Tim Tams.  Are they available in lots of other countries other than Australia?  You’re missing out if they’re not!  Tim Tams have gotten me through many a break-up and Swotvac week in my teens and 20s and I’ll always be fond of them.  There are all sorts of fancy flavours these days but my favourite is the original chocolate.  That said, caramel Tim Tams were on sale at Woolies so I had to use those for my epic Easter cheesecake.

I’ve made a Tim Tam baked cheesecake before, although not posted on here; the top cracked and it looked sort of hideous but was so amazingly sweet and delicious I thought I’d give it another go, but instead made it a classic no-bake affair to makes things simpler.  You can use low fat cream and cream cheese in this obvs, but really, what would be the point?  It’s so delicious and fattening, you may as well enjoy it

And enjoy it you will.  An almost pure chocolate base, creamy, velvety filling with crunchy bits of caramel and chocolate biscuits throughout (you can really taste the Tim Tams).  Oh, and I did a fancy cheffy thing and made crunchy toffee shards for the top – they were really easy and look fabulous although I overcooked mine a bit as you can see.

I really hope somebody makes this for Easter because I don’t think it’ll disappoint!

Recipe for no bake caramel Tim Tam cheesecake with toffee shards:

250g (13 biscuits) caramel Tim Tam biscuits
90g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
300mls thickened cream
500g Philadelphia cream cheese (2 x 250g packs), softened at room temperature
3/4 cup white caster sugar
1 tspn vanilla extract
40mls boiled water
3 tspns powdered gelatine
8 caramel Tim Tam biscuits, extra, chopped coarsely

Toffee:
1/2 cup white sugar
30mls water

Grease a 20cm cake tin with removable sides, making sure to get into the corners.

Break 250g Tim Tams into pieces then process in a food processor until ground finely.  Place ground biscuits in a large mixing bowl with the melted butter and stir until combined.  Press mixture firmly into the base of the prepared tin.  Chill in the fridge while making the filling.

Place thickened cream into a large mixing bowl and use electric beater to beat on medium speed for 1-2 minutes until thickened.

In another large mixing bowl, use electric mixer to beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla on medium speed for 1 1/2 minutes until fluffy, making sure to scrape down the sides occasionally.

Pour just boiled water into a glass jug; scatter over gelatine then whisk with a fork until completely dissolved.  Allow to cool for 2-3 minutes (make sure you don’t let it set!) then, on low speed, beat gelatine/water mixture into cream cheese mixture until combined completely.  Use a spatula to fold through whipped cream then fold through extra chopped Tim Tams until combined.

Pour into base, level the top with a butter knife then cover with double glad wrap and chill in the fridge overnight.

Top cake with toffee pieces before serving.

Toffee:
Line a baking tray with foil, including right up over the sides.  Add sugar and water to a heavy based saucepan on low heat, stirring, just until sugar has dissolved.  Increase hotplate to high heat, swirling pan often and standing close by (don’t stir), until mixture is a light golden.  As soon as you see a light golden colour (the toffee will become much darker even after you take the pan off the hotplate as you can see from the colour of mine), very carefully pour onto prepared baking tray, moving the tray back and forth slowly to spread the toffee out.

Set aside at room temperature to cool completely until hardened to break off pieces to decorate the top of the cake or alternately, you can wait until it’s hardening but still pliable and roll it up into shapes.

Serves: 10

Cheesecake adapted from: Taste
Toffee shards adapted from: Taste