Cheesecake fit for a King!

 

With the Kings coronation now over, I can still spy a few celebratory flags left blowing in the late spring breeze. So, there were many street parties paired with, wonderful food, music, smiles, and an overall jubilation for our new King Charles. Like many a celebration, there is always food. Food, evokes happiness, memories, and joy and with every party there will always be cake! As I always say, let there be cake and plenty of it. Today, however I am sharing with you, my cheesecake, so not a cake but still a wonderful sweet, topped with a crowning glory of berries. This cheesecake will knock your socks off and leaving you wanting more, as all good things do! I have also made the Kings quiche but I felt this sweet treat was a little more celebratory and fitting for the occasion.

The beauty of this cheesecake is the fact that it can be made in 10 minutes and is ready to serve after a couple of hours chilling, no baking necessary. This is my kind of cheesecake for its simplicity, yet the flavour will have you sharing the recipe with your friends and family, as it’s that good.

The key points are keeping the base biscuit section relatively rough, a rubble texture, so do not use a food processor to blitz your crumbs. Pop the biscuits between a clean tea towel and use a rolling pin to bash them up. The cheese layer uses a combination of both cream fraiche and soft cream cheese. Always use full fat varieties as they combine much easier, then combine with a good quality lemon or orange curd. Using seasonal fruit will keep the top layer, sweet and delicious. I probably have 10 varieties of this cheesecake, so here are a few further options:

Other fruit toppings that you could use could be of course tinned pear slices, peach slices, pineapple, and mango. I also love stewed apples with plump sultanas steeped in amaretto as an alternative topping. Use the recipe as your foundation and go from there, letting your imagination, larder and fridge guide you through the making of your very own cheesecake.

 

Lemon curd cheesecake

 

280g digestive biscuits

60g amaretto biscuits (the hard ones)

110g butter, melted.

3 tbsp honey

250g fromage frais

250g cream cheese

4 tbsp lemon curd

2 tbsp caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 lemon, zest

250g Berries

 

  • Crumb the digestives and amaretti biscuits into textured rubble.
  • Add the honey to the butter, stir and add to the biscuits.
  • Spoon the biscuit rubble into the base of your tart or flan dish.
  • Use the back of a tablespoon to compact the biscuit base.
  • Combine the fromage frais, cream cheese and lemon curd together in a bowl. Add the caster sugar.
  • Add the vanilla and lemon zest. Stir to incorporate.
  • Add a spritz of lemon juice to the berries and stir.
  • Tumble the berries on top of the cheesecake and chill for at least 2 hours.

This cheesecake will benefit from being made a day in advance and keeps for 5 days; however, it lasts for about 5 hours in my fridge.

Enjoy. Carmela x