Choc Cherry Cheesecake

There’s no better way to showcase the seasonal goodness of fresh cherries than with this rich and indulgent cheesecake
How long will it take?
40 minutes, plus setting time
What’s the serving size?
Serves 10-12
What do I need?
1 packet Arnott’s Choc Ripple biscuits
50 g desiccated coconut
125 g unsalted butter, melted
400g cherries, pitted
85 g pack of raspberry jelly crystals
350g cream cheese
70g caster sugar
400ml thickened cream
To decorate
90 g dark 70% cooking chocolate, divided
100 ml thickened cream
3x 52 g Cadbury Cherry Ripe bars
50g whole cherries
How do I make it?
Grease a 20 centimetre springform pan and set aside.
Blitz biscuits and coconut in a food processor to resemble fine breadcrumbs. Add melted butter and blend until combined.
Pour the mix into the springform pan and press firmly to cover the base with the biscuit mixture. Refrigerate.
In a clean food processor, blitz cherries until smooth. Pour into a small saucepan and bring to the boil. Simmer over a medium heat for 2 minutes, to soften the cherry pulp. Remove from heat and add jelly crystals, whisking to dissolve. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
In an electric mixer beat together the cream cheese and sugar until combined and softened. Add cooled cherry mix and beat until smooth. Lastly add the cream and beat well to combine.
Pour mixture into prepared pan, cover with clingfilm and refrigerate for 6 hours or overnight.
When ready to decorate make the ganache; finely chop 50g of the cooking chocolate. Heat the cream in a small saucepan over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Remove from the heat and add the chopped chocolate to the pan. Gently swirl the pan to disperse the chocolate into the cream. Leave it to sit for about 2 minutes, while the chocolate melts. Whisk gently to mix the cream and chocolate into a smooth ganache and set aside to cool until just warm.
Pour ganache over the cheesecake and to spread it to cover the top, allowing some to drip over the edges.
Slice Cherry Ripe bars into quarters vertically, so that you have long shards of Cherry Ripe. Arrange these on top of the cheesecake, along with cherries. Shave the remaining chocolate on top and return cheesecake to the fridge until ready to serve.