I'm squeezing in as many blogs as is humanly possible before what seems like countless deadlines looming at the end of February. I've actually had to draw up a timetable - just for reading. Ridiculous! Anyway, this recipe seems perfect to post today because all week I've been craving rubbishy sweets, but have desperately been trying to hold back and be 'healthy' too. Basically, it seemed like a good time to upload my Jamie Oliver-style deconstructed cheesecake recipe which I made for a big family meal some months back, and which combines sweet cheesecake flavours and chocolate digestive biscuits with some healthier fruit...
Very sweet, whilst able to hold a healthy-ish rating (in my opinion), this "sort-of" cheesecake is the perfect, casual end to a meal if you're making food for people - and it doesn't even involve cooking. Just small amounts of lots of ingredients to create a variety of amazing flavours and textures. The good news is you can tailor this to your own tastes and diet*, though I'd obviously recommend my own recipe - it went down really well with everyone at the table (including my previously-blogged-about dairy-free auntie, for whom I made her own version).
*At the end of the blog I've listed some recipe variations
*"Messy" Cheesecake*
*Serves 6-8*
12-15 chocolate digestives (Basics brands do just fine!)
200g low-fat cream cheese
100ml double cream
2-3tbsp caster sugar
1 lemon (zest and juice)
1tsp vanilla extract
1 punnet fresh raspberries (200g?)
1 punnet fresh blueberries
6tbsp (or so) lemon curd
100g bar dark chocolate (to grate, as detailed in previous blog post - http://acreativespell.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/dairy-free-choc-cake.html)
Just a warning - it's best to prep all the ingredients beforehand, and throw them all together as near to serving-time as possible (looks prettier and texture will be nicer). You'll need a few bowls for this - and decide how you'll serve it beforehand, whether it'll be dished out from a giant serving bowl (I used a giant glass punch bowl to serve mine in, as pictured) or placed in individual glasses (i.e. wine glasses or tumblers).
1. Biscuits. Place your chocolate biscuits in a sandwich bag, before placing on a chopping board or flat surface and bashing with a bowling pin (or similar heavy device) until, say, 2/3 of the biscuits look fine and breadcrumb-textured, leaving some bite-size pieces. Leave in the bag until later
2. Cheesecake mix. Using an electric whisk, beat the double cream (in a bowl) until you can see - and feel - that the cream has thickened to a thick, yoghurt-like texture (don't overmix as your double cream, believe it or not, will turn into butter). Add cream cheese to the bowl, along with zest of your lemon, juice of your lemon, sugar, and the vanilla extract. Mix well, give it a try to make sure it's to your taste, and set aside ready to spoon out later.
3. Raspberries. Wash, place in a bowl, and mash roughly with a fork until you're left with a raw raspberry coulis
4. Chocolate. Grate about half of your 100g bar with a knife (technique & advice is detailed on the link given above) over a chopping board - pictured below - before leaving on the board and refrigerating - grated chocolate will melt, fast, and you want to be able to scatter it later
5. Ready to serve? Begin to layer your ingredients in whatever order you like, really - I chose to scatter about 1/3 of the biscuits on the base, before adding a large spoon of cheesecake mix, drizzling over alternate tsps of crushed raspberries and lemon curd, dropping on a few blueberries, scattering some chocolate, repeating with more biscuit and cheesecake mix, and finally adding more blueberries and grated chocolate on top for a pretty finish. Basically layer up so that you get different tastes and textures with every mouthful, and leave some pretty grated chocolate for the top. Delish!
*Variations*
Healthier - instead of making a cheesecake mix, simply use a lemon/vanilla low-fat yoghurt (I have a feeling this is what Jamie Oliver did when I first saw the idea on his 30-Minute Meals programme)
Dairy free - use dairy-free yoghurt (flavour it with a shake of icing sugar and a little vanilla extract - you'll need less than 1/2tsp if it's an individual-sized yoghurt). Ensure you use only a dark chocolate bar - be careful to look for dairy-free biscuits, if you decide to bother*
Fruity variations - banana (banoffee-style cheesecake would be gorgeous!), sweet strawberry or tropical mango
Chocaholic - make chocolate cheesecake mix instead, use double-chocolate biscuits, and add sweets of your choice (chocolate buttons, Smarties, Munchies, chopped Mars Bars) - this will be far less healthy though. Cheeky ;)
Sundae-style - use small scoops of icecream instead of cheesecake mix
*Please make sure ingredients are suitable for your own allergies - I can't guarantee they will be
Thanks for reading - any recipe requests are welcome! Hope to be blogging again soon
x
