This cheesecake has a light and soft texture infused with the delicate flavour of South African rooibos and vanilla halva. To finish a thick, sweet caramel sauce, crisp honeycomb and for good measure some more flaked Mediterranean Delicacies Vanilla Halva.
Ingredients:- Halva & Rooibos Cheesecake:
- 150 g butter, melted
- 1 x 200g packet butter biscuits, crushed
- 125 ml milk
- 4 x rooibos teabags
- 5 large eggs
- 225 g castor sugar
- 5 x 250 g plain smooth cream cheese
- 200 g Mediterranean Delicacies Vanilla Halva
- Caramel Sauce:
- 250 ml white sugar
- 80 ml water
- 250 ml cream
- 125 g butter
Method:
Stir the melted butter into the crushed biscuits and mix well.
Press the biscuit mixture into the bottom of a round 22 cm baking pan which has been sprayed with non-stick spray. Refrigerate.
Place the milk into a small saucepan and bring to the boil.
Turn off the heat and add the rooibos teabags.
Steep for 10 minutes, remove the bags and leave the milk to cool.
Place the eggs and the caster sugar into the bowl of an electric mixer.
Whisk on high speed until the mixture is pale and thick.
Add the cream cheese, one tub at a time.
Reserving about 50 g for the topping, crumble the Mediterranean Delicacies Vanilla Halva into the mixture and beat until combined.
Stir in the rooibos milk. Pour the mixture onto the biscuit base and bake the cheesecake in an oven that has been preheated to 180?C for 10 minutes.
Reduce the oven temperature to 150?C and bake for a further 50 minutes or until the cake is set.
The cake should not be firm or hard but rather have a soft and stable wobble.
Cool the cheesecake and refrigerate overnight.
To make the caramel sauce, place the sugar and the water into a heavy bottomed medium sized saucepan.
Stir over a medium heat until the sugar has dissolved.
Stop stirring and bring the sugar syrup to the boil.
Boil continuously for about 6 minutes or until the sugar colour changes to a light deep caramel.
Remove from heat immediately.
Allow to cool for a few minutes and then carefully whisk in the cream a little at a time. (Take care as the sugar will bubble up as the cream is added.)
Whisk in the butter, and continue whisking until the caramel is smooth and well blended. Cool.
To serve spread the caramel over the top of the cheesecake. Decorate with crushed honeycomb, the 50 g reserved Mediterranean Delicacies Vanilla Halva and caramel sugar shards.