This recipe is from the team at NZ House & Garden magazine.

Fresh and fruity, this cheesecake will impress your friends and family. The cheesecake itself is best made a day or two in advance, leaving plenty of time on the day to make it look pretty.

ETON MESS CHEESECAKE WREATH

Prep: 30 minutes plus overnight to chill | Serves 8-10

Ingredients

Cheesecake

200g digestive biscuits

65g butter, melted

200g white chocolate, roughly chopped

250g full-fat cream cheese

1 tsp vanilla bean paste

150g mascarpone

100g strawberries, hulled and chopped

To serve

150g strawberries

A few tiny meringues or 2-3 large meringues, broken into pieces

Fancy chocolates (optional)

Store-bought strawberry sauce (optional)

Method

Cheesecake: Put the biscuits in a food processor and process to form crumbs. Add the butter and pulse briefly to combine. Put a 7cm ring cutter in the centre of a 22cm springform cake tin. Tip the crumb mixture into the base and press into an even layer. Chill while making the filling.

Put the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over, but not touching, a pan of simmering water or microwave in short bursts. Stir until smooth then set aside to cool to lukewarm.

In a bowl, beat the cream cheese and vanilla bean paste until smooth then add the cooled chocolate and beat to combine. Stir in the mascarpone and chopped strawberries to just combine.

Spoon mixture onto the biscuit base and smooth the surface. Cover and refrigerate overnight, to set. This is a soft-set cheesecake so it needs plenty of time to set.

To serve: Run a small, fine-bladed knife around the edge of the cheesecake to loosen from the tin, then remove from the tin to a serving plate. Carefully lift out the central ring.

Just before serving, decorate with meringues, strawberries and chocolates to form a pretty wreath-like topping. Serve with strawberry sauce on the side, if desired.