Strawberry Milkshake Cheesecake Bars!

Hot on the heels of my last post, I also requested the strawberry milkshake flavour of Sugar and Crumbs' flavoured icing sugars...because hello! an icing sugar that tastes like strawberry milkshake?! that had got my name all over it! 

In case you are not aware, I have a full on obsession with milkshakes...like I will base my restaurant choice for a meal out purely on the fact of whether they have milkshakes on their menu.  When we lived in Canada the options for this requirement were plentiful...however the UK is much more lacking in their offering of milkshakes! London is doing pretty well and is catching up...but Wales, oh don't even get me started on this barren wasteland that has no idea what a milkshake is.  Flavoured milk with zero ice cream? Ummmm..no! that is not a milkshake! Needless to say my milkshake loving self has felt living here very difficult! 

When I was little, my milkshake of choice was always strawberry - obvs! These days I'm more partial to the oreo, s'mores, peanut butter, key lime pie, or brownie kind...but there will always be a special place in my heart for strawberry milkshakes! 

So I was giddy with excitement when I opened up this bag of flavoured icing sugar and the smell that wafted out was pure childhood nostalgia of super sweet, super tasty strawberry shaking days! I wasted no time in incorporating it into some super creamy cheesecake bars.  As with the last recipe I tried using these flavoured sugars, I literally didn't need to add any other flavouring because the strawberry milkshake flavour coming through from the sugar was vivid enough.  In fact, my husband who was in a different room could smell it as I was making them! It's really that impressive!

I decided to go all out and invest in some malted biscuits for the base - I told you this was all about nostalgia! and kept it simple with a no bake cheesecake topping that just let the strawberry milkshake do the talking!

The cheesecake is very sweet, so a big swirl of fresh whipped cream helps to cut through that sweetness and a juicy ripe strawberry ties the whole thing together like a cherry on top...only it's a strawberry! 

I have really been so impressed with these flavoured icing sugars that I just want to run out and buy every flavour out there! and did you know they also do flavoured cocoa powders? Coconut cocoa powder?! Hello! how good does that sound! One of my American blogging friends even commented this week that these sugars are finally an ingredient that the UK has but the States doesn't - that never happens! So make your American friends jealous and invest in some of these flavoured sugars - the fun you can have with them is endless!! 

Strawberry Milkshake Cheesecake Bars:

Makes 12

From Cupcake Crazy Gem

For the base:

30g unsalted butter

145g malted milk biscuits

For the cheesecake:

450g cream cheese

125g strawberry milkshake icing sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

4 tsp semi-skimmed milk

150ml double cream

1 tsp red food colouring

For the topping:

100ml double cream

6 strawberries

Grease your prepared tin.  You can use a 13"x7" pan and cut them into squares after or I used a baking pan that has 12 ready made squares. I cut thin strips of greaseproof paper and laid then across each square in the pan so that I would be able to pop out each cheesecake square easily after refrigeration.

Melt the butter in a small microwavable bowl for 30 seconds.  

While that is melting, blitz the malted milk biscuits in a food processor until crushed.

Mix the butter in with the biscuit crumbs and put 2 heaped teaspoons in each square of the baking pan.  Press down the mixture with the back of the teaspoon.

Using a free stander electric mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese, sifted strawberry milkshake icing sugar, vanilla extract and semi skimmed milk together until well blended.

Whip the 200ml double cream in the mixer using a whisk attachment.  

Fold 150ml of the double cream into the cheesecake mixture.  Add the red food colouring and stir until the mixture turns pink and is fully incorporated.

Spoon 2 tablespoons of the cheesecake mixture on top of each biscuit base.  

Refrigerate for 5 hours until set.  Cover the remainder of the whipped cream with clingfilm and keep in the fridge.

Just before serving, transfer the whipped cream into a piping bag fitted with a star attachment.  Pipe a swirl of cream onto each individual cheesecake bar.  Wash and hull the strawberries, slice in half and place one half on top of the cream.  I also finished mine off with a little mini striped straw to complete the milkshake effect!

Eat and enjoy!

I received the icing sugar complimentary from Sugar and Crumbs, but all views and opinions expressed are my own.