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Great Chocolate Showdown
series ā¢Ā Competition reality
PG
series ā¢Ā Competition reality
PG
Is cheese and chocolate a good combo? Yes indeed! As host and judge Anna Olson says in the 'Think Outside the Bar' episode of The Great Chocolate Showdown, "while they might not seem like the mos obvious combination, chocolate and cheese can make for an intriguing and luxurious union". Whether it's chocolate and cream cheese in a smooth, lush cheesecake, or baked Gouda crisps adding rich texture to a clever dessert plate, these recipes show how wonderful pairing chocolate and cheese can be.
Serve these sweet filo rolls, with a cream cheese, ricotta, vanilla, chopped chocolate and chopped candied orange filling, with a scoop of thick cream for an easy midweek dessert.
Credit: Benito Martin
This is a delightful adventure on a plate: Slices of caramelised banana, sweet Chantilly cream, chocolate sprinkles and baked shards of Gouda cheese, served with chocolate ice-cream!
Credit: The Sweet Life
Gabriel Gaté's recipe layers slices of spiced bread with a cocoa mousse, made with quark (a smooth, fresh cheese). The dessert is garnished with choc-orange sticks to serve.
Credit: Taste le Tour
A sophisticated dessert that can be prepared well in advance, the combination of chocolate and blue cheese in this Dutch recipe promises to be a conversation piece at any dinner party. Use leftover syrup to drizzle over ice-cream or pancakes.
There are many ways to enjoy a chocolate cheesecake – say, a no-bake Italian version made with Nutella or a Japanese white chocolate and yuzu cheesecake. Or try this twist: A rich, dense and fudgy base, topped with a creamy no-bake cream cheese cheesecake layer is a divine combination, and Mary Berg's recipe adds to it with chopped toffee-chocolate bars in the brownie base AND used for decoration. This needs a few hours to chill and firm (and will keep, chilled, for up to five days!), so it's a great make-ahead dessert.
Credit: Mary Makes It Easy
Sticking with the cheesecake theme, here's another winner, this one from Anna Olson. Two classics meet in this baked cheesecake dessert, with a biscuit crumb base topped with a layer of rich chocolate ganache, a layer of ladyfinger biscuits, a lush layer of coffee-flavoured cheesecake and, added after baking, a vanilla whipped cream topping.
Credit: Anna's Occasions
Cannoli – delicate fried pastry tubes with a creamy filling – are a Sicilian favourite. This unusual version, shared by Paola Bacchia, adds cinnamon, cocoa and coffee to the pastry, and fills the cannoli with sweetened ricotta cheese.
Cocoa cannoli with ricotta (cannoli al cacao con ricotta). Credit: Paola Bacchia
Jamie Oliver's dainty cannoli feature a filling of ricotta, hazelnuts, vanilla, honey, cocoa and grappa.
Jamie's chocolate cannoli. Credit: David Loftus / Jamie Cooks Italy
Chocolate biscuit pieces, a choc-chunk and cream cheese mixture and a peanut butter and cream cheese mix are layered to make these adorable individual desserts. Use your favourite glasses or small jars to serve up these little cheesecakes (if you have jars with lids lids, you can even pack and carry these for a picnic dessert).
Chocolate peanut butter cheesecake in a glass. Credit: Everyday Gourmet with Justine Schofield
"Who doesn't like cheese and chocolate? Now, I've combined the two ideas in the most delicious way to create a creamy chocolate brie, made with cream cheese and white chocolate," says Kirsten Tibballs of this 'brie'. Serve with chocolate crackers for a playful dessert version of a cheese board.
Credit: The Chocolate Queen
A creamy filling made with cottage cheese, sour cream, sugar, vanilla and eggs is baked between layers of a butter, cocoa and crushed chocolate biscuit mixture in this Estonian dessert.
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Zuccotto, a traditional northern Italian recipe, is usually made with plain sponge, but during the festive season it is a wonderful way for using up leftover panettone. Two layers of choc-chip and candied fruit-studded ricotta, one with cocoa added too, sit inside a covering of Vin Santo-brushed panettone in this chilled, no-bake dessert.
Zuccotto di panettone Credit: Tammi Kwok
These blondies are studded with dried cherry, candied orange and toasted white choc chips – perfect with the slight tang of the loaded cream cheese frosting. Spencer Watts rates these as "Deliciousness level, off the charts" and you'll see why when you make them.
Caramelised white chocolate blondies. Credit: Comfort Food With Spencer Watts
