Chocolate swirl cheesecake

I went home to visit my parents for two weeks and I decided to use the chance to do some serious baking and cooking - it is so much easier to cook for many people and I didn't have to worry about cakes going off because to be honest, eating a cake just between the two of us before it goes off is a bit tricky, especially if you don't want to have cake for all three meals of the day.

My mum is a huge cheesecake fan (who isn't?) and as my dad likes them as well, because they are quite fresh and not sweet, I decided to try out a new cake. And it turned out so nice that I made if for my cousin's 18th birthday as well - and everyone loved it.

I've made quite a few different cheesecakes over the years and I have to admit that this one is by far the easiest and the quickest I've made. It takes just 15-20 minutes to put everything together and then all you need to do is to chill it for at least 5 hours (or preferably overnight). I love how the dark chocolate gives a little twist to the creamy and moist cheesecake. I'm in love with this cheesecake and have already come up with an idea how to vary it and obviously will keep you updated as to how that goes.

Ingredients
(Serves 9-12, depends on the size of the slices)
- 175g caster sugar (or normal white sugar)
- 450g Philadelphia cheese (I used a mixture or low fat and full fat)
- 1 vanilla pod (can be substituted with 1 tsp vanilla sugar)
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 175g creme fraiche (or 10% sour cream)
- 475ml double cream

- 150g good quality dark chocolate
- 125ml double cream

- 8 digestive biscuits
- 25g butter, melted

Directions
First, line a 22cm springform tin with baking paper and then prepare the chocolate swirl. For that, cut the chocolate into small pieces and place in a bowl together with 125ml double cream and place the bowl over hot (or even simmering) water and let it melt. When it all has melted, take the bowl off the hot water and set aside to let it cool a bit.

To prepare the base, crush 8 digestive biscuits and mix the crumbs with 25g melted butter. Feel free to double to biscuit and butter quantity if you prefer a bit thicker base, but I prefer the thinner base version (I've tried both). When all the crumbs are evenly covered with the butter, put the mixture into the cake tin and press down firmly.

Lastly, prepare the filling itself. For that take two bowls. In one mix together the sugar, Philadelphia cheese and the seeds from the vanilla pod, then set aside. In another bowl (a bigger one) whist together lemon juice, cream and creme fraiche (10% sour cream) until it forms soft peaks. Then add the cream cheese mixture to the double cream mixture and mix well.

To finish the cake, spoon a layer of the cream cheese mixture on the biscuit base, then swirl 1/3 of the chocolate and repeat this three times so you end up with three layers of chocolate and three layers of cream cheese mixture. And to create the swirl stick a knife blade into the cheesecake and swirl the cheesecake. Just don't try to smooth the surface as that would create a muddy effect.

What I did for my cousin's birthday was that I just created two layers of chocolate and three layers of cream cheese and then swirled the mixture. After that I piped his name and some decorations on the cake with the leftover 1/3 chocolate mixture.

When everything is ready, chill the cake for at least 5 hours (preferably overnight) and keep chilled until you need to cut it. I've also discovered that if you place the cheesecake in the freezer for like 15-20 minutes before serving it is a lot easier to take it out of the springform tin and the chances that the biscuit base will break are reduced.

Recipe adapted from Gordon's cheesecake recipe on BBC Good Food