Dulcey Sake Kasu Cheesecake with Raspberry Cream – Recipe

For the final recipe of 2016, I wanted to acknowledge one of the best and craziest things to happen to me ever that happened at the beginning of this year: winning the first Gekkeikan Masters Cooking Competition and being sent to Kyoto to learn how to brew sake. What better way than to create something using some of the sake kasu I brought back from the trip?

I used some of my sake kasu (rice solids left over after the sake has been filtered) in my salmon kasuzuke recipe, but I still have a lot left in the freezer (which I'm making the most of, since you can't freely get sake kasu in the UK). I'd yet to do a sweet recipe with it, so I reckoned it would be a great way to end the year with.

I also tasted Valrhona's new Dulcey chocolate, a kind of caramelised white chocolate remeniscent of biscuits. Lots of people compare it to Caramac – it kind of is similar, just a bit subtler and less sweet. I also happened to be drinking nigori sake while I was eating it (don't ask my why, I couldn't tell you), and I discovered that the two went together quite well – which is how I got here.

The sake kasu has an almost savoury element to it, and of course goes with the nigori sake in the raspberry cream as they are part of the same creature. What it does for the Dulcey is almost like what salt does for caramel, and complements the sweetness of it perfectly. To keep things relatively simple, I also made this a no-bake cheesecake recipe.

So here's my tribute to my amazing experience in January and February. I'll never forget it for as long as I live, and I hope I can continue to learn from it. And, of course, the nigori sake I used for the cream is Gekkeikan's.

Ready? Let's go.

Ingredients for Raspberry Syrup:

300g raspberries
100g caster sugar

Ingredients for Cheesecake:

200g Graham Crackers / digestive biscuits, crushed into fine crumbs
60g unsalted butter, melted
250g cream cheese
100g Greek yoghurt
100g sake kasu
300g Valrhona Dulcey chocolate, melted and cooled
2 tbsp white chocolate crispie pearls

Ingredients for  Raspberry Sake Cream:

300ml double cream
4 tbsp raspberry syrup
2 tbsp nigori sake

Extra raspberries (for decoration)

Method:

1. To make the raspberry syrup, cook the raspberries with the sugar in a small saucepan over a low heat until a little mushy. Remove from the heat, push through a sieve twice to get rid of the seeds and fibre, and return to a clean pan. Simmer for about five minutes, or until reduced by about 75%. Leave to cool completely.

2. Stir the crushed biscuits and melted butter until well combined. Press into a lined 7" springform pan, packing the mixture down firmly and evenly (I use the bottom of a glass tumbler).

3. Place the cream cheese, yoghurt, sake kasu and melted chocolate in a blender or food processor, and whizz until smooth. Spread a couple of tbsp into the bottom of your pan, sprinkle over the crispie pearls (so they stick and stay where they are), and pour the rest of the cheesecake mixture in. Tap the tin a few times on the counter to get rid of large air bubbles, smooth down the top and pop in the fridge for about 4 hours.

4. Run a knife around the edge of the cheesecake before releasing it from the pan and plating it up. Whip the double cream, syrup ad sake together until thick, pipe onto the cheesecake and decorating with more raspberries. Pop in the fridge for another hour before serving (with more raspberry syrup if you like).

Enjoy, have fun, and Happy New Year!