Ginger and Horopito Caramel Cheesecake

Ingredients

Ginger Base:
2 cups (240g) Gingernut Biscuits
1/3 cup (67g) packed light or dark brown sugar
1/2 cup (8 Tbsp; 113g) Lewis Road Creamery Premium Unsalted Butter, melted

Caramel Sauce
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 and 1/4 cups 300ml Lewis Road Creamery Organic Single Cream
2 Tablespoons (15g) Dried Horopito

Filling:
1 and 1/4 cups (300ml) Lewis Road Creamery Double Cream
678g full-fat brick cream cheese, softened to room temperature
1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
2 Tablespoons (15g) icing sugar
1/4 cup (60g) sour cream, at room temperature
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Topping:
1 Cup (200g) granulated sugar
2 Tablespoons (15g) Dried Horopito

Method

• 1

  Make the Ginger Base: Stir the base ingredients together. Pour into a 9-inch springform ppack in very tightly with bottom of a measuring cup Freeze as you prepare the caramel sauce

• 2

  Make the Caramel Sauce: Boil Sugar and Water over a low-medium heat until water has evaporated and sugar has melted into a thick brown liquid, slowly add Double Cream over a medium low heat. Add the dried horopito and stir through. Decant caramel sauce into a jar and cool in fridge for 1 hour.

• 3

  Remove Ginger Base from the freezer, and spread evenly across the gingernut base using an offset spatula. Freeze for 1-2 hours before making the filling.

• 4

  Make the Filling: Using a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, whip the cream into stiff peaks on medium-high speed, about 4–5 minutes. Set aside in the fridge

• 5

  Fir your stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese and granulated sugar together on medium speed until creamed together. Scrape down the bowl as needed. Add the icing sugar, sour cream, lemon juice, and vanilla extract. Beat for 2–3 minutes on medium-high speed until smooth.

• 6

  Slowly fold the whipped cream into the cheesecake filling until combined.

• 7

  Remove crust from the freezer and spread filling into crust. Use an offset spatula to smooth down the top. Cover tightly with plastic wrap or tinfoil and refrigerate for 24 hours. (It's worth the wait!)

• 8

  Before serving, place 1 cup of sugar into a saucepan and cook over a medium-high heat until liquid and bubbling - remove from the heat and add dried horopito. Mix these two together and spread over a baking tray lined with baking paper. Place in the fridge for 1 hour, then break into shards for use as a topping.

• 9

  Use a knife to loosen the chilled cheesecake from the rim of the springform pan, then remove the rim. Using a clean sharp knife, cut into slices for serving.