The past few weeks have been hectic, with various social events, teaching practice, work, and general self-care all taking over my timetable. On the rare occasion when I do have some downtime, I’ve been switching my brain off and watching shows on Netflix that don’t require much thinking (e.g. Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt). It means that I’ve not done much in the way of typing up blog posts and recipes for you, but I hope you’ll let me off the hook.

I only have two weeks left of teaching placement, and 6 weeks left until it’s all over. Then I can finally get back to really enjoying myself in the kitchen and churning out some delicious meals and treats. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve still been cooking, but it’s not been meals that I would want to put on the blog, or I’ve been making meals that are already only on the blog. Easy and quick have been the two most important elements in my cooking over the past two weeks, which usually means pasta or a sandwich.

I have to admit that I made these cheesecake bars a while back, prior to starting my placement, as a welcome to two new ladies that joined the team. I’ve made Toblerone cheesecake before, but knew that a bar version would be easier to eat and provide more treats for the office rather than trying to slice a round cake which would inevitably only lead to about 8 pieces in total.

You can choose alternative chocolate, should you wish, to mix into your cheesecake batter, and it would still taste divine. Should you want chunkier pieces of chocolate, don’t use a food processor. Instead, chop the pieces up by hand, or place them into a ziplock bag and bash with a rolling pin.

Ingredients

175 grams digestive biscuits, crushed to a sand-like consistency
75 grams unsalted butter, melted
500 grams cream cheese, softened
250 grams ricotta cheese
150 grams caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 eggs
400 grams Toblerone, crushed

1. Preheat the oven to 150°C.
2. Line a small baking tray or Pyrex dish with parchment paper.
3. In a bowl, combine the melted butter and the digestive biscuits until well incorporated. Pour the base mixture into the prepared baking tray and press down to compress it.
4. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes, then set aside to cool.
5. In a large bowl, whisk the cream cheese, ricotta cheese, sugar and vanilla extract until a thick mixture is formed.
6. Add one egg at a time, mixing as you go. Scrape down the sides of the bowl to ensure everything is well combined. The mixture should be smooth and creamer.
7. Carefully fold in the crushed Toblerone pieces. Then pour the batter onto the cold biscuit base.
8. Place the cheesecake tray inside a larger baking tray, and fill the tray with water until it reaches two-thirds of the way up the side of the cake tray.
9. Bake in the oven for 40 – 45 minutes, depending on the size of your baking tray, or until golden brown but still slightly wobbly in the centre.
10. Leave the cake to cool slightly before covering and placing in the fridge overnight.
11. When ready to serve, slice the cheesecake into squares.