Churros Cheesecake

Line an 8 inch square baking tin with greaseproof paper, make sure there is some overhang to help you lift out the cheesecake. Line a large baking tray with greaseproof paper and draw 10-12 8inch lines, spaced slightly apart on the greaseproof paper – this is to fill the base of your tin so make sure the lines are the same length as your tin.

Pop the water, butter and sugar into a large saucepan, simmer over a low heat until all the mixture has melted together. Turn up the heat and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and pour in the flour, stir continuously until you have a lovely smooth mixture with no lumps of flour. 

Pop your mixture into a large bowl and leave to cool for 10 minutes. Pop in the eggs and Vanilla Extract and using an electric hand whisk, beat together, don’t worry the mixture will begin to separate at first but continue to whisk until it comes together and you have a smooth batter. 

Transfer your mixture into a piping bag fitted with an open star nozzle. Pipe 10-12 churros on the lines you drawn on your baking tray. If you have any extra batter pipe some smaller churros, you can use these to decorate your cheesecake. Pop in the freezer for 30-60 mins until they have set firm. 

Once your churros are firm, heat a large pan filled about ¼ full of oil to 180-200°C, if you do not have a thermometer to check the oil is hot enough, pop a churros into the oil and it should start to bubble and rise to the top of the oil. Using tongs pop a few churros into the hot oil to fry for about 1-2 minutes until golden brown, use your tongs to turn the churros to ensure they are cooked equally on both sides. Be really careful frying the churros as the oil is very hot and can splatter. If you have a deep fat fryer use that to cook your churros. 

Once your churros are cooked pop on a cooling rack with kitchen roll under the rack to allow any excess oil to drip off.

Once all your churros are cooked and cool enough to handle, line the base of your baking tin with churros, trim then down with a pair of scissor if some are too long (keep any off cuts are decoration). Mix together the granulated sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over the churros base, remember to keep some back to sprinkle on top of your cheesecake.

Pop the base to one side whilst you make the cheesecake. Melt the White Chocolate in the microwave in 20 second bursts, stirring between each burst until it’s melted.

Pop the cream cheese, double cream and Vanilla Bean paste into a large bowl and whisk together to form stiff peaks then whisk in the melted chocolate.

Pour over your churros and smooth the top with a palette knife or spoon and pop in the fridge to set for about 4 hours or overnight.

When you are ready to serve your cheesecake, remove from the tin using the greaseproof to help you lift out the cheesecake. Pop onto your serving board or plate and sprinkle over the remaining cinnamon sugar. 

If you have any remaining churros, toss in some cinnamon sugar and cut into mini churros and pop on top of your cheesecake to decorate!