About five months ago I bought this tube of Sainsbury's Basics Digestive Biscuits from a Sainsbury's Local. I needed to get cashback from the till as all the nearby ATMs were busy or nonfunctional, and the biscuits were very cheap at 23p. I figured that at some point in the future I will get round to using this to making a cheesecake, since this is perhaps the only kind of recipe I know that involves digestive biscuits. Now with less than a week to go on its expiry date, it was time to get cracking.
The biscuits themselves are smaller in size compared to say, McVitie's Digestives, and seem to crumble more easily. Probably would not make them suitable for dunking, quite contrary to what the label suggests. However, since they seem to taste quite similar to McVitie's, they would be great for making cheesecake bases with.
The recipe I have in mind for today is one found in Todd Wilbur's Top Secret Recipes, where he attempts to mimic the White Chocolate and Raspberry Truffle Cheesecake at The Cheesecake Factory. In it, he dots the top of the cheesecake with slightly diluted raspberry preserve, before using a knife to create a beautiful raspberry swirl pattern. I could do something similar with my Sainsbury's Basics Strawberry Jam, and in so doing run down my Basics inventory.
Microwave 25-50g of butter until it liquefies. Add 100g of Sainsbury's Basics digestives (about a quarter of the packet) and smash everything up until you get a butter crumb mixture.
Press the butter-crumb mixture firmly into the base of a cake tin. Refrigerate until ready to use.
While waiting for the base to set, combine 75g of caster sugar, one packet of Sainsbury's Basics cream cheese and an egg in a bowl.
Break up a bar of Sainsbury's Basics White Chocolate without opening the packet, using a hard object to further pulverise if necessary. Open the packet and dump contents into the cheese mixture before mixing thoroughly.
Now, take the butter-crumb base out of the fridge and pour the cheese mixture on top. In another bowl, add about 1 tsp of water (not 1.5 tbsp as I have inadvertently done) to about one tablespoon of Sainsbury's Basics Strawberry Jam and microwave on high for about 10 seconds. Stir into a thick sauce, and then drip a few dots onto the surface of the cheesecake. Use a knife or similar tool to 'connect the dots', resulting in the marble effect you partially see here.
Bake in oven at 170 degrees Celsius for about 30-35 minutes until the centre is just set and the edges are firm. Turn off oven and leave to cool in there for another 2 hours before transferring to the fridge to set overnight.
I will be taking this to my workplace tomorrow for my colleagues to have a sample, since they are always entertained by the work I do here. I will try to get them to comment on this post so that you will have an idea of how good (or bad!) it is.
| Description | Price per Unit | No. of servings | Trade-up Premium | Trade-up Benefits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Digestive Biscuits | £0.23 | 400g | +£0.60 for 500g (McVities) | The real deal. Recommended. |
I'm happy to report that we are all alive and well after eating this at work. The cake is pretty good too!
ReplyDeleteIn my view the Sainsburys basics digestives are much nicer than Sainsbury's normal brand, and even are as good as Mcvities in terms of taste. They are a little smaller but absolutely delicious- I wouldn't suggest trading up.
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