Ingredients

Cookie crust

• 250 g graham cookies or Digestives cookies
• 2 tablespoon dutch processed unsweetened cocoa powder
• 75 g butter

Cheesecake filling

• 250 ml strong black coffee
• 1 tablespoon Amaretto optional
• 600 g cream cheese
• 165 g mascarpone cheese
• 150 g powdered sugar
• 1½ teaspoon vanilla paste
• 360 g heavy cream (380 ml)
• ½ a pack of lady fingers

Topping

• 230 g heavy cream (250 ml)
• 2 tablespoon powdered sugar
• ½ teaspoon vanilla paste
• dutch processed unsweetened cocoa powder for dusting

Instructions

Cookie crust

1. Start by brewing the coffee for the ladyfingers.
2. Pour it into a shallow bowl and optionally mix in Amaretto.
3. While preparing the cheesecake let it cool down on the kitchen counter.
4. In a food processor, blend the graham cracker or digestive cookies and cocoa powder until a fine sand-like texture.
5. Melt the butter.
6. Add the melted butter to the food processor and blend it together with the blended cookies.
7. In a 23 cm/9-inch springform add parchment paper.
8. Add the cookie crumbs and press the cookie crust down with the bottom of a glass, so it’s well packed together and flattened out.
9. Place it in the refrigerator while preparing the cheesecake filling.

Cheesecake filling

1. With a hand mixer or in a stand mix using the paddle attachment, cream the cream cheese for 1 minute on low speed.
2. Add the mascarpone, powdered sugar and vanilla paste and mix on medium/high speed until smooth, about 1 minute.
3. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and at low speed let it mix until everything is combined, about 30 seconds.
4. Scrape down the bowl again and add the heavy cream and whisk it until it can hold a stiff peak.
5. Add half of the cheesecake filling into the springfom and with an off-set spatula even out the cheesecake filling.
6. Dip the lady fingers into the coffee once on each side.
7. If they are coated more than once, the lady fingers will hold too much coffee and there is a chance that coffee can leak out from the cheesecake when it’s resting in the fridge.
8. Lay the lady fingers in straight lines.
9. You’ll have to cut the lady fingers to fit the cheesecake (see the photo above in the blog post).
10. Then add the other half of the cheesecake filling and with an off-set spatula even it out.
11. Cover the springform with cling film and place it in the refrigerator for a minimum of 8 hours.

Decoration

1. Move the cheesecake to a serving dish.
2. Whip together heavy cream, powdered sugar and vanilla paste until stiff peaks.
3. Add it on top of the cheesecake and place it back in the refrigerator.
4. Once ready to serve, dust it with cocoa powder.