Warming autumnal spices meet creamy cheesecake... what's not to love?

 A few years ago there was a Christmas bakeoff where I work and one of my colleagues brought in an insanely delicious Christmas pudding Cheesecake which is made by blending a shop bought christmas pudding into the cheescake mixture (a Tom Kerridge recipe I think).

I don't have the sweetest tooth but it was absolutely delicious and possibly one of the best things I've ever eaten! My colleague and I were discussing how yummy it was but how disappointing that it was so seasonal and ingredients would be hard to come by at other times of the year. We sat licking our plates and brainstorming what other type of cake might possibly do the job.

My friend then suggested that carrot cake might do a similar job and I declared her to officially be a genius, and the rest as they say is history!

Whilst I loathe carrots I adore carrot cake! One might argue that carrot cake is tasty enough and so given that this recipe is baking free and involves an entire shop bought cheesecake,,, what is the point?

Well, I would urge you to try it! It's soooo good and also elevates a tasty tea time treat into a proper after dinner pudding. Bearing in mind that this is cheesecake ingredients PLUS a shop bought cake blended in for good measure this is most definitely not a diet conscious recipe. In fact I shall also take this moment to point out that it is also not vegan, not dairy, not gluten or nut free so if these things are important to you then this recipe is not for you!

It is however utterly delectable and if you are a fan of carrot cake I challenge you not to fall head over heels in love with this recipe!

 Ingredients for the base

• 200g ginger nut biscuits - crushed in a food processor or bashed up in a resealable bag with a rolling pin (Teddy loved this part)
• 30g light muscovado sugar

Ingredients for the filling

• 110g melted salted butter
• Shop bought carrot cake - We used a 395g sainsburys one although weve used other brands up to 410g before and that works too! (the whole thing goes in)
• 30ml orange juice
• 30ml pumpkin liqueur (such as Motzart spiced chocolate liqueur) or alternatively just 60ml of orange juice 
• Zest of an orange
• 2 x 280g tubs full-fat cream cheese
• 300ml pot double cream
• 1/2 tsp of ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 200g light muscavado sugar
• 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
• Grated dark chocolate or chocolate orange for sprinkling on top (optional)
• Zest of another orange to sprinkle on top 

1. For the base, take a 20cm cake tin (springform or solid based is fine). Line with clingfilm and pop into the fridge to get cool. This will help the base to set more quickly and the clingfilm will enable you to release the cheesecake from the tin easily - just make sure you leave plenty of excess to grab and pull the cheesecake out of the tin.

2. Mix the crushed biscuit crumbs and the 30g of muscavado sugar together in a bowl. Pour in the melted butter and mix well. Using the back of a spoon or clean fingertips press the biscuit mix into the cake tin. Finger tips do help to get it more evenly spread and pressed down! Pop it into the fridge for 30 minutes to an hour until set.

3. Add the shop bought carrot cake, cream cheese, remaining sugar, vanilla extract, cinnamon, ground ginger, orange juice, liqueur and orange zest into a blender. Blend until smooth.

4. In a separate bowl beat the double cream and then fold this into the blended cream cheese mixture. Spread this mixture over the chilled biscuit base and then leave to chill in the fridge overnight.

5. To serve - Remove the cheesecake from the tin and grate over orange zest and chocolate to decorate and to taste. The cheesecake should keep in the fridge for up to 3 days.

6. Enjoy ☺️