Vegan Baileys Cheesecake

First up the base, crush the biscuits in a food processor until they resemble fine crumbs, alternatively place them in a large bowl and crush with one end of a rolling pin. Stir in the Cocoa Powder until well combined then mix in the melted butter.

Put the biscuit mixture into a loose bottomed 8 inch cake tin that’s approx. 2inch deep and press to create an even base. Pop in the fridge to chill for at least 20 minutes.

Next up the Vegan Irish cream (or you can use vegan Baileys if short on time), dissolve the espresso powder and cocoa powder and sugar in 1x tbsp boiling water then add the Irish whiskey, almond milk and vanilla combining well. 

Now it’s time for the cheesecake filling, put the cream cheese in the bowl of a freestanding mixer or large bowl and beat with the sugar, and Vanilla Bean Paste until smooth. Whilst mixing gradually add the oat cream and 200ml of the vegan Irish cream and mix until smooth.

Take out 400ml of the filling and place in a deep pan. Mix in the vege gel until dissolved and then place the pan on the hob and bring to the boil stirring constantly. Once the mixture is a boiling point it will have thickened considerably, whilst mixing the filling, pour in the hot mixture, whisking well until smooth.

Pour the filling over the biscuit base and place in the freezer until frozen – for at least 4 hours or ideally overnight.

Now let’s make the decorations, melt the Chocolate in a heatproof bowl by placing in a microwave and heating on full power in 30 second bursts, stirring in between bursts until melted.

Place the melted chocolate in a piping bag (alternatively use a teaspoon) and pipe/drizzle star shapes onto a flat baking sheet lined with greaseproof paper. 

Decorate the stars with the gold decorating icing then leave the chocolate decorations to set for a couple of hours or overnight.

An hour before you’re ready to serve the cheesecake it’s time to make the ganache, remove the cheesecake from the freezer and take out of the tin placing on your serving plate.

Chop the Chocolate into small pieces and place in a heatproof bowl. Put 70ml of the vegan Irish cream in a pan with the vegan butter and warm until just below boiling point then pour over the chopped chocolate. Stir the warmed chocolate mixture and stir in the icing sugar until the chocolate has melted.

Using about half the mixture, spread over the top of the cheesecake in a thin layer. Leave the rest of the mixture to cool and thicken slightly then whip until light and fluffy with an electric hand mixer. Put the mixture into a piping bag with an open star nozzle then pipe swirls on top of the cheesecake. 

Carefully peel off the set chocolate stars from the greaseproof and pop onto the swirls of ganache. Serve the cheesecake chilled.