The combination of banana & chocolate always makes me happy, something to do with their natural serotonin content that boosts my mood. This is my first attempt at a banana cheesecake. The natural sweetness of the banana gave me the idea of reducing the sugar, but I ended up spreading Nutella over the top as I’ve had a particularly bad day…
Base
2 tbsp butter, melted
100g gluten-free bread crumbs (from my particularly crumbly GF bread atempt. Crushed GF biscuits can also be used)
1 tbsp cocoa (optional)
2 tbsp golden syrup
Cheesecake
2 bananas
250g quark or ricotta cheese
100ml double cream
4 tbsp icing sugar
1 tsp cornflour
1 organic egg, beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp cocoa
For extra chocolate fix, chocolate hazelnut spread (Nutella) to serve
- Preheat the oven gas mark 6.
- Place the bananas on a baking tray and roast for 15mins until the skins are black. Peel & mash with the back of a fork. Set aside to cool. Reduce the oven to gas mark 4.
- To make the base, mix all the ingredients together and press into the bottom of a pre-greased cake tin. Bake in the oven for 10mins, remove & cool
- Place the quark & cream in a mixing bowl. Beat in 3 tbsp of icing sugar and the cornflour.
- Then add the egg & vanilla extract. Mix until smooth.
- In a separate bowl, dollop 2 generous tbsp of the cheesecake batter. Add the cocoa & 1 tbsp icing sugar, blend until well combined.
- With the remaining cheesecake batter, add the mashed banana. Mix until well combined.
- Pour the banana mix on top of the biscuit base, then dollop the chocolate mix on to this. Using a chopstick, swirl these two together to form a marbled pattern.
- Bake for 30-40mins, until just set in the centre and firm around the edges. Turn the oven off but leave the cheesecake to cool there for 1 ½-2 hrs, before transferring to the fridge to chill completely.
