Decadent Vanilla Cheesecake with Berry Coulis

Indulge in this luxuriously smooth and creamy vanilla cheesecake, where classic elegance meets bold flavours.

Each bite is perfectly complemented by a rich berry coulis, offering a hint of tartness to balance the creaminess. Garnished with fresh strawberries, delicate shards of nougat and a hint of orange zest - this dessert is a blend of texture and taste.

Recipes Used in This Dessert:

• Vanilla Cheesecake
• Blackberry and Blueberry Coulis

Components per Portion:

• 1 piece vanilla cheesecake
• Dark berry coulis
• Whipped Chantilly cream
• A strawberry
• Serving of nougat
• Orange zest
• Mint tip

Useful Equipment:

• Small squeeze bottle for saucing
• Small offset spatula
• Zester

Preparing Components:

• Put a little coulis into a small squeeze bottle to use for garnishing.
• Cut the cheesecake into rectangular portions, dipping your knife in hot water and drying it between each cut. This will give you neat, professional-looking slices with clean edges.
• Zest orange.
• Cut nougat into pieces.
• Cut strawberry into quarters.

Step-by-Step Plating:

Plate Selection

• Choose a suitable plate. I have decided to use a light coloured plate to enhance the effect of the beautiful deep purple coulis.

Saucing the Plate

• Take one teaspoon of coulis and let it gently fall off the spoon onto the plate. As it does, drag the base of the spoon through the coulis in a slightly curved shape.
• For the best effect, let the spoon gently scrape the plate as it is dragged through.

Position the Cheesecake

• Carefully position the cheesecake slice parallel to the sauce. An offset spatula is great for this.

Garnishing

• Position the strawberry pieces on top of the cheesecake.
• Overlap them a little to give a bit of depth and dimension to the plating.
• Alternative Option: You can use strawberry slices, or you could dice the strawberry and add a strip of diced strawberry. You can lie them all the same way if you want it to look more organised rather than rustic.

• Add a few pieces of nougat in the gaps. The nutty nougat will give the dish a bit of crunchy texture. Either keep all the pieces exactly the same size or add a few bigger pieces and a few crumbs.
• Arrange a few strands of orange zest on top for an extra hint of flavour.

Cream Quenelle

• Use a large teaspoon or small dessert spoon to make a cream quenelle. It works best to warm your spoon under running hot water, quickly dry it and then scoop up some cream - like you would if you were rolling a ball of ice-cream. The warmth of the spoon will melt the cream a little as you roll it.
• Working quickly (so it doesn't melt and loose its shape) place it near the end of the coulis on the dessert plate.

Finishing Touches

• Using a small squeeze bottle of coulis, pipe three little dots in-between the main swipe of sauce and the cheesecake. It's these little details that add another layer of sophistication to your dessert.
• You can add another three dots on the other side of the cheesecake too if you want to.

• The final touch for this dessert is a mint tip. A little pop of green will almost always enhance any dish.

Final Dessert

There you have your beautifully plated dessert. When plating multiple portions, line up your plates and complete each step on all plates before moving to the next step.