Nanaimo bars have got to be my all time favorite bar dessert so why not make a Nanaimo bar cheesecake? I’ve been thinking about it for a long time but always figured it would be a daunting task. Turns out the cake came together pretty easily! A chocolate and graham crust with the addition of flaked coconut and pecans, a cheesecake filling with custard powder and ganache topping. I love cheesecakes with a topping of some sort, that way if it happens to crack when baking, no big deal!
If you’re not familiar with the Nanaimo Bar let’s have Wikipedia explain..
“The Nanaimo bar is a dessert item of Canadian origin popular across North America. It is a bar dessert which requires no baking and is named after the west coast city of Nanaimo, British Columbia. It consists of a wafer crumb-based layer topped by a layer of custard flavoured butter icing which is covered with melted chocolate made from chocolate squares. Many varieties exist, consisting of different types of crumb, different flavours of icing, and different types of chocolate”
If you love cheesecake as much as I do be sure to check out these recipes too!
Salted caramel mini cheesecakes
Chocolate covered cherry cheesecake
- ¼ cup pecans
- 1 cup chocolate crumbs
- ½ cup graham crumbs
- 2 tbsp sugar
- ¼ cup flaked coconut
- ⅓ cup melted butter
- 3 8 oz packages cream cheese, room temperature
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 3 tbsp custard powder
- 3 whole eggs
- 1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
- ½ cup heavy (whipping) cream
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees
- In a food processor or blender run the pecans through until they become finely chopped. Add the chocolate crumbs, graham crumbs, sugar, coconut and melted butter. Pulse until it resembles a sandy texture.
- Press the mixture in the bottom of a springform pan and bake for 8 minutes.
- Meanwhile, In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the cheese and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the custard powder and mix until combined. Add the eggs and mix again.
- Pour the filling over the crust and bake in a water bath for 60 minutes.
- Cool the cheesecake and place in the refrigerator.
- To make the ganache, heat the cream and chocolate chips in a small sauce pan over low heat until smooth and glossy. Let the chocolate cool to room temperature before pouring over the cheesecake. Refrigerate until the ganache has set, at least a few hours.
To speed up the ganache cooling, place the saucepan over a bowl of ice and keep stirring.
Soft cake. I love it for my snacking time!