It’s officially summer berry season! This week I stumbled across thick, fat, deep red strawberries in the supermarket; they were so juicy and sweet with every bite that they inspired me to make my famous cheesecake.
With the weather still unbearably warm, no one wants to stand in front of the hot oven baking, but who doesn’t fancy a cheeky sweet dessert after dinner? My family has been making a no-bake cheesecake for years; it’s so simple to do and perfectly delivers a light, fruity treat. But this dessert will be absolutely divine and to die for if you add our secret ingredient: white chocolate.
This recipe is enough to fill a 28cm baking tray and can serve up to ten people (depending on portion size). Trigger warning: this is not for those on a healthy diet!
Ingredients
For the base:
- One and a half packets of digestive biscuits
- Three tablespoons of butter (to be melted)
For the cream:
- Two pots of British double cream (300ml each)
- One tablespoon of soft cheese
- Two tablespoons of white caster sugar
- Two bags of Milkybar white chocolate giant buttons (94g each)
- A teaspoon of vanilla extract (optional)
For the topping:
- One box of strawberries (250g)
- One lemon
- One teaspoon of white caster sugar
- White chocolate to grate on top (optional)
Method
To begin, remove one and a half packets of biscuits from the packet, place them in a large bowl, and then begin mashing them with a rolling pin.
Many people put biscuits in a blender, but I find that the biscuits become too fine, like sand, and lack the crumbling texture we like when set.
You can also smash the biscuits within the packet or in a plastic bag, but this is tedious to me. When you empty the biscuits into a bowl, you will find pieces that still need to be smashed, but do whatever works best for you as long as you have finely crushed biscuits.
Next, melt down your butter either in a pan on the stove or in a cup in the microwave. You don’t want your base to be too dry that the biscuit doesn’t stick together or too wet that it becomes greasy from the butter. The perfect mixture will make the biscuit form a paste. Once mixed together, pour your base into your baking tray and place it in the freezer for 20 minutes.
Whilst your base is setting, begin making the cream. Pour both tubs of cream into a mixing bowl with one hefty tablespoon of soft cheese. Usually, I would add a teaspoon of vanilla extract for extra flavour, but I ran out, and it’s not a crucial ingredient to use to make the mixture.
Add your two tablespoons of white caster sugar and mix until firm. Be wary of over-mixing, or your cream will turn into what looks like scrambled eggs (curdled)—but we want stiff peaks!
Once done, place your white chocolate in a bowl and carefully heat it in the microwave for less than a minute (white chocolate can burn easily, so keep an eye out).
Wait for it to cool down (this is crucial or you’ll make a cream soup) and then, little by little, incorporate the white chocolate into the cream, mixing lightly with a spoon as you go along.
Once finished, remove your base from the freezer (this should be solid to the touch but not frozen), then add your cream on top. I’m not a decorator (in fact, mine looked like a beautiful mess), but I smoothed out the cream on top to make sure it spread evenly.
Cut up some strawberries and decorate the cheesecake as you please—the more strawberries, the better! For an added strawberry flavour, I made strawberry puree to drizzle on top.
Remove the leafy heads from five large strawberries, pop them into a blender with half a lemon squeezed and two teaspoons of sugar, and blend until smooth. Pour the mixture on top, and then, carefully with a grater, shred some white chocolate on top as a garnish.
Let your cheesecake set in your fridge for at least two hours (it is best to leave overnight), then serve and enjoy! The beauty about this cheesecake is that you don’t have to use popular brands to make it delicious.
Swap out digestive biscuits for a cheaper supermarket brand or swap out Milkybar chocolate for off-brand white chocolate chunks. No matter the expense you pay, this dessert will be a winner every time.