There are many different types of cheesecake out there - chilled, set, baked, and I’ll eat them all! This recipe is a little easier than the blackcurrant cheesecake already on this blog. It’s a good basic blueprint for an easy to make cheesecake to keep in your cooking arsenal.

Once you crack the basics of the base and filling you can vary the flavours in many different ways. Stir through some lemon curd and decorate with candied peel; ripple through some berry coulis and top with cut fruits, stir in chocolate sauce and top with chocolate curls.

This recipe also gives you an easy to make salted butterscotch sauce. Perfect for drizzling over ice cream, pancakes and waffles.

An overnight set in the fridge does wonders for the texture, but if you are short of time, 3 hours is just enough. The cheesecake also travels well, take the rest of the sauce and a packet of popcorn with you, and build the topping just before you are ready to eat.

Step 1 - Base

Grease and line a 20 or 23cm spring form tin, the smaller tin will give you a thicker layer of cheesecake
Crush the digestive biscuits either in a food processor (boring), or by taking out some aggression using a food bag and rolling pin!
Once you have fine crumbs tip them into a bowl
Melt 100g butter in a small saucepan
Crush a handful of popcorn onto the biscuits
Add the butter and give it good mix
Pour into the lined tin and give a firm press down, use your hands, back of a big spoon, or the bottom of a US cup measure
Pop into the fridge to firm up whilst you make the rest

Step 2 - The sauce

Using the same saucepan, add the butter in chunks, cream, sugar, milk and a small pinch of salt
TIP: go easy on the salt at this stage
Heat the mix, stirring continuously, bringing it to the boil
Turn down the heat and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally to stop crystals forming on the bottom
Remove from the heat, and don’t be tempted to taste at this stage, it will be molten lava hot!
Once cooler taste and adjust the salt level - you want the perfect mix of sweet butterscotch with a salty hit, it’s a personal preference

Step 3 - The filling

In a big bowl tip in the mascarpone cheese and quark
TIP: Seek out the sharp german cheese as it gives a great taste, if you can’t find it a thick natural yoghurt will work instead
Sieve in the icing sugar
Using an electric whisk beat everything together, scraping down the sides of the bowl a couple of times
You want the mixture to get fairly thick
Pour in the double cream and whisk again
The mix should come together and start to thicken, be careful not to over beat
Tip in half of the butterscotch sauce and using a knife, ripple it through the cheesecake filling
Scrape it out on to the biscuit base, using an offset spatula smooth it down
Chill in the fridge for at least 3 hours, preferably overnight

Step 4 - Construction

When you are ready to serve spring the tin open and carefully slide the cheesecake on to you favourite serving dish
Take the greaseproof paper off the edge, tidy up with a spatula if needed
Warm the left over butterscotch sauce in a microwave or small pan, you don’t want it hot, just runny enough to drizzle
Start with a base of popcorn then drizzle over a generous amount of sauce
Build a second layer of popcorn and sauce
Continue to build up until you have an impressive pyramid held together with sticky salty sauce
Save any leftover sauce for a chef’s treat tipped over some vanilla ice cream