Risalamande cheesecake with candied almonds

A recipe for risalamande cheesecake with candied almonds and cherry jelly - the perfect Christmas dessert.

Course Dessert

Cuisine Danish

Total Time 6

Servings servings

3 1/2 leaves gelatine
100 g full-fat cream cheese, plain
300 g cold rice pudding (risengrød) thick Danish rice porridge cooked in milk, well chilled
1 vanilla pod, seeds only
80 g blanched almonds, finely chopped
100 g icing sugar
325 ml whipping cream (38% fat)

1 jar cherry sauce, 400 g Danish-style kirsebærsauce, the thick cherry sauce served with risalamande
5 leaves gelatine

Melt the butter in a saucepan.
Blitz or chop the candied almonds finely.
Blitz the biscuits to fine crumbs, add the vanilla sugar and mix well with the melted butter and the chopped almonds.
Line the base of a springform tin with baking parchment, then fit an acetate cake collar around the inside of the ring. If you are using a cake ring, stand it on a chopping board with a sheet of baking parchment underneath and line the inside of the ring with the acetate collar.
Tip the biscuit mixture in and press it down firmly so the whole base is covered and the crumbs are tightly packed.
That way the base won't crumble when you slice the cake.
Chill and let it rest while you make the cream cheese filling.

Soak the gelatine leaves in a large bowl of cold water for 10-15 minutes.
Stir the cream cheese, icing sugar, finely chopped almonds, vanilla seeds and rice pudding together well - use a whisk if needed to make sure the mixture is free of lumps.
Rub the vanilla seeds into a little of the icing sugar first, so they distribute more easily.
Whip 300 ml of the cream to soft peaks. Pour the remaining 25 ml into a small saucepan and warm it gently - this is what you will dissolve the gelatine in.
Fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture in a couple of additions, keeping back a couple of spoonfuls of whipped cream to cool the gelatine with.
Squeeze the water out of the gelatine and dissolve the leaves, one at a time, in the warm cream - stir thoroughly after each leaf until it has melted completely.
Stir a couple of tablespoons of the whipped cream into the melted gelatine; this cools it slightly and prevents lumps.
Then fold the gelatine mixture into the cream cheese filling and stir well
Pour the filling over the biscuit base. Spread it out with a spoon if needed.
Return the cake to the fridge and let it set for a couple of hours before topping it with the jelly.

Soak the gelatine leaves in a large bowl of cold water for 10-15 minutes.
Strain the cherry sauce through a fine-mesh sieve - you need 250 ml of juice. If you are a little short, simply top up with a little water.
Heat the cherry juice in a small saucepan, then turn off the heat.
Squeeze the water out of the gelatine and dissolve the leaves, one at a time, in the cherry juice - stirring until each leaf has dissolved.
Let the mixture cool on the worktop to about 30°C, then pour a thin layer over the cake. Pour it over the back of a spoon - this prevents lots of air bubbles and lets the jelly settle gently over the top.
Chill the cake for at least 2 hours until the jelly has set, or ideally overnight.
Release the cake from the ring by gently pushing on the top of the acetate collar, then carefully peel the collar away from the cake.
Decorate the cake with roughly chopped candied almonds, gold flakes and chocolate balls in warm Christmas colours.