Marbled chocolate cheesecake biscuits

Sadly one of my last chocolate bakes before lent starts I think. Though I may be able to sneak one more in on Sunday if I put my mind to it!

The reason I call these cheesecake biscuits and not mini cheesecakes is that I believe my recipe has a typo somewhere. The ratio of base to filling is definitely askew. There seems to be lots of base compared to filling and in the end I did not use all the base mix that I made.  I have altered the recipe to account for how much base I did use. In my final version base to filling is 50/50, hence the name.

Saying that they are absolutely delicious and actually I quite like them like this, a cheesecakey biscuit to have with a cup of tea instead of a full on dessert. The recipe below is for the cheesecake biscuits. If you wanted to make mini cheesecakes I would simply suggest doubling the filling recipe. Keep the base recipe the same as below (the original really was too much).

Marbled chocolate cheesecake biscuits

(makes 8) 

You will need a mini cheesecake tin, mini victoria sandwich tin or similar with loose bottoms.

For the base

75g digestives
30g butter

For the topping

75g cream cheese, room temperature
100g caster sugar
seeds from 1/2 vanilla pod
1 medium egg, beaten
35g dark chocolate

Preheat the oven to 180C/160C FAN. Gently warm the butter until it is just melted. Meanwhile pop the biscuits in a bowl and bash with the end of a rolling pin until breadcrumb like. Pour the butter over the biscuit crumbs and combine well. Press the base into the the bottom of the tin. The filling will only make about 8 so it is possible you will not need all the holes in the tin. 

Bake the base in the oven for 10-15 minutes. Check after 10, nobody wants burnt biscuit base. 

Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely. 

Reset the oven to 160C/140C FAN. To make the filling, use a wooden spoon to beat the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla seeds together until smooth. Add the egg slowly, using the wooden spoon to combine well. 

Spoon the filling over the cooled bases. Reserve about a table spoon of the filling. Melt the chocolate with a tablespoon of water in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of barely simmering water. When melted and smooth add to the reserved filling, It needs to be at a drizzling consistency so in all likelihood you will have to let the chocolate mix down with hot water to get to this stage, Just add a little at a time until it drizzles nicely. 

Drizzle the chocolate in a zig zag or blobs, however you wish, over the filling. use the handle of a teaspoon to lightly marble, don't go to mad or the pattern will be lost.

Bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes until the edges puff up but the middle is still a little soft. Leave to cool and then put in the fridge for at least two hours before eating. Gently loosen the edges with a knife and gently push on the base to release the cheesecake.