S'mores Cheesecake (Chocolate & Toasted Marshmallow)

Why hello, Mr. Toasty, Gooey Marshmallow...Aren't you glad you finally met Miss Chocolate Cheesecake?

I was sitting around trying to think what could be better to bring to a food blogger's party than the masses of Sweetness marshmallows I had brought in the past. I didn't want to be a one trick pony. Then I spotted my shiny new blowtorch out of the corner of my eye.

We don't really eat s'mores much in Australia. They are usually toasted marshmallows sandwiched between graham crackers with chocolate, and we don't get graham crackers here. But digestive biscuits are an almost equivalent substitute, as far as I can tell, so I decided to make a s'mores cheesecake. A digestive biscuit base (there aren't really any better cheesecake bases, except maybe ginger nut), a rich chocolate cheesecake and topped off with a thick layer of marshmallows, which were to be toasted with my blowtorch right before it was served. I may have done a little jig, I was that excited about it.

So it was just a matter of finding a good cheesecake recipe. Nigella is always pretty reliable when it comes to cakes, so her chocolate cheesecake was a good place to start. I doubled the biscuit base and halved the filling, and it was great! Super easy too, as long as you're not a dumbo like me and have a leaky layer of foil around your tin when it goes into the waterbath. My biscuit base became quite sad and soggy because of that :( I had to use the chocolate I had in the house, which was my Lindt 70%, which was a far bit more bitter than I wanted for the cheesecake, so I had to add extra sugar to the cheesecake mixture. But in the end the bitterness of the chocolate was just balanced off by the intense sweetness of those fluffy Sweetness marshmallows.

I was lucky enough to pick up vanilla bean, strawberry and gingerbread marshmallows, and they toasted perfectly under the blowtorch flame. They had a crisp golden toffee layer on top, and were all warm and melty underneath. This is my new favourite recipe for a dinner party dessert, especially because you have the fun of torching the top of the cheesecake in front of your guests, which is sure to be a crowd-pleaser.

S'mores Cheesecake (Chocolate & Toasted Marshmallow Cheesecake)
(adapted from Nigella Lawson's Chocolate Cheesecake)
250g digestive biscuits
120g melted butter
90g dark chocolate, chopped (I used Lindt 70% but you can use a sweeter one if that is too bitter for you, I had to add extra sugar)
250g cream cheese, softened
90g caster sugar
1 tbsp custard powder
2 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
75ml sour cream
1/4 tsp cocoa, dissolved in 1/2 tsp hot water (not sure if you really need this to be honest)
Large marshmallows, either store bought or homemade, I used approx 20

Crush biscuits in a food processor or smash up in a zip lock bag. Add butter and process until the crumbs are damp. In a 20cm springform tin, press crumbs down to make an even base and then place in the freezer while you make the cheesecake filling.

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Fill kettle with water and put on to boil. Melt chocolate either in the microwave in 30 sec periods, stirring until it melts, or in a double boiler. Beat the cream cheese with an electric mixer to soften, then add custard powder and sugar and beat to combine.

Beat in the whole eggs and then the egg yolk, followed by the sour cream, beating again to combine. Finally add the dissolved cocoa and the melted chocolate and mix until they are combined well. At this point you might want to taste your mixture to make sure it is the right level of sweetness for you. I had to add 1/2 cup of icing sugar into the mixture at this point since the lindt 70% was quite bitter.

Remove springform tin from the freezer, line the outside of the tin very, VERY well with clingfilm and then a few layers of strong foil on the outside to keep it water tight. I have to say I have really bad luck with this, so water still leaked into mine. It's not the end of the world if this happens, it just means your biscuit base will be a bit more soggy than you want. Sit the springform tin in a roasting pan and then pour the filling into it. Fill the roasting pan with boiling water until it comes halfway up the side of the cake tin. Bake for 40-50 minutes, until the top of the cheesecake has set.

Remove tin from the roasting pan and peel off foil anf clingfilm. Cool in its tin on a wire rack. While the cheesecake is still warm, place marshmallows on top. The bottoms of the marshmallow will melt slightly. I walked away from it for 5 minutes and mine ended up like this:

Which I quite liked! Leave to cool on the rack and then refridgerate overnight. When you are ready to serve, remove from the fridge and allow to come closer to room temp. Unspring tin and then slice up your cake ready to serve.

As a final flourish, use a blowtorch to toast the tops of the marshmallows until they are golden on the outside and gooey and warm on the inside. Trust me, this is the bit that makes this cheesecake.

Untoasted

If you aren't lucky enough to have a blowtorch, before slicing up the cheesecake you can stick it under the grill for a few minutes until the marshmallow layer goes golden on top, but make sure you don't burn it. Serve while the marshmallow is still warm and melty.

Toasted!

Now the only thing you have to be careful of is that you don't turn into a pyro like me and want to toast everything in sight while you are holding that blowtorch...