Chestnut Cheesecake

This is a really old recipe, the measurements are still in imperial!  So I've annotated.  Also, I didn't have a 20cm cheesecake tin so I used a 22cm and increased the crumb base. This worked perfectly.  It looks long, because there's 3 parts to making it, but it is actually a really simple, easy recipe.

Crumb Base:

6oz (185g) plain sweet biscuits (I used an entire 250g pack of Marie biscuits which would be 8oz)
3oz (90g) melted butter (I used 4oz/125g)

Crush biscuits finely, push through sieve, add melted butter; combine well.

Recipe clearly written before the invention of food processors, which is what I used for the biscuit crushing; then I put it all in a mixing bowl and added the butter, mixing it up with a big spoon.

Press over base of 8in (20cm) springform pan.

I used a 22cm springform and lined the bottom with greaseproof paper, plus I greased the sides with butter too.  Tip for biscuit base, more butter is better than less butter in terms of getting it to set strongly. I remember my Mum packing the base into the tin using a drinking glass or jar, one with a flat smooth bottom would be ideal. I put the base in the fridge to set while I got on with the next step.

Filling:

8oz (250g) packaged cream cheese - leave this out of fridge to soften for couple of hours prior to making.

16oz can chestnut puree - also called puree de marron.  Make sure you only get the pure pureed chestnut, there's another one with added crap (sugar, glucose and vanilla) which is more for eating than cooking.  I found the chestnut puree in the jam aisle of the supermarket, and the tin I bought was 15.5oz but this was fine.  This stuff is really solid in the tin, so it's pretty easy to slide a knife in to cut it in half, then scoop out the half you need for the filling and reserve the other half for the topping.


1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon vinegar I used apple cider as it was the only vinegar I had; I thought it was a good combo. Recipe prob calling for plain brown vinegar. 
1/2 cup cream Whip this up first before you start making the chestnut/cream-cheese blend.
2 teaspoons rum I used just slightly less rum than prescribed because I never like tasting alcohol in desserts.

Remove chestnut puree from can, divide into two equal parts; reserve one part for topping.  Sieve remaining puree, beat with the cream cheese; add condensed milk, lemon juice, vinegar.  Beat until mixture is richly creamy.

I'm not 100% convinced that the sieving is necessary if you have a nice strong mixmaster.  Like I said, this is an old recipe and sieving would be necessary if you had to beat this up with only a wooden spoon.  On the other hand I think sieving *might* help eliminate any lumps of chestnut.  If you decide to sieve, use a large holed sieve like a flour one, don't use those fine mesh ones or you will be pushing the chestnut through for several hours and hoping someone strong like Mister Fixit will walk in and give you a hand.


Fold in whipped cream and rum.  
Always fold by hand, to keep the mixture light.


Spoon into prepared crumb base, and smooth.
Refrigerate.


When filling is firm, smooth desired topping over (see below), refrigerate again until topping has firmed.


You might like to serve a bowl of whipped cream separately.
Because too much cream is barely enough as we all know.


You might also like to grate some good quality cooking chocolate over the top, unless you live with a cooking chocolate thief who can't leave things like that alone.


We have given a choice of two toppings - the first is like a rich chestnut mousse; the second retains more of the true chestnut flavour.  But they're equally delicious!
I made the 1st one because it has chocolate in it, nuff said.

Topping No. 1: 

2oz (65g) butter 
1/4 cup castor sugar 
chestnut puree 
2oz (65g) dark cooking chocolate 
2 tablespoons boiling water 
1 tablespoon rum or slightly less if you're me.


The recipe says to finely chop the chocolate then melt it in the boiling water, presumably because microwaves weren't invented then.  I say don't bother with finely chopping, because microwaving is a really good way to melt chocolate. Just give it short 20 second bursts on high, take it out and give little stir to see if it's starting to melt, then put it back in for another 20 seconds until melting commences.  Once it was pretty soft, I added the boiling water and stirred them together. 

Cream butter and sugar until white and fluffy; sieve (see above) reserved chestnut puree, add to butter mixture, beat well. Melt finely chopped chocolate in the hot water, add to creamed mixture, beat well, beat in rum. Spread on top of cheesecake. Refrigerate until firm 

Topping No. 2: 

1/4 cup water 
2/3 cup sugar 
chestnut puree 
1 tablespoon cream 
1 teaspoon rum 

Make a syrup by placing water and sugar into heavy saucepan, bring slowly to boil, stirring constantly. When all sugar has dissolved, boil rapidly without stirring until syrup forms soft ball when a little is dropped into a glass of cold water. Blend syrup into reserved sieved chestnut puree, beat well. Add cream and rum, beat until smooth. Spread on top of cheesecake. Refrigerate until firm.