GBBO star Liam Charles creates bespoke Cheesecake Mince Pie recipe!

With the use of home technology increasing, consumers are favouring voice assistant devices to act as a ‘sous chef’, to make everyday tasks easier,  resulting in a new online cookbook.

Liam Charles, the GBBO star is working with Sony to show how easy it is to make technology the centre of the kitchen. Liam created a bespoke Christmas dish, Cheesecake mince pies, which can be searched for online or by using the Sony Smart speaker – the S50G. Liam searches for the recipe using the Smart speaker in the video tutorial below, showing how to whip up the dish.

Liam Charles said: “I’m not going to lie, I can get a bit carried away in the kitchen, experimenting and testing out new flavours and recipes. The Sony Smart speaker worked as an ideal sous chef; not only will it answer my questions but it can play my favourite playlist and can pause when I need a second to concentrate.”

“And, the sound quality is banging so I can hear music and responses over the noise, wherever I am in the kitchen!”

Lucia SestonFerdinand, Sony Sound Product Manager, commented: “The Sony S50G acts as the perfect accompaniment for the kitchen or any room in the house for that matter. The ‘hands free’ element of the speaker enables budding chefs the chance to concentrate on their cooking without having to turn the page or further cluttering up the kitchen. Not only that but the speaker is multi-functional with 360-degree sound; with the sound filling the kitchen like the aromas of dishes created. And, if you happen to spill your dish on the speaker it’s waterproof so can be easily wiped clean.”

The Sony S50G is the perfect piece of kitchen equipment for professional and amateur cooks alike. With its high quality, 360 degree sound, people are able to listen along to music, ask questions and follow recipes from anywhere in the room, hearing the response loud and clear.

Liam’s Cheesecake Mince Pie recipe:

Serves 12

Mince pies and gravy are probably the best parts of Christmas for me, for the sake of a sweet bake we’re not going to include gravy but we are going to take the inspiration of a mince pie and knock it into a cheesecake recipe.

Chocolate x Orange x Cranberry Shortbread Base:

340g Unsalted butter

165g golden caster sugar

340g Plain Flour

165g Corn Flour

Zest of Three oranges

2 Tsp Mixed spice

1Tbsp of Vanilla Bean Paste

200g Dark Chocolate

200g Dried Cranberries

Mince pie Cream cheese filling:

900g Full fat cream cheese

200g Caster sugar

200ml Soured cream

3 Tbsp. plain flour

3 Free range eggs plus 1 yolk lightly beaten

2 tsp vanilla extract

450g Homemade/ Shop bought mince meat

Chocolate Bark:

300g Dark Chocolate:

200g Dried Cranberries

Zest of 2 oranges

Baileys Spiked Whipped Cream:

300ml Double Cream

2 Tbsp. Caster sugar

2 Tsp Vanilla Extract

Baileys to Taste

Method:

For the Shortbread base,

1. Cream your butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
2. Next you want to add your dry ingredients, followed by the zest of oranges 2 tsp of mixed spice and your vanilla bean paste.
3. Mix until the dough is just about coming together, and just then chuck in your chopped dark chocolate and dried cranberries.
4. Place dough on a lightly floured surface and knead gently. (DO NOT GO CRAZY) Wrap in cling film and place in fridge. For your dough to be easier to handle, cut it in half the place it in the fridge for 20 minutes. Place two baking trays into an oven and preheat to Gas Mark 4 / 180C.

Cheesecake:

1. So, in the meantime, you want to crack on with your cheesecake mixture. Cream your cream cheese and caster sugar until smooth.
2. In a large bowl, add your soured cream and plain flour. Then add one egg at a time, beat into your cheesecake mixture until all eggs are well combined. Finally add your Vanilla bean paste.
3. This is where it gets exciting! Shop-bought or Homemade it doesn’t matter! Add the mincemeat filling to the cheesecake mixture. One that’s done, wrap the top of the bowl in Clingfilm and place in the fridge until ready to use.

Roll x Cut x Bake

1. Take the biscuit dough out of the fridge and on lightly floured surface begin to roll out to thickness of a £1 coin, cut out 12 8cm circles and place one in each cylinder mould. Place a cylinder tray on one baking tray and bake for 15 minutes, until its light golden brown.
2. Set both trays aside to cool on a cooling rack, then drop your oven temperature to Gas mark 2/160C.

“Fill em up”

1. Evenly divide your cheesecake mixture between all 12 inserts and bake 20-30 minutes, you’re looking for a set cheesecake with a cheeky little wobble in the middle.
2. Once baked switch of the oven and leave the door slightly ajar for the cheesecake to cool 30 minutes. Leave all cheesecakes on the side to completely cool.
3. Once cool place all cheesecakes in the fridge and chill for at least 1 hour ideally overnight.

DECOR!

1. While the cheesecakes chilling, it’s time for DECOR! Melt the 300g of chocolate over a Bain Marie or a microwave but always mix in 20 second intervals, once melted pour the chocolate into a greaseproof lined baking tray.
2. Roughly chop dried cranberries, with 2 more oranges, grate of orange zest over the top and place into the fridge and leave to set, once set break the chocolate slab into funky shapes pointy shapes.
3. For the spiked whipped cream whip the double cream, caster and vanilla into a separate bowl until it’s just whipped – soft peaks.
4. Now, the amount of Baileys you use should really be determined on the day. Monday, 1tbsp. Friday to Sunday, well it’s entirely up to you.
5. Continue to whip until medium peaks are formed.
6. Place the nozzle into the piping bag, followed by the double cream, ready to pipe.
7. To serve, gently pop out each cheesecake and place onto plate or display board.
8. Now it’s up to you on how you want to decorate. But I’ll say you want to pipe three kisses onto the surface of the cheesecake, all varieties of sizes.
9. Place one of your shards on top of the cheesecake, sprinkle some icing sugar.
10. EAT!

Equipment:

Stand mixer (Ideally k-mix, Creamer beater attachment)

Food processor

Rolling Pin

Circle cutters

Baking Trays

Silicone Cylinder Moulds

Pipping bags

French piping nozzle