Studenterbrød cheesecake - Rum-ball cheesecake
Recipe for cheesecake à la studenterbrød (the Danish rum-ball bakery slice): biscuit base, rum-ball layer and raspberry cream cheese filling.A graduation cake for the graduation party, or for anyone who loves studenterbrød.
Servings 10 people
Ingredients
Biscuit base
- 100 g digestive biscuits
- 30 g almonds
- 60 g butter
- 1/2 tsp vanilla sugar
Rum-ball layer
- 500 g cake offcuts (leftover cake)
- 50 g dark chocolate (50-60%), melted
- 1 1/2-2 tbsp rum essence
- 1 1/2-2 tbsp cocoa powder
- 50 ml jam I like to use 50 ml of the raspberry pulp left in the sieve after straining the syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla sugar
Raspberry syrup for the cream cheese filling*
- 200 g raspberries
- 150 g sugar
- 1/2 vanilla pod
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
Cream cheese filling
- 200 g cream cheese
- 250 ml whipping cream (38% fat)
- 75 g white chocolate
- 75 g icing sugar
- 4 leaves gelatine
- 100 ml raspberry syrup*
You will also need
- Cake ring or springform tin, approx. 18-20 cm
- Acetate cake collar
- Sprinkles
Instructions
Biscuit base
- Melt the butter in a saucepan.
- Blitz the biscuits and almonds to a fine crumb, and stir together with the melted butter and vanilla sugar.
- Line the base of a springform tin with baking parchment, then fit an acetate cake collar around the inside of the ring. If using a cake ring, place it on a chopping board with a sheet of baking parchment underneath, and line the inside of the ring with acetate.
- Tip the biscuit mixture in and press it down firmly so the whole base is covered. Chill in the fridge and let it rest.
Rum-ball layer
- Crumble the cake offcuts into a bowl. If there are lots of large pieces and nuts in the cake, I prefer to blitz them in a food processor first.
- Tip them into a mixing bowl and add the melted chocolate, cocoa powder, jam and vanilla sugar. Mix with the dough hooks until everything is well combined.
- Then add the rum essence, tasting as you go: if you love a strong rum flavour, simply add 2 tbsp and work it into the mixture.
- Divide the mixture into lumps and press it down firmly over the biscuit base until you have an even layer across the whole base. It is important that it is pressed together well, for a neat cut when you slice the cake.
- Return the cake to the fridge while you make the cream cheese filling.
Raspberry syrup for the cream cheese filling*
- Put all the ingredients in a saucepan, including the scraped-out vanilla pod along with its seeds, and bring to the boil.
- Let the raspberry syrup simmer over medium heat for approx. 10-15 min., until well reduced and slightly thickened.
- Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve – you need approx. 100 ml of syrup. Top up with a splash of water if necessary.
- Pour the syrup back into a small saucepan – you will use this to dissolve the gelatine (see the next step "Cream cheese filling").
Cream cheese filling
- Soak the gelatine leaves in a large bowl of cold water for approx. 15 min.
- Melt the white chocolate in the microwave or over a bain-marie, and let it cool, but without letting it set.
- Whip the cream to soft peaks, taking care not to over-whip it.
- Stir the cream cheese together with the icing sugar, whipped cream and the cooled chocolate.
- Warm the raspberry syrup in the saucepan, turn off the heat and stir in the soaked, squeezed-out gelatine leaves, one at a time.
- Fold a couple of large spoonfuls of the cream cheese mixture into the raspberry syrup so the syrup cools down further.
- Fold the gelatine and raspberry syrup into the cream cheese mixture, a little at a time, and stir well. Take care not to knock too much air out of the cream.
- Pour the cream cheese filling into the tin on top of the rum-ball layer. Spread the filling with a spoon if needed, and tap the tin gently on the worktop to knock any air bubbles out of the mixture.
- Return the cake to the fridge and let it set for at least 3-4 hours, preferably overnight.
- Decorate the cake with assorted sprinkles.