White Chocolate Coconut Snowball Cheesecake

Get into the Christmas spirit with a slice of this white chocolate cheesecake with a coconut biscuit base and topped with desiccated coconut, white chocolate and Raffaello truffles!

Today, I have another Christmas recipe to share. I eat cheesecake a lot throughout the year, but even more so around Christmastime! I couldn’t let 2019 come to an end and not share one last cheesecake recipe this year in time for Christmas Day and the New Year.

I’ve taken this No-Bake White Chocolate Cheesecake I made for my blog in April 2016, having made that cheesecake on a whim for a dessert to serve for family friends we had coming over and because it proved so popular with our guests, I quickly changed my mind and declared it a blog-worthy recipe!

That certainly was a good decision as the cheesecake soon became (and still is) one of the most popular recipes on this website, it’s a recipe I always get brilliant feedback on from people who’ve made it and hearing people say that this white chocolate cheesecake is one of the best cheesecakes they’ve ever made puts a big smile on my face. So since this recipe receives many positive reviews, I’ve come up with the idea of putting a festive spin on it.

This coconut and white chocolate cheesecake will be the star the show on your Christmas table without a doubt, it’s a cinch to prepare and tastes amazing.

So to make this cheesecake different to my other recipe I made just a couple of changes. The biscuit base is made with Nice biscuits instead of digestives. If you’re not familiar with Nice biscuits, they’re coconut flavoured and have crunchy sugar crystals baked on the top and they’re very delicious! I believe they’re available in most supermarkets.

I think you’ll agree that coconut and white chocolate work well and really compliment each other.

To finish, decorate your cheesecake creation however you wish to. I didn’t want my decoration to be too elaborate so I stuck to a few simple finishing touches as sometimes less is more.

For the photographs I decorate the cheesecake with the Raffaello truffles which were the snowballs. For the slice of cheesecake pictured, I placed some white chocolate chips around the edge, then sprinkled the slice with desiccated coconut and popped a white chocolate coconut truffle on top just before serving.

(Serves 10-12)

Ingredients:

Coconut Biscuit Base:

300g Nice biscuits or other coconut flavoured biscuits

140g butter (salted or unsalted)

White Chocolate Cheesecake:

600g full-fat cream cheese, softened – I leave mine out at room temperature for about an hour to soften

45g icing sugar, sifted

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

300ml double cream, chilled

300g white chocolate, broken/cut into small pieces

Decoration:

Desiccated coconut

White chocolate chips or curls

Method:

To make the biscuit base: Break the biscuits up into smaller pieces. Place in a ziplock bag and crush with a rolling pin or place the biscuits in a food processor and process until they’re fine crumbs. Mix together with the melted butter. Press the biscuit crumbs into a 23cm springform cheesecake tin until compact and firm. Leave in the fridge whilst you make the cheesecake filling.
To make the cheesecake filling: Melt the white chocolate over a bain-marie or in a heatproof bowl in the microwave in 20-second intervals. Leave to cool slightly.
Beat together the softened cream cheese with the icing sugar and vanilla. Now add the melted white chocolate and continue to mix until smooth.
In a separate bowl whisk the cream until soft peaks form. Fold the cream in two batches into the cream cheese mixture.
Spread the cheesecake filling on the prepared biscuit base and smooth over with a palette knife or spatula. Cover and leave to set in the fridge for at least 6-8 hours or preferably overnight.
To serve, decorate the top of the cheesecake with desiccated coconut, white chocolate chips/curls and Raffaello truffles.

The cheesecake will keep stored in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 3 days.