Ube Cheesecake

November 09, 2014

Ube Cheesecake – Recipe

See? I put all that time practising making ube macarons to good use.

Unlike my last cake that turned into a crazy Alice in Wonderland type creation, this pretty much turned out exactly how I envisioned it. A crunchy biscuit base with chunkily chopped macadamia nuts, a smooth cheesecake gently cooked in a bain Marie and a glossy, shiny ube ganache glaze made this cake one of my proudest creations. (Not to mention the macarons that so much of my sanity went into making). Throw in a few tempered marbled chocolate shards and here we are.

This purple sweet potato cake is pretty darn indulgent. It's stick-to-the-roof-of-your-mouth smooth, and the subtle ube flavour makes it extra-special.

Sound/ look good? Here's how to make it (as for the macarons, take a look at the post before this one before you start).

Ingredients for Base:

-150g digestive biscuits (or Graham crackers, which I used), crushed

- 2tbsp brown sugar

-100g macadamia nuts, roughly chopped

-60g butter, softened

-Pinch of salt

Ingredients for Cheesecake:

-600g cream cheese

-1 can sweetened condensed milk

-50g caster sugar

-375g purple sweet potato, steamed and mashed

-3 eggs

Ingredients for Glaze:

-200g white chocolate

-200ml double cream

-1tbsp butter

-2-3tsp ube flavour

Method:

1) Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C, line the bottom of a 7 or 8" cheesecake pan with foil-lined cardboard, grease the sides with vegetable oil and wrap the outside of the pan with foil

2) Stir the crushed biscuits, chopped macadamias, salt and softened butter until well combined, and press into the bottom of the pan

3) Using a food processor or electric whisk, combine the filling ingredients until smooth, and pour on top of the crust in the pan (don't fill all the way to the top)

4) Place the pan in a bigger roasting tin, fill the roasting tin half-full with boiling water and bake in the oven for 60mins, or until when you give the pan a little shake the centre of the cheesecake wobbles just a little)

5) Cool the cheesecake in the oven with the door slightly ajar to prevent the cheesecake from cracking

6) Chill the cheesecake overnight in the fridge

7) Before making the glaze, unmould the cheesecake (but leave it on your makeshift board), and pop it in the freezer for an hour (you want it to be very cold to set the glaze on contact)

8) To make the glaze, break up the chocolate into a heatproof bowl and add the butter. Bring the cream to a boil in a saucepan, pour over the chocolate and stir until melted. Stir in the ube flavouring, and leave to cool to room temperature

9) Place the cheesecake on a wire rack over a pan to catch drips and pour the glaze over evenly (you can scoop up the glaze and store it in the fridge for later use)