No bake cheescake

This is lovely. The spicy heat of the ginger biscuits works really well with the sharp tang of the lime. And the texture is different to that of baked cheesecake – this is very light and creamy. Because there’s no actual baking involved, this cheesecake is ready a lot quicker than the previous cheesecake recipes I’ve given. All the same, it’s not what you might call speedy. There’s still a lot of sitting around in fridges being done.

NO BAKE CHEESCAKE

Serves 8

Ingredients 

For the base:

• 150g ginger nut biscuits
• 50g butter

For the topping:

• 2 x 135g packets of lime jelly
• 200ml evaporated milk
• 200g cream cheese*
• zest and juice of 3 limes
• edible green glitter (optional, but I’d really recommend it)
• whipped cream for decorating (optional)

*Any kind you like, even yes, if you like, on this one occasion, low fat. (Because there’s no cooking involved, it won’t flop on you.)
 

METHOD

Crush the biscuits to a fine powder in a food processor or with a mallet in a plastic bag. Melt the butter and add, mixing thoroughly, then press hard into the bottom of a 20cm springform tin. Put in the fridge for at least an hour.

Dissolve one of the packets of lime jelly by cutting the jelly into cubes, putting them into a heatproof jug or bowl, adding 100ml boiling water and stirring briskly. The instructions on the packet might say to use more water, but don’t. If 100ml water doesn’t fully dissolve the jelly, don’t add more water. Instead, put the container of water and jelly into the microwave for a minute or so. Leave to cool fully.

Whisk the evaporated milk until it’s light and foamy. Add in the cream cheese and beat very well until all the lumps are gone and the mix is smooth. Add the cooled jelly, the zest of 2 limes and the juice of 3 (hold on to the remaining zest for decorating purposes).

Pour this creamy mix on top of the ginger biscuit base, spread smoothly with your spatula, then put it back in the fridge for 3 hours.

When the 3 hours are up, make the second packet of lime jelly by dissolving it in 100ml boiling water. Allow it to cool completely, then stir in a teaspoon of edible green glitter. Carefully pour this over the top of the cheesecake so it covers it all, sitting in a thin layer. Back into the fridge with it for at least another hour.

Decorate with splodges of whipped cream and the remaining lime zest.