Hello Everyone and a Happy belated Birthday to me! I was supposed to get this recipe up on the day of my birthday, but only having baked this Ube Biscoff Cheesecake the night before, I didn’t have time to edit the photos and videos for uploading and for my Instagram posts. Nevertheless, to make up for that, I have a special announcement to make, which you can read at the end of this post!

If you had asked me where or how I would be spending my birthday this year at the start of our country-wide Enhanced Community Quarantine due to the on-going pandemic, I would’ve never guessed that 8 months later, we’d still be celebrating birthdays in quarantine. Nevertheless, I’m still super thankful that even with the virus still spreading, my family, friends, and myself included, are all safe and healthy.

So to be perfectly honest, this wasn’t the cake I had intended to make for my birthday. I only made the last minute decision (as in the morning before my actual birthday) to make an Ube Biscoff Cheesecake, inspired by an Instagram post I saw about a week or two ago. Well okay, the plan was to still push through with the cake I originally had in mind, and then bake mini Ube Biscoff Cheesecakes to share with my workmates, but baking two cakes in one day sounded daunting. I could already foresee the countless mishaps that are bound to happen juggling two recipes at the same time.

This Ube Biscoff Cheesecake is the perfect recipe for all the ube, biscoff, and cheesecake lovers. If you’ve never tried biscoff before, you should definitely try this dessert! This is utterly delicious and different to my other cheesecakes I’ve made in the past – the biscoff spread on top gives a nice rich addition to the cheesecake and creates a delicious spiced cookie flavour. The biscoff crust is buttery and sweet, and the cheesecake filling is thick and rich with ube that just melts-in-your-mouth with every bite. Honestly, it’s everything a cheesecake should be, and you may opt to do a no-bake or baked cheesecake with this recipe.

PREP TIME 15 MINS | COOKING TIME 1 HOUR | SERVES 6-8

INGREDIENTS

For the ube cheesecake mixture

• 450g cream cheese
• 250ml all purpose cream
• 2 large free-range egg
• 1 cup ube halaya (or ube jam)
• 1/4 cup white or brown sugar
• 1 tsp ube extract

For the biscoff crumb base

• 200g Lotus biscoff cookies, crushed
• 75g unsalted margarine, melted
• Pinch of salt

For the biscoff spread

• 50g Lotus biscoff cookies, crushed
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/8 cup coconut oil
• 2 tbsp unsalted margarine, melted
• Dash of vanilla extract
• Pinch of ground cinnamon

METHOD

1. Preheat oven to 130C (250F or gas mark 1).
2. Biscoff Crumb Base: Add the crushed biscoff cookies, salt, and melted butter together in a small mixing bowl. Mix together until well combined.
3. Grease an 8” spring-form pan with a bit of margarine and line the bottom and sides it with parchment paper. Cover the outside of the pan with tin foil. Press the crumb into the base of the cake pan and set aside in the fridge for about 15 minutes to set.
4. Ube Cheesecake Mixture: Using an electric handheld mixer, beat, on medium speed, the cream cheese and sugar together in a medium-sized bowl until smooth.
5. With the mixer running, add in the eggs, all purpose cream cream, ube halaya, and ube extract, mixing for a further 2 minutes.
6. Pour the mixture into the prepared spring-form cake pan, evenly covering the biscuit base.
7. Place the cake pan in a water bath and bake for 1 hour, or until just set.
8. Allow to cool down to room temperature and then chill in the fridge for about half an hour before serving.
9. Biscoff Spread: While the cake is chilling in the fridge, add the crushed biscoff cookies, ground cinnamon, vanilla extract, coconut oil, and butter into an immersion blender cup. Blend until the ingredients are well incorporated.
10. Add the water and blend further until you have a nice, smooth, and creamy spread. Set aside until ready to use.
11. Assemble: Carefully remove the cheesecake from the spring-form pan. Top the cheesecake with the biscoff spread and a biscoff cookie. Serve a slice or two… maybe three, immediately! *cheeky grin* Enjoy!

And now, here’s the announcement that I promised to share with you guys. One of my Auguesters, known as Karina Pineda a.k.a. @wanderlittlegirl, partnered up for my birthday to launch our very first Instagram Giveaway! The giveaway was launched on Monday and will run through until November 20. Further details of the giveaway are specified on my Instagram post which you can find here on @amcarmenskitchen. The giveaway is only open to residents in Metro Manila, but if you have family or friends living in the area, feel free to share the giveaway with them. My goal is to help my lovely friend promote her smol home-grown business (@madebywanderlittlegirl) and also in return, treat two (2) lucky winners with some home-baked goodies!

BON APPÉTIT

– Ally xx