Greek cheesecake with melomakarona

It can happen, not often though, to have some leftover Christmas melomakarona cookies (the classic version) and not to be sure what to do with them. Leftovers in general are a good thing in my opinion because you can use them to create something totally different to please family and friends. Here is a tasty example of how you could use leftover melomakarona

Recipe of Stelios Parliaros,
a prominent Head Confectioneer in Greece
"Gastronomos" magazine of "KATHIMERINI" newspaper (2010)

Ingredients (for 12-15 portions):

For the base:
about 500gr. of melomakarona (the basic recipe and already syruped), finely crumbled

For the cream:
800gr. of plain cream cheese (Philladelphia type), at room temperature
80gr. of icing sugar
270gr. of fresh cream (35% fat), beaten enough to become thick like yoghurt

For the garnish:
walnuts, roughly chopped
honey
ground cinnamon
Some extra crumbled melomakarona (optional)

Method:
Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Spread the crumbled melomakarona in a 24cm round spring form and then press firmly with your palm so to tightly fill the bottom and to create a 1cm thick base.

Put in the oven and bake for about 20-25 minutes. Take out of the oven and leave the base to cool in the fridge for 20-25 minutes (or longer maybe) or in the freezer for about 10-15 minutes.

In the bowl of a standing mixer beat, in medium speed, the cream cheese with the icing sugar until they blend well. Stop the beating, add the beaten fresh cream in the bowl and, using a spoon mix gently,but firmly, the ingredients until they blend well.

Take the base out of the freezer or the fridge and empty the cream filling on top. Smooth the surface with a rubber spatula. Put the cheesecake back in the fridge and leave to set for about 1-2 hours.

Take the cheesecake carefully out of the springform onto a large serving plate and sprinkle on top with some crumbled melomakarona (if used). Sprinkle with the walnuts and the cinnamon, drizzle with some honey and serve immediately.

Note:
If you are worried that the cheesecake might fall apart use a classic tart dish, deep enough to have the base and the filling and serve directly from the dish