Pear and Amaretto Cheesecake with Dark Chocolate

I finally got around to make this cake again for my friend’s request. I made a couple of changes to the original recipe, which is by Gordon Ramsay. It has few stages to follow until completion, but nothing difficult or extravagant. Forget baking! This cake only needs a fridge and a 23-26cm springform cake tin. The flavour of the filling with the dark chocolate base is divine.

Pear and Amaretto Cheesecake with Dark Chocolate

Ingredients

For the poached pears

  • 2 Large Pears
  • 40g Caster Sugar
  • 50ml water
  • 50ml Port
  • 1 Vanilla Pod

For the base

  • 150g Digestive Biscuit
  • 50g Unsalted Butter
  • 40g Dark Chocolate (~70%)

For the filling

  • 300g Cream Cheese (eg. Philadelphia)
  • 125g Caster Sugar
  • 550ml Double Cream
  • 3tbsp Amaretto Liqueur
  • 100g Amaretti Biscuits
  • + Dark Chocolate for the decoration
  • Preparation time: 30 minute
  • Chilling time: 60 minute
  • Serves: 6-8 person

 

Peel, core and cut the pears into 1cm dice. Dissolve the sugar in the water and port in a saucepan over low heat. Scrape the seeds out of the vanilla pod into a large bowl; set aside, and add the pod into the syrup, and simmer for a few minutes. Add the diced pears and poach them gently for another 3-5 minutes. Drain and leave to cool.

For the base, make fine crumbs out of the biscuits. I was doing by bashing the hell out of the biscuits with a roll pin, as  I don’t have food processor, yet. If you do it this way, make sure you place them into a strong bag. I also cover up with a tea towel  -so my neighbourhood will not report me to the police- which helps to keep the noise down. It’s a pretty good anger management exercise too.  Alternatively, just go down on the easy way, and blitz the biscuits in a food processor until the texture resembles the sandy beach.  (Without the naked sun lovers.)

Melt the butter in a bowl placed above simmering water, and add the dark chocolate to melt. Add the biscuit crumbs to it, and mix well. Scoop the base into the cake tin and compress it slightly. Chill it for at least 20 minutes or until becomes firm.

For the filling, add the cream cheese, sugar to the vanilla seeds. Whisk it until well blended. Add 450ml of the double cream and the amaretto liqueur and whisk to soft peaks. Fold in the crushed amaretti biscuits, and the poached pears. Spoon it on the top of the base we made earlier and level the surface. Chill for at least 30 minutes or until set. Spread over the remaining double cream to form a thin layer and then chill again.

For the decoration melt the dark chocolate in a bowl just like we did for the base, but without the butter and sugar. Spread the melted chocolate on a chopping board or if you have one onto a marble slab. Marble helps it cool it down quicker and has a smooth hard surface which easier to scrape it off the chocolate curls. I’ve also put some chocolate shavings on the top, but just experiment, and do it as you like it.

Before you remove the cake from the tin, leave it in room temperature for a 5 minutes, and with a hot thin-bladed knife or spatula run around the edge and remove the side carefully. Cut into slices -rather than let the guests help themselves- or eat it as a whole if you greedy.

Recept Magyarul

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