White Chocolate Cheesecake
by Nigella. Featured in AT MY TABLEIntroduction
The white chocolate is only a delicate presence here. It brings a gorgeous, rounded vanilla flavour and helps the cheesecake set in the fridge overnight to a perfect, tenderly firm consistency. And while I love this pale, plain and unadorned, it can be beautifully partyfied by a sprinkling of chopped pistachios and a jewel-bright scattering of pomegranate seeds.
For US cup measures, use the toggle at the top of the ingredients list.
The white chocolate is only a delicate presence here. It brings a gorgeous, rounded vanilla flavour and helps the cheesecake set in the fridge overnight to a perfect, tenderly firm consistency. And while I love this pale, plain and unadorned, it can be beautifully partyfied by a sprinkling of chopped pistachios and a jewel-bright scattering of pomegranate seeds.
For US cup measures, use the toggle at the top of the ingredients list.
Ingredients
Makes: 8 slices
For the filling:
- 200 grams white cooking chocolate (roughly chopped)
- 300 grams full-fat cream cheese (at room temperature, drained of any liquid)
- 300 millilitres double cream
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the base:
- 175 grams gingernut biscuits
- 50 grams soft unsalted butter
For the filling:
- 7 ounces white cooking chocolate (roughly chopped)
- 10 ounces full-fat cream cheese (at room temperature, drained of any liquid)
- 1¼ cups heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the base:
- 6 ounces gingersnaps
- 3 tablespoons soft unsalted butter
Method
You will need 1 x 20cm/8-inch springform cake tin.
- Put the pieces of white chocolate into a heatproof bowl that will sit on top of a saucepan. Fill the pan with a small amount of water, just enough to come up about 3–4cm / 1½ inches up the sides, and bring to the boil. Sit the bowl of chocolate on top, making sure the base of the bowl doesn’t touch the water. Turn the heat down and let the white chocolate melt very gently, every now and then giving it a careful stir with a silicone spatula. Once there are only a few small lumps of unmelted chocolate left, give it another stir then remove the bowl and sit it somewhere for about 10 minutes, until the chocolate remains liquid but is cooled to room temperature.
- For the base, break the biscuits into a food processor and blitz until you have almost all crumbs. Add the butter and process again until the mixture starts to clump and cleave to the blade. If doing this by hand, put the biscuits into a bag, crush to crumbs, then melt the butter and stir into the biscuit crumbs until well mixed.
- Press the biscuit mixture into the springform cake tin, letting some come a little way up the sides. The back of a dessert or serving spoon is the easiest tool for the already easy job here. Stash the tin in the fridge while you get on with the cheesecake filling.
- Beat the cream cheese in a bowl that will take all the ingredients later — a wooden spoon is fine here — until it is soft. Gently fold in the slightly cooled, melted white chocolate.
- Softly whip the cream so it is thickened but the peaks don’t hold their shape, then fold it into the white chocolate mixture in two batches. Add the lemon juice and vanilla extract and fold these in, then pour and scrape the pale, almost-moussy mixture into the biscuit-lined tin. Smooth the top, cover the tin with cling film and refrigerate overnight before serving.
- When you’re ready to eat it, make sure it’s been out of the fridge for 10 minutes before unclipping from the tin and cutting it into slices. Don’t expect to be able to remove the whole cheesecake from the tin’s base unless you are both patient and dexterous. I was once foolhardy enough to try…
You will need 1 x 20cm/8-inch springform cake tin.
- Put the pieces of white chocolate into a heatproof bowl that will sit on top of a saucepan. Fill the pan with a small amount of water, just enough to come up about 3–4cm / 1½ inches up the sides, and bring to the boil. Sit the bowl of chocolate on top, making sure the base of the bowl doesn’t touch the water. Turn the heat down and let the white chocolate melt very gently, every now and then giving it a careful stir with a silicone spatula. Once there are only a few small lumps of unmelted chocolate left, give it another stir then remove the bowl and sit it somewhere for about 10 minutes, until the chocolate remains liquid but is cooled to room temperature.
- For the base, break the biscuits into a food processor and blitz until you have almost all crumbs. Add the butter and process again until the mixture starts to clump and cleave to the blade. If doing this by hand, put the biscuits into a bag, crush to crumbs, then melt the butter and stir into the biscuit crumbs until well mixed.
- Press the biscuit mixture into the springform cake tin, letting some come a little way up the sides. The back of a dessert or serving spoon is the easiest tool for the already easy job here. Stash the tin in the fridge while you get on with the cheesecake filling.
- Beat the cream cheese in a bowl that will take all the ingredients later — a wooden spoon is fine here — until it is soft. Gently fold in the slightly cooled, melted white chocolate.
- Softly whip the cream so it is thickened but the peaks don’t hold their shape, then fold it into the white chocolate mixture in two batches. Add the lemon juice and vanilla extract and fold these in, then pour and scrape the pale, almost-moussy mixture into the biscuit-lined tin. Smooth the top, cover the tin with cling film and refrigerate overnight before serving.
