The thing that usually puts me off baking my own cakes and desserts is the cost of the ingredients. Sometimes it just seems so much more thrifty to buy a ready-made pud and save some time and money. BUT it’s never quite a delicious as when you make your own is it? Which is precisely why I decided to put my thriftiness to the test and try to make the cheapest ever chocolate cheesecake…
INGREDIENTS
- 200g Supermarket own-brand chocolate digestives (I used ‘Mrs Mollys’, currently 42p for 300g, so 200g = 28p)
- 2 x 200g Own-brand cream cheese (I used ‘Creamfields’, currently 49p, so x2 = 98p)
- 100g Own-brand salted butter (I used Tesco 250g £1.48, so 100g = 59.2p
- 270ml pot of double cream (I used Elmlea, currently 89p or you could use an own-brand 300ml pot, which is 85p)
- 200g milk chocolate (you can choose your preferred brand, or go for basic own-brand at 100g for 30p from Tesco or Aldi)
- 5 tbsp icing sugar (currently £1.70/kg, I used around 100g so about 17p)
(Prices based on my own shopping in the UK in July 2021)
Of course, this recipe could be even cheaper if you just made a vanilla cheesecake as you can take the two bars of chocolate out of your shopping basket, and I’m sure that plain digestives are a little less expensive than chocolate digestives. So, for the thriftiest ever cheesecake just add a teaspoon of vanilla extract to flavour the cream cheese mixture instead.
METHOD
Crush the digestive biscuits.
Stir the biscuit crumbs into melted butter.
Press the biscuit crumbs mixture into the bottom of a cake tin and chill.
Meanwhile, whisk the double cream until it has thickened.
Whisk in the two tubs of cream cheese and add the icing sugar to sweeten.
Divide the cheesecake mixture in half, spreading one portion onto the buttery biscuit base.
Melt the chocolate (keep a couple of chunks for later) and stir into the second half of the cheesecake mixture.
Spread the chocolate layer on top of the creamcheese layer.
Grate some chocolate on top and refrigerate for 5 hours before serving.
Despite the thrifty cost of the ingredients, this is one of the most delicious cheesecakes I’ve ever eaten. I think it’s love that goes into the making it and the anticipation of waiting for it to set that makes it so much more tasty than a shop-bought dessert. Enjoy!
PIN IT FOR LATER
6 responses
I’m not sure – I usually make it and eat it straight away! 😀 As it’s got cream cheese, butter and double cream in it, it’s probably only going to last about as long as whipped cream in a fridge, which isn’t long haha! Let me know if you find out how long it lasts in the fridge, it would be handy to know! 🙂
Hi how far in advance could you make this please? How long would it last in the fridge?
Hi Rusty, Oh definitely – prices have increased so much here in the UK since 2021 so any prices will definitely be out of date now haha! Good idea with the cocoa powder 🙂
Well, it sounds cheap, but you can’t buy 100 gm icing sugar, nor can you, in NZ, buy 250 gm butter – you have to buy 500 gm. Mind you, the price of butter here is close to your quote. If you’re really being thrifty, why not use cocoa powder rather than chocolate – or do you think the taste is better?
Ooh that sounds delicious Alys, I’ll give that a go – what a great idea for a quick and easy cheesecake! 🙂
Brilliant! My ‘cheesecake’ is a total cheat; I just whisk up some Angel Delight and top a digestive or ginger biscuit base!! But, I like this, at least it has cheese in it!