Ingredients
Equipment
Method
Grease and line the base of an 8 inch cake tin
- Lightly butter the base and sides of an 8 inch (20cm) round spring-form or loose bottomed cake tin. Line the base of the tin with a circle of baking or parchment paper.
Make the biscuit base
- Measure the biscuits out then pop them in a large mixing bowl or freezer bag. Bash the biscuits with a rolling pin (or something similar) until they resemble a fine breadcrumb or lumpy sand texture. If you leave big chunks of biscuits in, the base is more likely to crumble apart later.
- While you're crushing the biscuits, measure the butter and put it in a saucepan or microwavable bowl. Heat it gently on your cooker or pop it in the microwave until it has melted.Add the melted butter to your biscuits.
- Stir the biscuits and butter together until all the biscuit crumbs are well coated in the melted butter.
Form the cheesecake base
- The last step in making the base base is to spoon or pour the crushed biscuits into your prepared baking tin. Then, using the back of a metal spoon, or a spatula press the base down firmly in the tin until it is all nice and level and compressed.
- Put the base in the fridge to chill for at least 20 minutes while you make the filling.
Make the Mini Egg cheesecake filling
- Start by measuring out the mascarpone and double cream. Add them both to a large mixing bowl or your free-standing mixer.
- Using the hand held whisk of your free-standing mixer, a hand held mixer or even whisk whip the mascarpone and double cream together until your cheesecake mixture has formed soft peaks and is nice and smooth.Try not to over whisk it, but if you do and have any cream let over you can add that to 'loosen' it.
Add the Mini Eggs, icing sugar and vanilla
- Measure out the icing sugar, and vanilla and add them to your mixing bowl.
- Measure the Mini Eggs out then crush them with a heavy rolling pin or something similar. You want to have a mixture of large and small chunks of Mini Eggs. Add the Mini Eggs to the mixing bowl.
- Give everything one final mix with a spatula or wooden spoon so it's all well combined and the chunks of Mini Eggs are evenly distributed throughout the cheese cake mixture. Make sure you stop mixing it once it's mixed in so it doesn't end up over-mixed and too thick.
Make the Mini Egg cheesecake
- Spoon or pour the Mini Egg cheesecake mixture into the cake tin on top of the biscuit base. Spread it out and level the top with a spatula, the back of a spoon or a small palette knife.
- Cover the cheesecake with cling film / glad wrap and chill it for at least two hours, but preferably over night.
Decorate the Mini Egg cheesecake
- Once the cheesecake has set, carefully remove it from the tin and put it on your serving plate. If you have a loose bottomed tin, you can remove it by setting it on top of a cup and gently pressing it down until the base comes away.
- Lay it on your serving plate, removing the circle of parchment paper from underneath.
- Scatter some whole and crushed Mini Eggs on top.
Notes
If you're not sure what 'soft peaks' are, you need the mixture to be thick enough to hold very briefly if you lift the whisk up before the cream then flops back down on itself again.