Christmas chocolate cheesecake

(There’s nothing which makes this particularly Christmas-y; it’s just something we’ve always made for Christmas Eve. Perhaps eating in then assuages some of the guilt of the sugar, butter, cream, and chocolate…)

#Ingredients

##Base

• 3oz / 75g butter
• 7.5oz / 225g crushed digestive biscuits
• 3oz / 75g brown sugar (demerara granulated)

##Filling

• 6oz / 175g plain chocolate
• 8oz / 227g cream cheese (I just use a whole tub of Philadelphia)
• 3oz / 75g caster sugar
• 2 eggs, separated
• 5fl / 142ml double cream, lightly whipped

#Method

1. Make the base: melt the butter, then mix with the remaining ingredients. Line a tray (around 9") with baking paper, and cover with the base mix
2. Separate the eggs carefully. Put whites in greaseproof bowl, and whip until quite firm
3. Whip cream until quite firm
4. Put egg yolks, cream cheese and sugar in bowl, whip together until smooth
5. Break chocolate and melt gently in microwave
6. Fold everything together (trying not to break down the texture of the whipped cream and egg whites) and spread on base
7. Chill it until a couple of hours before you want to eat it (or freeze it, if you are making it in advance)