Oreo Cheese Cake

While focusing on planning my 365 Cakes / 365 Days Challenge I have been trying my best not to bake any cakes before Saturday. Until on Wednesday I popped into Tiger Shop and found the cutest ever chalkboard for just 3€ and Oreo-kind-of cookies for just 1€/pack. Immediately I saw in my mind something which is now on the picture above. Cheese cake with biscuit crumbs for Thursday treat  for the family and then absolutely no baking but pure managing-your-challenge on Friday... (to be seen)

Oreo Cheese Cake

Crust:
150g Digestive cookies, crumbed
75g butter, melted

Filling:
200g Philadelphia Cream Cheese (or equivalent, I use quite often more affordable cream cheese brands of Lidl, Tesco or Aldi)
1 dl / 1/3 cup granulated sugar
200g pack of Oreo (or equivalent) cookies - save a couple for decorating the cake
1 tsp vanilla sugar
5 gelatine leaves
3 tbsp milk
3 egg whites

Decoration:
Cookie crumbs, fresh berries, chocolate...

1. Mix the digestive cookie crumbs and melted butter.  Press the mixture into the bottom of a spring form (23cm in diameter), base covered with baking parchment. Let the crust cool and rest in the fridge while you make the filling.
2. Soak the gelatine leaves in cold water for 5 minutes.
3. Mix the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla sugar.
4. Heat up the milk and melt the soaked gelatine leaves in the hot milk and pour the smooth liquid into the cheese mixture. Mix well.
5. Add the biscuit crumbs.
6. Beat the egg whites until stiff and fold them very gently into the cheese&cookie crumb mixture trying to keep it ‘airy’.
7. Pour the filling on the crust and chill in the fridge for at least four hours until firm.
8. Remove the firm cake from the pan very, very carefully on a serving plate and decorate it with biscuit crumbs, fresh berries, chocolate...