Vanilla Slice Cheesecake

Preheat oven to 200°C fan forced. Unroll both sheets of puff pastry and cut out a 21cm circle from each. Refrigerate the circles for 15 mins.

Cut the left over puff pastry into star shapes using a cookie cutter and brush the tops with egg white. Sprinkle over 1/2 the sugar, then turn over onto a lined baking tray and repeat with brushed egg white and remaining sugar. Refrigerate.

Place the 2 puff pastry circles on lined baking trays and the stars on a third tray. Position cookie cutters on the corners of each tray, then top each tray with another tray (this causes a flat and even puff when the pastry rises).

Place all trays in the oven for 20 mins then remove when the pastry golden and set aside to cool completely on wire racks. Store the pastry stars in an airtight container on your bench top until ready to serve.

Line the base and sides of a 20cm spring form pan with baking paper and place one of the baked puff pastry rounds in the base of the tin (depending on your brand of puff pastry, the pastry rounds will have shrunk slightly as they puffed up during baking, so trim them with a bread knife to fit if necessary).

In a large bowl combine the icing sugar and cream cheese and fold together with a spatula until just combined (don’t over-mix). Add the custard powder and mix again with the spatula.

Add the double cream and vanilla bean paste and mix with hand beaters until the cream cheese emulsifies and the mixture becomes thick and creamy. Spoon the mixture on top of the pastry base and smooth the top with an offset spatula. Top the cheesecake mixture with the second pastry round. Cover and refrigerate for at least 6 hours or overnight.

Combine the Chantilly cream ingredients in a bowl and mix using hand beaters on medium high until stiff peaks form. Transfer the mixture to a piping bak fitter with a large round nozzle.

When ready to serve, remove the cheesecake from the spring form tin and place on an serving dish. Pipe a layer of Chantilly cream over the top of the pastry and add the
caramelised stars to the top.