Foodists

Stilton & Bacon Cheesecake

Recently, a friend invited me to a bacon-themed potluck which he dubbed Baconstraveganza.

My contribution was a Stilton & Bacon Cheesecake from a recipe I found on Saveur.com.  I garnished it with a Spiced Candied Bacon just to up the bacon quotient and to add a little sweet to this savoury cheesecake.

It turned out to be rich and flavourful, and a huge hit with the crowd.  But definitely something you want to eat in small portions since the flavours were overwhelming.  Personally, I was a little disappointed that the bacon flavour wasn’t more prevalent, especially for this event.

Stilton & Bacon Cheesecake

The recipe for these savory cheesecakes came from Linda Ellerbee’s book Take Big Bites (Putnam, 2005); she adapted it from a recipe given to her by the chef at the George Hotel in Wallingford, England.

Ingredients:

• 4 tbsp. butter
• 1 cup finely crushed digestive biscuits or graham crackers
• 6 strips bacon, finely diced
• 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 4 oz. stilton, softened

For Crust:

• Grease six 2″ × 2″ ring molds with 1 tbsp. of the butter; set molds on a cookie sheet.
• Cook bacon until crisp.  Reserve for filling.
• Transfer 3 tbsp. rendered bacon grease to a small bowl. (if you don’t have enough, add melted butter to produce 3 tbsp.)
• Add biscuit crumbs and mix well.
• Put equal amounts of the crumb mixture into prepared molds, firmly pressing on crumbs to form an even crust at base of molds.
• Chill crusts in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

For Filling:

• Mix cheeses together in a medium bowl.
• Add bacon and stir well.
• Pack equal amounts of the filling into molds, smoothing tops with the back of a small warm metal spoon.
• Cover cheesecakes with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours and up to overnight.

Serving

• Run a small knife around inside of molds and slide cheesecakes onto six plates, crust side down.
• Serve cheesecakes at room temperature, garnished with a piece of bacon, with lettuces and fruit chutney on the side.