Cadbury Mini Egg Cheesecake

Happy Easter everyone! Hoping you are all safe and sound this long weekend. It’s been a tough one, not being able to visit family… But Antoine and I tried to make the most of it with a delicious home-cooked meal and big dessert, just for the two of us! 

With our lack of grocery store shopping, I’ve had to make do with what I have in the fridge and pantry. The bright side is new recipe mash-ups to share! We hope you enjoy this seasonal spring dessert 🙂

Ingredients

•  1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1 1/2 cups chocolate graham cracker crumbs
• 3 pkg. (250 g each) Philadelphia cream cheese (I used light, as it’s what I had!)
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup Cadbury mini eggs, roughly chopped
• 1/2 cup Cadbury mini eggs for garnish

Instructions

1. Pre-heat oven to 350F.
2. Roughly chop Cadbury mini eggs in a food processor.
3. Mix together 1 1/2 cup chocolate graham cracker crumbs and 1/2 cup melted butter. Press the mixture into the bottom of a 9 inch springform pan.
4. Beat together 3 packages of cream cheese, 3/4 cup granulated sugar and 1 tsp of vanilla extract with a mixer until blended. 
5. Blending on low speed, add 1 egg at a time. Mix just until blended (this is important!), before adding the crushed mini eggs. Pour the mixture over the crust and spread evenly. 
6. Bake at 350F for 35 to 40 minutes until centre is almost set. The centre 2-3 inches should still be wiggly. Cool before removing the rim of the pan.
7. Refrigerate cheesecake for at least 4 hours before serving. Top with more mini eggs and shaved chocolate, if desired. Enjoy!

Full Disclosure: This was my first baked cheesecake! It tasted great, but it wasn’t as pretty as I would’ve liked. It cracked… Here are some extra steps I’ll take next time to prevent cracks in my cheesecake:

• Use a springboard pan – Special thanks to Emily for gifting me this one in my favourite colour! <3 It was the first time I got to use it, but I think there will be many more cheesecakes in our future 🙂
• Mix the eggs as little as possible – The recipe says “just until blended,” and I didn’t realize how important this is to the step. Eggs introduce air into the mixture, so they should be blended minimally.
• Avoid overbaking! The centre of your cheesecake (2-3 inches) should be wiggly. I didn’t know this, and unfortunately let the cheesecake bake for five more minutes leaving it in a full 40, rather than 35.
• Cool the cheesecake gently – Sally’s Baking Addiction recommends leaving the cheesecake in the oven when it’s done. Simply turn the oven off and crack open the door; leaving it inside for about 1 hour. Sudden changes in temperature often cause cracking. Once the cheesecake reaches room temperature, it should be refrigerated for 4-8 hours.

Recipe credit: This recipe is a blend of Kraft’s Apple Crumble Cheesecake Recipe, and Buzzfeed’s No-bake Cadbury Mini Egg Cheesecake. Quarantine creativity; what happens when you are missing a few ingredients from two delicious recipes and don’t want to visit the grocery store!