Oreo cheesecake

What other way to get out of my blogging rut than to challenge myself with something decadent, incredibly indulgent and completely over the top?

Yup, this recipe is all of that and more.

Inspired by twin packs of Oreo that were for sale at 99c at North Sydney IGA, I picked up a few boxes before the long weekend and then went home to start brainstorming. I was also meant to bring something sweet to a BBQ that I was heading to on the weekend, and so this is what was conjured up... a heart broken Oreo cheesecake!

Ingredients

2 packs of Oreo (each pack of 12 cookies)
50g butter, melted
350g cream cheese, at room temperature
1 egg + 1 egg yolk
6 tablespoons sour cream
6 tablespoons caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method

1. Preheat oven to 170 degrees Celsius, and grease and line a spring form pan.
2. Taking one pack of Oreo, process (cream and all) until they're fine crumbs. Add the melted butter and process it until all combined.
3. Press the Oreo crumbs into the base of the pan, pressing down with your hands to pack it in tightly. I also used the bottom of a small glass to apply pressure. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes before removing and allowing to cool.
4. While the Oreo base is in the oven, in the mixer or using a hand beater, beat the cream cheese until smooth and easily spreadable.
5. Add the sugar, egg, sour cream and vanilla extract and beat for another 2-3 minutes.
6. Roughly crush the remaining packet of Oreos - you still want fairly sizeable chunks so don't over do it. Fold it into the cream cheese mixture and then pour into the spring form pan on top of the biscuit base.
7. Smooth the top and bake in the oven for 40 minutes. To prevent the cheesecake from drying out too much, place a small bowl of water in the bottom rack of the oven.
8. After 40 minutes, turn off the heat and leave to cool in the oven with the door ajar for one hour.
9. Remove from the oven, leave to cool completely and then refrigerate for at least 3 hours - I left it overnight.
10. After it has been refrigerated, carefully remove from the spring form pan and use a wet knife to slice it cleanly.

For some extra indulgence, or to cover up those pesky cracks in the top of the cake, feel free to melt chocolate and drizzle it over the top before returning to the fridge to harden.

This was super indulgent and creamy. I loved that it still had that cheesy taste and that was probably thanks to the sour cream. It wasn't sweet, but it was very rich - only a small slice or square was enough! As you can see, I made it in a heart shape spring form pan... and came out with a tasty broken heart! Despite the cracks, it was delicious and enjoyed by everyone at the party - so that's enough for me!

I'll definitely be making this Oreo cheesecake again... for the wow factor, for special occasions... and really, who doesn't love Oreo?

thesuzchef x