A Little Bit Lydia: Christmas Baking: Chocolate Orange Cheesecake

Whilst flicking through recipes this past week for some ideas for Christmas bakes, I magically found this chocolate orange cheesecake recipe on the BBC Good Food website and was immediately tempted. Tis the season for Terry's Chocolate Oranges after all and I love chocolate oranges, they're one of my favourites!

It's a naughty recipe, there's very little goodness in it but hey it's December, the month where we all eat chocolate for breakfast and if you can't live a little, then...! It's easy peasy to make as there's no baking involved, just preparing each of the ingredients and then letting it set in the fridge afterwards. And what's more it doesn't require any technical skill - you can make it pretty by simply grating chocolate orange over the top of the cheesecake and decorating with leftover chocolate segments.

I handed most of it to Rob to take to work to share with his work colleagues and it was a massive hit, demolished within minutes! But I think this would be the perfect dessert served at a Christmas dinner party or a festive gathering. Plus, you wont need to waste time away from your guests preparing dessert, instead you can just take the pre-prepared cheesecake out the fridge and serve straight away.

So here's what you'll need:

16 hobnobs biscuits {or digestives if you prefer}

120g unsalted butter

200g Philadelphia cheese {I used the light version}

185ml double cream

100g icing sugar

2 x Terry's Chocolate Oranges

And here's how you make it:

- Start by putting the biscuits into a large bowl and with the end of a rolling pin crush until they are the consistency of bread crumbs.

- Melt the butter on a low heat {or in the microwave} and then combine this with the biscuits and mix well.

- Spoon the biscuit mixture into a quiche/flan tin {preferably one with a pop-out base as this will make serving your cheesecake much easier} and make sure it is evenly spread. Pop in the fridge for about 45 minutes to set.

- Next, whisk together the Philadelphia and the icing sugar to make a creamy concoction.

- In a separate bowl, whisk the double cream until it peaks.

- Melt 1 & a half chocolate oranges in the microwave or in a bowl over a pan on a low heat, and make sure any lumps are melted and stirred in.

- Add the melted chocolate to the Philadelphia mix and then add in the whisked cream. Once all combined, spoon the mixture onto the chilled buttery biscuit base base base base... ;)

- Divide the leftover chocolate orange into two, using some segments to grate over the top and some segments placed whole on the top. I think it would also look impressive if you were to decorate it with segments all around the edges!