Tea Smoked Cheesecake with Lemon Zest & White Chocolate

Recipe by Chef Nimish Bhatia

Ingredients
• 80 g cookie crumbs  
• 50 g brown sugar
• 100 g butter
• 20 ml oil
• 60 g cream cheese
• 240 ml sour cream
• 4 eggs
• 20 g lemon zest        
• 50 g flour
• 100 g white compound chocolate
• 20 g dark chocolate
• 20 g Darjeeling tea
• 8 strawberries

Method
Pre-heat oven to 200° C. Take a half-moon mould for the crust. Mix the cookie crumbs with 50 g brown sugar, flour and melted butter.
Lightly grease the bottom and sides of a pan with the vegetable oil. Whisk the cream cheese hard and quickly soften it. Add the sour cream and mix for a couple more minutes. Add one egg at a time and slowly mix. Take the cheesecake filling, pour over the crust.
Carefully put the cheesecake pan into a water bath. Bake in the oven for 1 hour at 180° C. Check for doneness. Allow to cool till it reaches room temperature and de-mould.
Now, either in a smoker or a pot, burn the Darjeeling tea and keep this cheesecake on a sieve with a tight lid for an hour. Once done, cover this with melted white chocolate and line with dark chocolate and lemon zest.
Serving    
Serve it with strawberry halves on the side.