An easy to make chocolate and peanut cheesecake perfect for celebrations of all kinds, or just a Sunday pudding. Lots of possible variations too

What do I need to make a chocolate and peanut cheesecake

To make a 20cm nut cheesecake, you will need

• Base
• 100 g digestive biscuits
• 50 g salted peanuts
• 50 g chocolate, plain
• 2 tbps vegetable oil
• For the filling
• 250 g soft cheese, a Philadelphia type
• 2 eggs
• 1 egg yolk
• 100 g sugar, granulated
• 115 g natural yogurt
• 150 g salted peanuts
• 2 tbsp oil to turn the peanuts into peanut butter
• For the Topping
• 125 g natural yogurt
• 50 g chocolate, plain, chopped
• 15 g granulated sugar

How do I make chocolate and peanut cheesecake

• Preheat the oven to 170°c/325F/Gas 3
• Base
• For the base put the biscuits, nuts, chocolate (broken into chunks, or chopped), and oil in a food processor and mix together.
• Once the mixture comes together in a clump, take out of the processor and press it into the bottom of a 20cm round cake tin or 8″ square tin
• Chill this whilst you prepare the cheesecake.
• Peanut Butter
• Make a peanut butter by whizzing together 150g nuts with barely 2 tablespoons of oil until it is very smooth.
• Cheesecake Filling
• For the filling place the soft cheese, eggs, and egg yolk along with the sugar, yogurt, and peanut butter into a food processor and mix until it is combined.
• Pour the filling mixture onto the cheesecake base
• Cook for an hour, checking after 50 minutes. The top should be golden-coloured and completely set.
• Once the filling is cooked, take it out of the oven while you make the topping.
• Topping
• Warm the yogurt, sugar and chopped chocolate in a saucepan over very low heat, just until the chocolate is completely melted and it looks like smooth, chocolate-y sauce.
• Spoon the topping over the top of the cheesecake.
• Chill overnight
• Let the cheesecake cool at room temperature.
• Once the tin no longer feels warm, put into the fridge for several hours before serving, but ideally overnight.

What changes can I make

• Base
• for a ginger nut cheesecake, change the biscuits to a ginger nut, and include some fine chopped crystallised ginger, and so elf the syrup into the cheesecake mix
• or change the biscuits for the base to Biscoff, chocolate digestives or an oaty biscuit
• change dark chocolate for milk or white chocolate
• add cocoa powder instead of chopped chocolate to the biscuit base
• change salted peanuts to salted cashews or any other nuts you have handy
• use melted butter or spread in place of the vegetable oil
• Filling
• use either 2 whole eggs and omit the egg yolk, or use 3 whole eggs
• use light or dark brown Muscovado sugar in place of granulated for that lovely flavour
• use thick Greek yogurt or even a flavoured yogurt
• add orange zest or puree to the filling
• Topping
• use thick Greek yogurt or a flavoured yogurt
• change dark chocolate for milk or white chocolate
• make some chocolate curls of any flavour and put on top of the cooled cheesecake
• put candied, dried or plain orange slices on top, or orange peel curls
• serve with an orange compote, or orange ice cream
• serve with a chocolate or nutty ice cream 
• speckle with chocolate or multicoloured sprinkles

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