Strawberry and Lime Cheesecake

I bought Sophie Grigson’s Country Kitchen a while ago. After seeing her on TV a few times – actually quite a lot, I decided to buy the book. For no special reason I only got to use it this weekend just gone. I fell in love with this strawberry cheesecake recipe and made sure that I got all the ingredients to try it over the weekend. I did consider using yogurt in order to make it a tad lighter but I had to drain it for a good eight hours and I didn’t organize myself enough. So in the end I decided to use the recipe as it is, and not to feel guilty about the extra calories. Instead I would enjoy every mouthful if it was worth it. It is one of those cheesecakes that don’t get cooked. You just need to let it set in the fridge. Lovely in a very hot day as nobody can stand the extra heat of the oven.

I loved the fact that we combine strawberry and lime as the two fruits seem to complement each other very well. I used a little bit more biscuit as I really love a crunchy base. In my opinion this cheesecake works well because it does not get too sweet – I did worry about it a bit. You can prepare a sauce to go with it but in my excitement to eat the cheesecake I confess to have forgotten all about it. Indulge.

For the base:

220g digestive biscuit/ tea biscuit

110g unsalted butter, melted

For the filling:

3 leaves gelatine

150 ml single (pouring) cream

300 g cream cheese

125 g caster sugar

Finely grated zest and juice of 2 limes

300 g ripe strawberries, hulled and chopped

150 ml double cream, whipped

Crush the biscuits finely, either using a food processor or putting the biscuits in a bag and crushing them with a rolling pin. How thin you crush them depends on how you like them. Pour the butter over the crumbs and mix it all until the biscuit crumbs are covered. I prefer to do that using my hands as opposed to a spoon.

Put some water in a baking tin, enough to cover the gelatine, and throw the gelatine in. Leave to soak for 5 minutes. In the mean time bring the single cream to the boil and the remove it from the heat. Squeeze each gelatine leaf to remove the excess water and throw it in the pan with the cream, stirring one by one. They will dissolve instantly. Leave to cool for a few minutes.

Put the cream cheese in a bowl with the sugar, half the lime zest and all the lime juice. Beat together until smooth and creamy. Mix in the single cream mixture and then the chopped strawberries. Next fold in the whipped cream. Now pour the whole lot into the tart tin and smooth down lightly. . Chill until set, then sprinkle with the remaining lime zest.