This piña colada cheesecake is the taste of summer and is a super fun dessert to create. Using coconut, pineapple and rum, its tropical flavours are perfect to end a summertime feast.
200 g Nice biscuits
100 g salted butter, melted
400 g tin coconut milk, chilled for 1 hour
25 ml dark rum
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
100 g icing sugar
300 ml whipping cream
500 g full-fat cream cheese, softened
Juice 1 lime
20 g desiccated coconut, toasted
435 g tin crushed pineapple with juice
1 tbsp. cornflour
2 tbsp. golden syrup
8-12 cocktail cherries
1.Grease and line a 21cm spring form tin and line. For the biscuit base, bash the Nice biscuits to crumbs in a zip seal bag using a rolling pin or in the food processor. Stir in the melted butter and press into an even layer into the base of the tin. Chill for 20mins.
2.Using a spoon, scoop the firm white part of the coconut milk into a mixing bowl, leaving behind the watery part. You should have about 180g of solid coconut cream. Add rum, vanilla and icing sugar and whip for 2-3mins until thickened.
3.In a separate bowl, beat the whipping cream to firm peaks. Put about 1/3 of the whipped cream into a piping bag or small bowl to decorate with. Set aside. Fold the rest of the whipped cream into the coconut mixture before combining with the softened cream cheese and ½ of the lime juice. Sprinkle about 1 tbsp of the toasted coconut into the mixture before spooning onto the biscuit base. Tap the tin against the work surface to get rid of any air bubbles. Chill for 1hr.
4.Meanwhile, for the pineapple sauce, if using fresh pineapple use a stick blender to process until almost completely smooth.
5.In a saucepan over medium heat, bring remaining pineapple, ½ lime juice, golden syrup and cornflour to a simmer. Stir until combined. Cook, stirring regularly, for 5-8mins until thick and glossy. Set aside to cool for at least 10mins. 10. After the cheesecake has chilled for 1hr, spoon blobs of pineapple sauce (about half the mixture) across the surface of the cheesecake. Using a round bladed knife, drag through the pineapple to swirl. Return to the fridge and chill the cheesecake for at least 6hrs or overnight.
6.Before serving, remove the cheesecake from the tin and peel off the baking paper. Pipe 8-12 swirls of the reserved whipped cream around the edge of the cheesecake and top each with a cocktail cherry. Sprinkle with the rest of the toasted coconut and serve the remaining pineapple sauce on the side of each slice.
