Monday, November 24, 2008

No-bake lemon and lime cheesecake

A return to a subject that at one time was threatening to be an obsession, but that I haven't tackled for a while. There is a similar recipe to this one in my book, but with digestive biscuits. I reckon that this 3:1 biscuit:butter ratio works as well, or better, than the 2:1 I have recommended previously.

You need a 20cm flan dish or tin. Serves 6 to 8.

150g ginger biscuits
50g butter
227ml double cream (that is the size of the Yeo Valley pot)
200g cream cheese (a standard pack)
397g condensed milk (a standard tin)
1 lemon, zest and juice
1 lime, zest and juice

Whizz the biscuits to crumbs in a food processor. Melt the butter over a low heat in a small saucepan. Tip in the crumbs, stir until thoroughly coated. Grease your dish or tin, and tip in the biscuit mixture, spreading it over the surface and compacting it with the back of a spoon. Put the dish into the freezer for 30 minutes to an hour.

Whip the cream until it stands in soft peaks. You have to be careful to stop as soon as it gets to this stage: from there, it moves rapidly to complete stiffness.

In a separate bowl, whip together the cream cheese and condensed milk. Some recipes suggest you can thicken the milk by whipping: that does not work for me, perhaps because I am lazy or impatient. No matter. Mix in the lemon and lime zest and juice.

Fold the cream into the cheese/milk/citrus mixture. Pour the filling on to the frozen (or very cold) base, cover, and return to the fridge for at least a couple of hours before serving.

7 comments:

elwyn said...

I am pleased you have found a cheesecake meeting your requirements. I have a preference for the very heavy European style, without a biscuit base, no pastry either, and baked. I find the Italian ricotta based cakes too light.

The ginger biscuit base would be delicious. Have you ever made the very simple ginger ripple cake - i.e.
ginger biscuits with whipped cream, made into a log by sandwiching the biscuits with the cream, and then refrigerating. There is also a chocolate biscuit version which makes an appearance at every child's birthday party in Australia.

Nicholas Clee said...

No, I haven't tried that - but must!

Milnrowmart said...

Wife said it was delicious. Lots of brownie points. Does it count towards your 5 a day? When a recipe specifies cream cheese I use mascarpone. Is this right?

Nicholas Clee said...

I used Philadelphia. I'm sure mascarpone is delicious too - and richer.

Janice said...

I made this with orange juice and it didn't set at all, even after being the fridge overnight and then, as a last resort, in the freezer for a few more hours. It stayed very runny and was impossible to slice.

Nicholas Clee said...

Sorry, Janice. Of course, an orange will yield quite a bit more juice than a lemon. But that may not explain it. The mixture should be quite stiff even before it goes in the fridge. I wish I could give a precise apology and explanation!

Anonymous said...

Orange juice isn't acidic enough to react with the cream and condensed milk. It is this that sets the cheesecake.