04 Feb Banoffee Cheesecake

If you love cheesecake and love banoffee pie, this one is for you!
This Banoffee Cheesecake has everything you want from a classic Banoffee Pie, but is not quite as sweet  – making it a great grown-up dessert for your next celebration!

Banoffee pie is one of my favourite easy desserts when I need a crowd-pleaser in a hurry. Admittedly this cheesecake version requires is a little more effort, however, the end result is quite breath-taking! With a buttery biscuit crust, creamy caramel cheesecake filling, toffee banana topping and clouds of whipped cream, each bite delivers a delightful combination of flavours and textures.

To ensure I get the most buttery crust and most delicious, rich toffee sauce, I use Kerrygold  Pure Irish Butter. In fact I highly recommend you make a double batch of the toffee sauce and keep a jar in the fridge to pour over ice cream and pancakes!

This post is sponsored by Kerrygold. All text and opinions are 100% my own.

Ingredients:

(Serves 8-10)

Biscuit base:
300g digestive biscuits
30ml brown sugar (2 tbsp)
2,5ml cinnamon (½ tsp)
125g Kerrygold Pure Irish Salted Butter, melted

Cheesecake layer:
10ml gelatine (2 tsp)
20ml cold water (4 tsp)
500g full-fat cream cheese, room temperature
50g brown sugar (¼ cup)
5ml vanilla (1 tsp)
360g tinned caramel (1 tin)
125ml cream (½ cup)

Toffee sauce:
100g Kerrygold Pure Irish Salted Butter, melted
100ml cream
100g brown sugar (½ cup)

Topping:
3-4 bananas
250ml cream
15ml icing sugar (1 tbsp)
grated dark chocolate or chocolate curls, to decorate

Directions:

• Grease a 20cm round springform tin and line the base with baking paper. Place the digestive biscuits, brown sugar and cinnamon into a food processor and process until you have fine crumbs. Drizzle in the melted butter and mix well.
• Add the biscuit mixture to the prepared tin and spread it evenly over the base of the prepared tin. Use the back of a glass to press it down firmly. Refrigerate while you make the filling.
• Sprinkle the gelatine over the water and leave to bloom for at least 5 minutes. 
• Using an electric or stand mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth, then add the brown sugar, vanilla and tinned caramel and mix well.
• Microwave the bloomed gelatine on the defrost setting/low power, for 5 seconds at a time until completely melted, stirring in between. Do not allow the mixture to boil. Set aside to cool slightly.
• Whip the cream to soft-peak stage. Add the gelatine to the cream cheese mixture and beat well, then gently fold in the cream.
• Spoon the filling onto the biscuit base and smooth the top. Chill for at least 3 hours until set (or up to 2 days if you are making this in advance). 
• To make the toffee sauce, place the brown sugar, butter and cream into a saucepan. Heat on low until the sugar has dissolved then increase heat and boil for 3-5 minutes until thick and dark golden in colour. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.
• As close to serving as possible, whip the cream to soft peak stage then add the icing sugar and whip until stiff.  Spread a layer of toffee sauce on top of the cheesecake, then slice the bananas and arrange on top. Drizzle with extra toffee sauce then top with the whipped cream. Decorate with the chocolate curls, then serve immediately.