My Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheesecake does what it says on the tin but in a rather decadent and sophisticated way! Not too sweet or too rich despite it's brownie base, it's significantly quicker and easier to make than you'd ever imagine! Give this Americana inspired cheesecake a go and I promise it will be a firm favourite forever more!
Line a 9"/23cm Springform cake pan with greaseproof paper. It must be a good deep one!
Make the Brownie Base
Add 125g Butter, 75g Dark Chocolate and 50g Milk Chocolate to a medium mixing bowl and
Blast in the microwave to melt (or heat over a low flame on the hob in a small saucepan).
Stir after 1 minute then keep blasting and stirring in 30 second bursts until everything is melted and combined.
Add 2 Large Eggs and 160g Caster Sugar to the melted chocolate and stir until thoroughly mixed.
Add 75g Plain Flour, 50g Chopped Salted Peanuts and 50g Dark Chocolate Chips and again stir until completely combined.
Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 12/15 minutes until just firm in the middle. This isn't the occasion for a super gooey in the middle brownie as the cheesecake will simply collapse but it will continue to cook with the filling.
Reduce the oven temperature to 170c or equivalent when you remove the brownie.
Make the Peanut Cheesecake
Meanwhile, start the cheesecake filling by separating 3 Large Eggs and putting the whites aside for another time.
Add the 3 egg yolks to a mixing bowl (or stand mixer) and add a further whole 3 Large Eggs, 500g Full Fat Cream Cheese, 200g Caster Sugar, 125ml Sour Cream and 250g Smooth Peanut Butter.
Beat the ingredients until smooth and fullycombined.
Pour the filling mix onto the cooked brownie base and bake for 50 minutes, checking towards the end of the cooking time. The filling wants to be just set in the middle.
While the filling is cooking, make the toppings ready to add later.
Make the Toppings
Mix 300ml Sour Cream, 6 tsp Caster Sugar and 0.5 tsp Vanilla Extract until combined.
Once the filling is cooked, add the topping and bake for a further 10/15 minutes.
Whizz 25g Chopped Salted Peanutsand 6 Werthers Originals up in a little processor or grinder into fine crumbs.
Once the cheesecake is cool, sprinkle the crumbs all over the top. This step isn't needed but it covers up the slightly unattractive top and adds a little extra sweet and peanut flavour.
Leave the cooked cheesecake to cool entirely before serving - ideally overnight.
Notes
Important! If you have adjusted the serving size of this recipe, the cooking time will vary. The layers on a larger cheesecake will take longer to cook and a smaller one will take a little less. If you are substantially increasing the recipe, you might want to consider making multiple smaller cheesecakes. Don't forget that the tin size will need to be adjusted too.