July 10, 2017
No-Bake After Eight Cheesecake!
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A dark chocolate and mint cheesecake full of After Eights. With a buttery biscuit base, and delicious decoration, my new favourite… no-bake After Eight cheesecake!
After Eights
So one thing that I have always betrayed… is having an After Eight before 8pm. I know its just a name, but some take that seriously! I, will happily have them night or day as they are deeeeelicious. I love the thin dark chocolate layer encasing a smooth minty filling.
I also love that they come in little packets to keep each one ‘safe’ but its just annoying when you need to chop the entire packet up to go into a cheesecake… thats a lot of packaging waste. But hey ho, this After Eight cheesecake is delicious!
Base
I remade my no-bake Mint Aero cheesecake recently and changed it ever so slightly by using a new base for my cheesecake – mixing digestives and cocoa powder with the butter to make a crunchy biscuit base.
Honestly, its so yummy! I much prefer doing it this way compared to using a chocolate coated biscuit! Now I look at the photos,it just wouldn’t look right with a normal digestive base would it?!
Filling
As always, please please please use full fat cream cheese!! It must be full fat to help with the setting of the cheesecake – it would be awful to look forward to this delicious yummy treat to then discover a sloppy mess instead!
I did change this one in comparison to my no-bake Mint Aero cheesecake by using two types of cheesecake in the filling. I used three types in my no-bake triple chocolate cheesecake and made sure that those layers were even as anything, but with this one? I wanted to keep it random and swirly.
Chocolate
I decided to use dark chocolate in the chocolatey mix because it gives it a delicious flavour. You can use milk if you prefer, but honestly, dark is SO much better.
After Eight themselves use dark chocolate on the coating, and when you mix the dark chocolate with the other ingredients its a lot sweet than you think. It makes the perfect partner to the minty mix also!
Decoration
I decided to do my usual swirl of whipped cream on top, with a drizzle of dark chocolate, and then some after eights. All of my decoration ideas are completely optional, but I just love it!
My trusty taste testers LOVED this one, and I honestly think you guys will too. Apologies that it has taken me THIS long to post a recipe using After Eights… and now I just wanna do more! Enjoy! xx
No-Bake After Eight Cheesecake!
Ingredients
Biscuit Base
- 300 g digestives
- 150 g unsalted butter (melted)
- 25 g cocoa powder
Cheesecake Filling
- 500-600 g full fat cream cheese
- 125 g icing sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 300 ml double cream
- 150 g dark chocolate
- 1-2 tsps peppermint extract
- Green Progel food colouring
- 300 g After Eights (chopped)
Decoration
- 150 ml double cream
- 2 tbsp icing sugar
- After Eights
- 50 g chocolate (melted)
Instructions
Base
- Blitz the digestives in a food processor with the cocoa powder until it’s a fine crumb.
- Mix the biscuits in with the melted butter and press down into the bottom of an 8″/20cm deep springform tin and refrigerate whilst you make the filling!
Filling
- Melt the dark chocolate carefully and leave to the side to cool slightly.
- Using an electric stand mixer, whisk together the cream cheese, vanilla and icing sugar until smooth.
- Add the double cream and whisk together until thick – I use my KitchenAid as it whisks the mixture to the perfect texture, and I use level 5-6 speed – a medium/high setting and whisk it till it holds itself (like meringue does!)
- Split the mixtures into two bowls. To one half, add the melted dark chocolate and mix together. In the other, add the mint extract and the food colouring and mix until combined as well.
- To both mixtures, fold through some chopped up after eights – I use about 150g of chopped after eight per cheesecake mix.
- When mixed, dollop the mixtures onto the biscuit base randomly and swirl them together. Smooth over the top – Refrigerate for 6+ hours to set, or preferably over night.
To Decorate
- Once set, remove from the tin. Whip together the double cream and icing sugar until thick and pipeable.
- Drizzle over some melted chocolate, pipe on some of the delicious whipped cream, and add on even more After Eights! Enjoy!
Notes
- If it looks like your cheesecake isn’t setting, or its a but sloppy, or you’re even not sure.. try it anyway. Try to set the mix anyway! If it still doesn’t set, freeze it and have an ice cream cheesecake!
- I recommend using a 8″/20cm deep springform tin in this recipe!
- I use Green Progel colouring in this recipe!
- I use a stand mixer to whip my mixture up. If using an electric hand-held whisk then try not to use too high a setting as this might cause it to over whip and go all icky! So take your time, it will be smooth and hold itself when the mix is ready!
- Using full-fat cream cheese is 100% needed so that it sets – if you would rather use a lower fat one be careful when you mix so that it doesn’t split, and it probably needs to set in a dish as it won’t hold itself!
- This recipe will last 3 days, covered, in the fridge!
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J x
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Made this last week for a celebration.. absolutely delicious!
I over coloured mine a bit so it was rather green but thankfully tasted great still. Lots of comments from guests. I made this a few days ahead, set it in the fridge then froze for a few days. I just dunked the bottom of the tin in hot water to help it release.
Thanks Jane, I always love your recipes!
I’m thinking of making these in chocolate festive moulds for Christmas. Do you think it would work putting in the cream cheese first then the biscuit base on top so that it will be the bottom of the base in the end?
Can you use elmlea instead of real cream? Not the world’s best baker so I don’t want to screw it up!
Hi, i wanted to add gelatine to this to ensure its not too sloppy, i use this in my othercheesecakes. Would this be ok and what quantity?
Hiya! Yes absolutely you can – just follow packet instructions! x
Hi Jane, a friend has asked me to make this for her as part of her Christmas gift, I have made loads of your cheesecakes and she loves them all. I just had a quick question could you use Oreos as the biscuit base instead of digestives. Many thanks and happy Christmas.
