1/2 cup caster sugar
300 mls thick cream
180 grams white chocolate (melted)
200 grams mint slice biscuits (roughly 1 1/2 packets)

Whipped Cream, chocolate, crushed candy canes and sprinkles to decorate.

To make the base- If you are making mini cupcake sized cheesecakes- simply place one mint slice biscuit into the base of a cupcake paper lined pan.

Alternately for a pie sized cheesecake-  In a food processor, process biscuits until fine crumbs. Add the melted butter and malt and process until combined.

Press the mixture evenly over the base of a pie dish, use the flat bottom of a glass to press evenly.

To make the filling- Roughly chop 200 grams of the mint slice biscuits, a mixture of small and large pieces works well.

In a small heatproof bowl sprinkle the gelatine over the water. Stand the bowl of gelatine mixture over a saucepan of boiling water and stir until the gelatine has melted. Allow to cool for 5 minutes.

With an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese, vanilla and sugar until smooth.

Beat in the cream until combined, followed by the white chocolate and gelatine mixture.

Stir through the chopped mint slice biscuits.

Spoon the filling over the prepared base and smooth over the top, refrigerate for at least 3 hours (or overnight) until set.

Decorate as you like. I piped whipped cream around the edge of the cheesecake and topped it with drizzle of dark chocolate and a bunch of sprinkles or candy cane.

Enjoy!!!