Mmmmm Cheesecake!!

Maple Syrup with Roasted Pears -  Cheesecake

If you've seen my recent facebook post you'll see that I have a new found love for cheesecakes! Growing up as a kid I was never too keen on cheesecakes, but I have recently discovered the true delicacies of this decadent dessert.

Last week I made a beautiful Pistachio-Honey baked cheesecake.  I added Pistachio Gelato and extra chopped pistachios to the top, soooo divine!  But today, I wanted to try a no-bake cheesecake.  I found this delicious recipe for "Maple Cheesecake with Roasted Pears". It was so dam good that I can't wait to make another one!

The recipe was very easy, I've added it below.

First thing to do is make the base, crush up some malt biscuits, add sugar and melted butter then press into your spring-form pan, and put it in the oven at 180 degrees (celsius) for approx 12 minutes.

Once the cheesecake crust is ready, put it aside to cool down.  In the mean time you can prepare the roasted pears.  Grab two Bosc Pears, slice length-wise, brush with Maple Syrup, place on baking paper, and roast on approx 230 degrees for about 20 minutes.  Then brush with more Maple syrup and grill for about 4 minutes turning frequently.

 Now for the cheesecake... very easy! Beat cream cheese on high until fluffy, add maple syrup and beat until smooth. In a separate bowl beat cream and sugar, then stir about one third of the cream mixture into the cream cheese and fold in the rest.  Pour into the base, and refrigerate for about 3 hours.

Arrange the pears on top before serving... and viola!! Your beautiful cheesecake!!

Recipes... 

Cheesecake:

Ingredients

2 packets of cream cheese (approx 500g), room temperature

• 3/4 cup pure maple syrup

• 1 cup cold heavy cream

• 2 tablespoons caster' sugar

• 1 Pie-Crust made in a 22cm springform pan with malt biscuits

• Nonstick cooking spray

• 2 medium pears, such as Bosc or Bartlett, sliced lengthwise
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Directions

1. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese on high until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add 1/2 cup maple syrup; beat until smooth. In a medium bowl, beat cream and sugar on high until soft peaks form, about 3 minutes. With a rubber spatula, stir about one-third the whipped cream into cream cheese mixture, then fold in remainder. Transfer to crust and refrigerate until firm, 3 hours (or up to 1 day).

1. Preheat oven to 230 degrees. Coat a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray. Arrange pear slices in a single layer on sheet and brush with 2 tablespoons maple syrup. Roast until pears are soft, 20 minutes. Turn on the grill. Brush pears with 2 tablespoons maple syrup and grill for about 4 minutes, rotating sheet frequently. Let cool. To serve, arrange pear slices, overlapping slightly, on cheesecake.

Biscuit Base

Ingredients

• 6 ounces cookies (about 12 graham crackers, 46 vanilla wafers, or 30 chocolate wafers, such as Famous)
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a food processor, pulse cookies until finely ground (you should have about 1 1/2 cups). Add sugar, salt, and butter and pulse until combined.
2. Firmly press crumb mixture into bottom and up sides of a 9-inch pie plate. (If using a springform pan, press crumbs halfway up sides.) Bake until crust is dry and set, about 12 minutes. Let cool completely in plate on a wire rack before filling.

Adapted from Martha Stewart