Yes absolutely, just use 100g butter instaed! Hope this helps!
Oh my, this was amazing, Jane. I used the Oreo base and although the chocolate siezed in that part of the cheesecake it was still great. Looked a but like mint choc chip ice cream. The peppermint bit was wonderful. Will definitely make again and hopefully the dark chocolate won’t sieze, any ideas on how to avoid this. I tried to not let the chocolate get too cold before mixing it.
Hiya! Make sure the chocolate you’re using is 70% + in cocoa content. Hope this helps! x
This is an amazing recipe it has never let me down very easy to follow step by step method directions. Family and friends absolutely love it, its always a hit thank you for sharing it.
Hi if i wanted to make imdividual cheesecakes
Would the imgredients be the same
Hiya! Take a look at my individual chocolate orange cheesecakes for a guide on measurements. Hope this helps! x
I’m wanting to make this for Christmas, if I make ahead and freeze it then when would I need to remove it from the freezer in order to decorate on Christmas Eve?
Thank you, love all your bakes xx
Hiya! You can freeze it decorated for up to 3 months, or you can defrost in the fridge the day before decorating. Hope this helps! x
If you wanted to make this in a 9 inch tin how would you adjust quantities for the base? I think the cheesecake mix would probably still be fine for a slightly bigger tin.
I’ve been wanting to make a minty cake for ages so this week I did your after eight cheesecake, OMG it was amazing, super sweet too, only thing I did wrong was put too much green food colouring in!
Hello,
Am I able to use stork for the base as I have done for previous cheesecake recipes?
How much food colouring do you use ? I’ve managed to get my hand on the one you mentioned in the recipe.
Yes you can use stork! And its about a pea size amount, you really don’t need much!
Is it the spreadable Philadelphia that you use in this recipe since we can’t buy block cream cheese easily in the UK?
It’s the ones in the tubs yes – I’m in the UK too.
This after eight cheesecake, wow! The recipe was easy to follow and it was delicious! I was really surprised to find that my family and I struggled to eat a whole piece, so it was best for us to make the portion sizes smaller, to serve 16. We didn’t have the progel so was going to do it without but found the Dr. Oetker food colouring gel in Sainsbury’s which was only £1.20. Will definitely make again! 🙂
Hi Jane I’ve made lots of you fabulous cheesecakes and they always turn out perfect but when I try one that says to whip the cream in the cream cheese rather the separately and folding it in it never sets any tips
If it doesn’t set that way, do it the way you prefer – I always add the liquid cream to the cream cheese and prefer it! It’s just about whatever works for you!
Hi, can I ask how you avoid the line round the base of the cheesecake using this tin please?
It depends on the tin (As some, even of the same brand, can vary) but you can try flipping the base over, adding a different base (still at 8″) on top, etc!
Hi Jane, love this recipe and LOVE after eights. Do you think there would ever be an After Eight cookie or cupcake recipe?? 🙂
Hi, i am trying your recipes but found there is to much left over and i don’t want to waste, so i have tried halving the recipe but it seem to runny what do you thing i am doing wrong?
Half is about a 6″ tin worth – and it might purely be that you are over whisking it as where there is less, often it needs less mixing! x
Hi Jane, I’m wanting to do this recipe only using 400g of cream cheese instead of 500-600 as we don’t like too much cream cheese to biscuit. What would you recommend using for the rest of the cheesecake part e.g icing sugar, chocolate, double cream measurements ? X
You could reduce everything else slightly too – maybe by 1/4 or 1/3? x
Thank you! 🙂 x
Hi. You state 500-600g of cream cheese. Why is there a range please?
This is due to the fact that cream cheese packages often vary and I hate wastage. Anything between the weights work!
Hello Jane,
Would 285ml double cream be enough instead 300ml
What is the reason for using double dream instead of single cream.
Yes, 285ml is fine! Double cream is vital to helping the cheesecake set – single cream has too low a fat content, and is too thin!
Hi! If I can’t get hold of green food colouring- could I omit it? (Obviously it wont look green but it won’t affect the taste at all?) Thanks 🙂
Yes of course!! It’s purely there to make it look minty! x
Hi! How much of the food colouring do you put in please?
That very much depends on brand – I use the good quality colours, and it’s less than the size of a pea!
What shade of green did you use ?
Dear Jane, I ADORE your recipes and personality and just everything! Could talk about it forever. Anyways, could I just ask how come you recommend using mascarpone instead of cream cheese in the Aero cheesecake but not in this one? Which option do you prefer? Gonna bake the Aero one in a few days! Thank you so much, xx
In this one I just state ‘Full Fat Cream Cheese’ because you can use either as long as they are full fat, as mentioned in all recipes – As this one uses chocolate and the other doesn’t, I think Philadelphia is better sometimes, but honestly it’s up to you.
Hi
for the filling you mention After Eights and Aero (section 5) but no mention of Aero in the ingredents is this a typo or do you use both in the filling mixture ?
Thanks
It’s just after eights in this one!
Hi could this be made ahead of time and frozen before decorating , then removing from freezer on the day needed , thanks
Hiya! Yes it can – I recommend setting it for while in the fridge first, and then putting in the freezer!
What is the we balls on the top of this cheesecake?
How long will this keep? Trying to make in advance of Christmas day
3 days, I would wait until 23rd or 24th so it lasts longer!
This looks amazing-do you think I could make it as mini cheesecakes using the same recipe if I used muffin tins/mini cheesecake tins?
Yes I’m sure you could!
I don’t do cheesecakes in milliliters and grams. Please post in teaspoons and ounces for us old folks
Sorry, but I don’t work in teaspoons or ounces. You can google the conversions 😊