Way back in July I was contacted by the lovely folks over at the English Cheesecake Company, wanting to know if I’d be interested in trying out one of their cheesecakes. Um yeah!!! How could I turn down cheesecake? Is that even possible? Especially considering I was 8 months pregnant at the time. I had arranged for the cheesecake to be delivered to me in August so I could share it with my friends at my baby shower (I’ve still got to get those posts up btw!).
I couldn’t wait to try one of the cheesecakes from the English Cheesecake Company, as I’d heard a lot about them before over the past few years. One of my blogging friends Gem, from Cupcake Crazy Gem even works there - how cool is that!! They’ve got some pretty cool flavours with some pretty inventive names like Cookie Dough Collision, Choccy Woccy Doughnut Cheesecake (yes, it has doughnuts inside the cheesecake!) and Alphonso Mango Coconut Cabana, just to name a few.
Despite a bit of a hiccup with delivery (due to a fault by the courier, not the English Cheesecake Company) I received an absolutely delicious cheesecake just in time for my baby shower.
The cheesecake I was sent was called Honey I’m Comb Golden Nugget (HICGN), and as the name suggests it was loaded on top with chunks of honeycomb candy and even more chocolate covered honeycomb pieces. The inside of the HICGN cheesecake is studded with pieces of chocolate covered honeycomb and has a delicious biscuit base that was much thicker than found on any cheesecake before. The staff at the English Cheesecake Company were even nice enough to personalise my cheesecake with a chocolate disc that read “It’s a Boy” (something you can request to have done for birthdays, etc).
So what did I think of my first cheesecake from the English Cheesecake Company (ECC)?
Well, lets start from the beginning with delivery. Like I mentioned before, there was an issue with delivery. Basically the courier failed to deliver my cheesecake on the day it was shipped (a Friday), but luckily my baby shower was on the Sunday so I still had another 2 days before I needed it. I had been in contact with the ECC to let them know that the cheesecake hadn’t been delivered, so the next day they promptly sent out a new one for me which arrived a few hours later. Talk about great customer service! A few hours later the original cheesecake also arrived, but it had been sitting in the couriers warehouse overnight and arrived smooshed and inedible. Thank goodness for that second one!
This was the first time I had ever had a frozen food item shipped to me, and I was really impressed by how well it was packaged. The cheesecake was shipped in an insulated styrofoam box with a few packages of dry ice to keep it frozen. My only gripe was that although there was a tall plastic sleeve around the outside of the cheesecake, there was nothing covering the top of it, so some of the honeycomb pieces on the top of the cake had shifted and some had been shaken off into the box, so I had to replace them as best I could when I unpacked it.
The instructions that came with the cheesecake said to keep it in the freezer, and then take it out of the box and thaw a few hours before serving, but I didn’t have enough space in my freezer to do that so I kept it in the fridge overnight. Unfortunately because I did this, when I took it out of the box to display the next day condensation had built up in the box as well as on the chocolate disc which slightly discoloured it (you can see this in the photos). I don’t think this would have been a problem if I didn’t have the chocolate disc on top, so if you plan on ordering a cheesecake without a disc then I really wouldn’t worry too much.
As for the actual flavour and texture of the cheesecake, I thought they were terrific. One thing I didn’t really realise until a couple of years ago is that unlike the North American cheesecakes I’m used to, UK cheesecakes are not baked so they have a slightly different texture, and often aren’t as tall. This cheesecake was light and fluffy, and I really loved the added crunch of the honeycomb pieces inside. Normally I’m not a fan of really thick biscuit bases, but this one was really nice. It wasn’t too crumbly, which meant I could easily get it onto my fork and into my mouth. My guests also thought the cheesecake was delicious, and when my husband got home and had a slice he couldn’t stop raving about it.
So would I order another cheesecake from the English Cheesecake Company? Yes! I would, as I thought it was really delicious and I honestly think that the delivery mix up was a one of. The English Cheesecake Company has so many delicious flavours to choose from, that I’d have a hard time picking which one to get. They’re also a good size, and would accurately serve the 12 people stated on the website.
New flavours are constantly being developed and introduced, as well as seasonal flavours and ones special occasions. With Valentines Day and Mothers Day quickly approaching, one of these cheesecakes would make the perfect dessert to serve.
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