Being a world cup widow and consoling myself with a marbled chocolate cheesecake

So the World Cup is in full flow and there is no escape!  I am so stranger to football as my previous job involved me working at the World Cup and European Championships for years.  While this made me the envy of all my male friends- to be honest, I really took for granted.  It never really occurred to me that it would ever all come to an end!

When you are in the host country, you have the tickets to the matches you are going to attend and for the rest of the time you explore, dine out and generally enjoy the best that particular city has to offer. It’s fun!

Now that I am back home, the grim reality of World Cup for normal viewers is hitting home.  Its on TV ALL the time and in every newspaper- There is no escape!  Even mild mannered men who don’t normally bother with football (like my other half) suddenly become slightly obsessed with it all.  I have had to resign myself that the TV remote control is out of my hands for the foreseeable future.

To console myself, I decided to make a marbled chocolate cheesecake (a fine recipe from the lovely Mary Berry)  This is so delicious, I really do recommend that you give it a go.  If you do, here’s what you will need:

For the base

• 100g (4oz) dark chocolate digestive biscuits, crushed
• 50g (2oz) butter, melted

For the filling

• 200g (7oz) Belgian white chocolate, chopped
• 300ml (10fl oz) double cream
• 300g (10oz) full-fat cream cheese
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 100g (4oz) dark chocolate (39 per cent cocoa solids)

grease an 8 inch circular flan dish

To make the base, mix the crushed biscuits with the melted butter and press into the base of the dish. Level using the back of a spoon.

To make the filling, put the chopped white chocolate in a bowl and sit over a pan of just hot water. Leave to melt (but don’t allow it to get too hot), stirring occasionally, then set aside to cool a little.

Reserve 3 tablespoons of the double cream. Pour the remainder into a large bowl, then add the cream cheese and vanilla. Whisk until smooth.

Add the melted white chocolate and whisk again until smooth and thick.

Spoon about 6 tablespoons of the white chocolate filling into a mixing bowl. Spoon the remaining mixture into the tin and smooth over the top. Chill for 30 minutes.

Add the reserved double cream to the reserved white chocolate mixture and mix together until smooth. Spoon over the set mixture in the tin.

Melt the dark chocolate as before and then drizzle over the top of the cheesecake and use the blade of a knife to swirl the toppings together.

Chill for a minimum of 2 hours, then turn out and cut into wedges to serve.

Serving suggestion- with vanilla ice cream and mixed berries