Most people who know me (in fact, pretty much anyone that's ever met me) will tell you I'm not averse to talking about myself. And though I usually try to draw the line at shameless self-promotion, today I'll make an exception for just long enough to mention the (quite frankly) awesome chocolate & peanut butter cheesecake I made last week.

It seems to go down pretty well at Octopus Towers so I feel that, in the interest of spreading sweetness and light (and calories), a recipe share is in order. Word of warning though folks, it's not for the faint of heart (or those with nut allergies).

For the base

• 200g/7oz digestive biscuits
• 50g/2oz salted peanuts
• 100g/3½oz dark chocolate chips
• 50g/2oz unsalted butter, softened

For the filling

• 500g/1lb 1oz cream cheese
• 3 eggs
• 3 egg yolks
• 200g/7oz caster sugar
• 125ml/4¼fl oz sour cream
• 250g/9oz smooth peanut butter

For the topping

• 250ml/9fl oz sour cream
• 100g/3½oz milk chocolate chips
• 30g/1¼oz soft brown sugar

Preheat the oven to 170C/325F/Gas 3.

For the base, process the biscuits, peanuts, dark chocolate chips and butter in a food processor. Once the mixture comes together in a clump, turn it out into a 23cm/9in springform tin and press it into the bottom of the tin and up the sides, using your fingers, to flatten. Chill in the fridge while you make the filling.

For the filling, process the cream cheese, eggs and egg yolks, sugar, sour cream and peanut butter in a food processor, whizzing to a smooth mixture.

Pour and scrape the filling mixture into the cheesecake base in the chilled springform tin and cook for 1 hour, checking after 50 minutes. The top - only - should feel set and dry. When cooked, take the cheesecake out of the oven while you make the topping.

For the topping, warm the sour cream and chocolate chips with the brown sugar gently in a small saucepan over a low heat, whisking to blend in the chocolate as it melts. Once the mixture is melted and well combined, take off the heat.

Spoon and spread the topping very gently over the top of the cheesecake, being as careful as you can in case you break the surface of the cheesecake. (Not that anything bad will happen; you'll just have chocolate marbling the cake a bit.) Put it back in the oven for a final 10 minutes.

Once out of the oven, let the cheesecake cool completely in its tin, then cover and put into the fridge overnight. When you are ready to eat the cheesecake, take it out of the fridge slightly in advance, just to take the chill off: this will make it easier to spring from the tin. Don't let it get too warm, though, as it will become a bit gooey and be hard to slice.

Enjoy!

Lakshmi