- When you’re ready to eat it, make sure it’s been out of the fridge for 10 minutes before unclipping from the tin and cutting it into slices. Don’t expect to be able to remove the whole cheesecake from the tin’s base unless you are both patient and dexterous. I was once foolhardy enough to try…
Additional Information
MAKE AHEAD / STORE:
Refrigerate, covered with cling film, for up to 3 days.
FREEZE:
Can be frozen for up to 3 months. Wrap the cheesecake, still in its tin, tightly in a double layer of cling film and a layer of foil. To defrost, unwrap the cheesecake, cover the top loosely with fresh cling film and leave in the fridge overnight.
MAKE AHEAD / STORE:
Refrigerate, covered with cling film, for up to 3 days.
FREEZE:
Can be frozen for up to 3 months. Wrap the cheesecake, still in its tin, tightly in a double layer of cling film and a layer of foil. To defrost, unwrap the cheesecake, cover the top loosely with fresh cling film and leave in the fridge overnight.
Tell us what you think
Thank you {% member.data['first-name'] %}.
Explore more recipesYour comment has been submitted.
What 26 Others have said
-
Posted by Rosiecooks22 on 15th January 2024
-
Posted by Zeddd on 29th October 2023
-
Posted by Fifilabonne on 10th May 2023
-
Posted by carla padinhas on 20th July 2021
-
Posted by Children4 on 21st November 2020
-
Posted by xtinaroma on 22nd June 2020
-
Posted by cjkovalic on 29th July 2019
-
Posted by bakinginthedeep on 9th May 2019
-
Posted by Amigo on 15th April 2019
-
Posted by Trufflehound on 7th April 2019
-
Posted by Lailabakes on 4th April 2019
-
Posted by Ferrystreet on 20th March 2019
Show more commentsI made this for my partner birthday meal and it was simply divine ! Even those that not for those not a big fan of white chocolate, it’s not over bearing , very light and fluffy vanilla specked ! I also served mine with stem ginger in syrup , trying to recreate a popular noodle bar cheesecake and it goes very well! Thankyou nigella again :)
I have just made this with my son. It was so easy to execute, no cooking and he enjoyed licking the bowls, so he already has said its going to taste lovely. We will have it for our pudding tomorrow, so looking forward to it. It may also be our Christmas pudding also.
I've made a version of this for quite a few years but mine includes 4 chunks of stem ginger, very finely finely chopped and stirred into the topping - based on a much loved, famous noodle restataurant, dessert.
I loved Nigella Lawson's cake. Beautiful
That’s me done, just put mine in the freezer. All ready for Xmas. I love this recipe for any special occasion. Leave plain or add different toppings, grated chocolate, soft fruits whatever you fancy. Absolutely delicious and always turns out well. Thanks again Nigella
The taste of this came is divine. Rich, but balanced. I used mascarpone for the cream cheese and digestive biscuits for the base. The taste of the cheesy bit is AMAZING, although I was somehow expecting a firmer consistency. It's still fairly creamy and quite far from your usual cheesecake. The digestive biscuits work perfectly fine, although they're perhaps a bit too buttery for my taste and with a "sand-like" texture. I would have perhaps preferred chunkier bits.
This recipe is amazing! It was easy to follow, easy to execute. I have a 9 x 3 in. springform so I used 1 1/2 recipes and it turned out perfectly. I also couldn't find "gingernut" cookies so I substituted Anna's Ginger Thins with great success. Thank you for a wonderful summer (and anytime, really) dessert that I will make over and over.
So delicious, was definitely a crowd pleaser! The only thing is I used a 9-inch tin instead of an 8-inch so my crust was not as a thick, it looked like a a very skinny cheesecake but still delicious!
I simply love this recipe. Living in France to get cream cheese so difficult and came accross mascarpone cheese. So I used this and followed it step by step. Superb indeed Nigella. Great simple and fast good for me when I am always on the go and time is important. Thanks Nigella. PS The French adored it and asked where did I get the recipie. So I hope you do not mind you will have many following you soon.
I like using good white chocolate - but that solidifes at about 80F, so waiting for everything to be at room temperature before folding the cream cheese and the chocolate together doesn't work well for me (the cheesecake filling sets up immediately). Instead mix the white chocolate with warm cream to make a white ganache, and then fold that mixture into the cream cheese?
The trick to remove cakes like this from the tin is to put a cake board the same size as the tin base before pressing the cookie base. When you unclip the tin sides, the cake is easily removed and placed in serving platter with the cake board.
I LOVE THE FACT THAT SHE PROVIDES AN OPTION TO GO FROM GRAMS TO CUPS...THANK YOU!!!! GREAT RECIPES...BEAUTIFUL LADY..