Butterscotch Pecan Cheesecake //

Who doesn't love a good cheesecake?! I've got to admit, I'd never made cheesecake before, and I was a little worried as I wasn't sure I liked pecans... or butterscotch... but it was yummy! I didn't manage to get a photo of the whole thing as it collapsed when I first sliced it. I hadn't chilled it long enough, and it needs a looooong time to chill, at least overnight, so bear that in mind if you try it yourself.

Adapted from 'Hummingbird Bakery: Cake Days'.

Ingredients:

Biscuit Base:

220g digestive biscuits

100g unsalted butter, melted

2 tbsp Golden Syrup

Cheesecake:

700g full-fat cream cheese (marscapone, Philadelphia)

120g caster sugar

1tsp vanilla extract

3 large eggs

80g pecans, chopped, plus more to decorate

Butterscotch Glaze:

60g unsalted butter

45g soft light brown sugar

2tbsp whole milk

120g icing sugar

1tsp vanilla extract

Method:

1. Pre-heat oven to 160c, gas mark 3.

2. Line your 20cm wide tin with baking paper, then crush/blitz your digestive biscuits into fine breadcrumbs. Add the melted butter and syrup and combine. Push into the tin and refrigerate for 20 - 30 mins.

3. Mix cream cheese, sugar and vanilla extract until smooth either by hand or with a food mixer. Add the eggs one at a time and combine. Stir in the chopped pecans, then pour over the biscuit base.

4. The cake needs to be baked in a bain marie. Fill a roasting tin with approx 5mm of water. Wrap the base of the cake tin thoroughly in tin foil and place in the roasting pan, then place that in the oven, and bake for 35 - 45 minutes, until cake is light golden brown, firm to the touch with a very slight wobble to it.

5. Remove from the oven and allow to cool at room temperature, then refrigerate for 3-4 hours.

6. Once the cheesecake is chilled we can make the butterscotch glaze. Put the butter, sugar and milk in a small saucepan and bring to the boil. Once boiling, remove from the heat and stir in the icing sugar and vanilla extract, and whisk until smooth.

7. Allow to cool slightly then pour over cheesecake and decorate with halved pecans. The butterscotch sets very quickly so be fast! Once finished pop back in the fridge for as long as possible, I strongly recommend overnight as 6+ hours chilling wasn't enough for my cake and it flopped!

This cheesecake was super decadent, the butterscotch was so yummy~

This week I've mostly been on holiday with my lovely boyfriend, Neil. We spent 2 nights in Brighton, one in London, saw lots of flea markets, ate lots of food, and caught up with some good friends. I absolutely love Brighton, it's somewhere I could really see myself living. Not only is it an awesome, cosmopolitan, independent business haven, full of cafes and vintage shops, but it's also by the sea! So perfect!

Brunch @ Bill's - so good.

The Booth Natural History Museum - smiling rhino!

The Booth Natural History Museum - butterflies!

The beautiful west pier in the moonlight.

Brighton Pavilion - so fascinating.

Decor at our hotel - a bit OTT.

Deckchairs and the sea - bliss.

We stayed at the fabulous Hotel Pelirocco, which is on Regency Square overlooking the West Pier. Our room was the Pin-Up's Parlour, which was all in homage to Diana Dors, the 'British Marilyn Monroe'. On our day in London we had breakfast at the Spitalfield's Breakfast Club (which was awesooome, so good) and then went for a mooch around the flea market which is held on a Thursday. I got a fantastic glass sugar bowl with little in-built tongs (little video on my Instagram) which I've been looking for for ages, since I used to have one and I sold it! Then we went to the Viking exhibition at the British Museum, which was also super.

British Museum in London

It was a lovely trip, and I'm excited to go back sometime again soon! I've been baking some treats today for a special someone's birthday, so no spoilers, but they ware delicious so I'll be posting the recipe in a few days~