Recipe: White + dark chocolate cheesecake with banana ‘non'-ice cream

Serves 6

• 150g digestive biscuits, crushed
• ½tsp ground cinnamon
• ½tsp ground ginger
• 80g salted butter
• 400g soft cream cheese
• 50ml double cream
• 1 vanilla pod, split lengthways and the seeds scraped out
• 150g white chocolate, melted
• 1tbs brandy (or other brown spirit, such as dark rum)
• 150g dark chocolate, melted

For the banana ‘non’-ice cream

• 3 ripe bananas
• Splash of banana liqueur
• 1tbs brown sugar
• 300ml whipping cream, whipped to soft peaks

Mix together the biscuits, cinnamon and ginger in a mixing bowl.

Melt the butter in a saucepan, then pour over the crushed biscuit mixture and mix together well.

Line the base of a 20cm-22cm flan tin with the biscuit mixture, pressing it down firmly using the back of a spoon. Cover and chill in the fridge for two to four hours until firm.

Divide the cream cheese between two separate bowls. Add the cream and vanilla seeds to one of the bowls and mix together, then fold the melted white chocolate into the cream cheese and vanilla mixture. Add the brandy to the melted dark chocolate, then fold it into the other bowl.

Spoon the chocolate mixtures, alternating one at a time, onto the biscuit base, then take a spoon and swirl the mixture to create a marbled effect. Leave to set in the fridge for two hours.

For the banana ‘non’-ice cream, put the bananas in a blender and whizz to a smooth purée. Mix in the banana liqueur and sugar, then fold in the whipped cream.

Transfer the mixture to a lidded freezer-proof container and place in the freezer for about six hours until set. Stir occasionally while freezing.

Once both have set, cut the cheesecake into nice big slices and serve with a generous scoop of the banana ‘non’-ice cream.

Recipe taken from Rib Ticklers & Choux-Ins by Glynn Purnell (reviewed here). Photography by Peter Cassidy