No-bake Cheesecake with strawberry sauce

I’ve been staying off cheesecakes, red meat, fast food, fried stuff, nuts/seeds for 2 months, actually it’s 9 weeks! I’ve been counting ‘cos I’ve been craving cheesecakes! :-D

You see my annual blood test was due. It may sounds like cheating…? ‘Starving’ myself silly from high-fatty food, junk food, permitting myself mostly veggies for lunch :-D

My report shows liver and kidney functions fine, cholesterol level still good, uric acid level within permissible level. Yay! I have some allowance to clog my arteries :-D and so I went for one of these yummilicious sandwiches – Steak Sandwich!

As I was saying about craving for cheesecake, I made this...

No-bake Cheesecake with Strawberry Sauce

Crust

115g crushed digestive biscuits (Mc Vitie’s)

70g butter, melted

1.  Get an 8” springform pan and line the base only, with baking paper. Lightly grease the side.

2.  Crush the digestive biscuits, by filling a large plastic bag with biscuits and smashing them with a rolling pin!

3.  Melt the butter and pour into the crushed biscuits.

4.  Mix well and press into the bottom of the pan forming a thin crust at the base of the pan.

5.  Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes or until needed.

Fillings

320gm cream cheese (Tatura Cream Cheese), softened

90gm caster sugar

2 tsp lemon juice

1 ½ tbsp unflavoured gelatine powder

2 tbsp hot water

250ml whipping cream, whipped

While crust is chilling in the fridge, softened the gelatine powder in hot water for 10 minutes in a metal bowl till gelatine dissolved. (I keep the gelatine solution warm by placing the small metal bowl over a bigger bowl of very hot water and stirring till all the gelatine powder dissolved). Alternatively, you can microwave it.

2.   Beat cream cheese with sugar till smooth. 

3.   Mix in lemon juice and gelatine.

4.   Finally, gently fold whipped cream into cheese mixture.

5.   Pour into the cake pan and chill in the fridge for 3 hours, preferably overnight.

Strawberry Sauce

200gm strawberries, washed, hulled and dried

240ml water

3-4 tbsp sugar (more sugar if you want it sweeter)

1 tsp lemon juice

2 tsp cornstarch

1.      Puree strawberries in a jar with a stick blender (handheld blender)

2.      In a pot, heat 200 ml water and sugar together till all crystals disappear, stir in strawberry puree

3.      Dissolve cornstarch into 40ml water and stir into the strawberry syrup and the sauce will slowly thicken

4.      Turn off flame and cool

5.      Chill in the fridge

Decorate fresh strawberries on top of the cheesecake and drizzle with sauce.

My other cheesecakes,

Chilled Lemon Cheesecake

Blueberry Swirl Cheesecake