Baileys Irish Cream Cheesecake

Earlier in the week I told you about the Baileys Irish Cream Cheesecake I made Mr B for St Patrick's Day and I think it's about time I shared it with you!

Mr B and I both love Baileys soeven though we only buy ourselves a bottle as a treat maybe once a year, it has still managed to feature in some of the major moments of our life.....

....like the night Mr B and I got engaged and we sat drinking a glass of Baileys to celebrate,

.....or the night we moved into our first home together and I put a bottle of Baileys on the kitchen bench and said I don't care how much you drink but we are not going to bed until everything is unpacked!

.....or last year when we were in Ireland on our honeymoon and one afternoon whilst relaxing in a little Irish Pub I sent Mr B to the bar to get me a Baileys and milk....the whole bar went silent and the bar man leaned over and quietly asked if it was some sort of weird Australian hangover cure.....

And now we can add 'making a super awesome and delicious cheesecake' to that list.

The rich Baileys cheesecake filling paired with the Baileys whipped cream and the dark chocolate ganache is a sure fire hit in our book - so much so that when I took my Dad his regular care package of baked goodies last night, there was no way Mr B was letting a slice of this walk out the door with them. Needless to say I spent all night talking about, and flashing photos of, this cheesecake that was sitting at home in our fridge and Dad was none to pleased to discover he had missed out!


Baileys Cheesecake - easily serve 8-10. (Updated November 2013)

To make the base and the filling you will need:
1 x 250g pkt of plain sweet biscuits
75g butter, melted
500g cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup caster sugar
3 tspn gelatin, dissolved in 1/4 cup hot water
1/4 cup Baileys Irish Cream
1 cup thickened cream

Place biscuits in a food processor and process until they are down to fine crumbs.

Add the melted butter and mix well. Press the mixture into the base of a lined 24cm springform pan and place in the fridge.

Whip the cream and set aside.

Using an electric mixer, combine the cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add the Baileys and gelatin and beat until combined. Gently fold through the whipped cream.

Pour the filling into the prepared crust and refrigerate for 3-4 hours or until set.

To make the whipped cream topping you will need:
1 cup thickened cream
1 tbspn Baileys Irish Cream

Beat the cream until it's nice and thick. Add the Baileys and beat until just combined.

Spread the whipped cream over the cheesecake filling and place back in the fridge for 30 mins.

To make the dark chocolate ganache you will need:
100g dark chocolate melts
2 tbspns thickened cream

Place the chocolate and cream in a microwave safe jug and place in the microwave for 40 seconds on high. Stir until smooth.

Set aside to cool for 5-10 mins until the ganache thickens slightly. Use a spoon to drizzle over the top of the whipped cream.

Place in the fridge until ready to serve.

VARIATION - I have made this cheesecake using Oreo's for the base and adding a dash of vanilla to the filling. I also gave the whipped cream topping and ganache a miss and dusted it with a little bit of cocoa instead and it was fabulous!

And here are some cupcakes I whipped up for Mr B for Easter - I was aiming for little Easter baskets and even though I was a bit rushed in doing them, but basically I just made some vanilla cupcakes, spread a thin layer of vanilla frosting on top, piped a ring of frosting around the edges and then filled the ring with jelly beans! How easy is that and I think they are really sweet and really effective!

Enjoy!!

Mrs B xx