A Very British Cheesecake
For VE Day

Sarah our London shop manager has whipped up the perfect treat to share a feeling of national pride on VE day. A slice of cheesecake and glass of bubbly will be how will be watching the Queen's special speech at 9pm on the 8th May.
Ingredients
250g (9oz) Hobnobs biscuits
125g (4½oz) butter, melted
1 vanilla pod
600g (1lb 5oz) full-fat Philadelphia
100g (4oz) icing sugar
284ml pot double cream
For The Topping
around 350g (12oz) each blueberries and raspberries
You Will Need
25.5cm (10in) cake tin with removable base, lightly oiled
Method
For the Cheesecake base, whizz the biscuits with the melted butter until you have fine crumbs. Press into the base of the tin and chill. To make the filling, split the vanilla pod lengthways, scrape out the seeds with the back of a knife, and add to a large mixing bowl with the cream cheese and icing sugar, and beat until smooth. Whip the cream separately until you have soft peaks, then gently beat into the cream cheese mixture. Spoon the mixture on to the biscuit base and chill in the fridge for at least 6 hours, but overnight is better if you have time.
To decorate, run a knife gently around the edges of the cheesecake, remove from the tin and slide it off its base.
Arrange the berries in the shape of the Union Jack and serve immediately with a glass of bubbly, or keep in the fridge until needed.