This is cheesecake – but not as you know it. We grow a few different types of strawberry at THE PIG, including the small but flavoursome white Alpine and wild varieties, which make this pud extra special.
The honey in our recipe adds a lovely sweetness to the cheesecake base and the Potter soft cheese from our local friends at Book and Bucket Cheese Company makes it beautifully creamy. Paired with that zesty dash of lemon, it’s the perfect end to a summer supper. You can adapt this to make one large cake if you prefer.
Ingredients
Serves 8
For the base:
- You’ll need 8 stainless steel dessert rings measuring 7cm diameter x 4.5cm high
- 200g McVitie’s Hobnobs or Digestives (best to use biscuits that aren’t overly sweet)
- 50g unsalted butter
- 20g runny honey
For the cheesecake:
- 350g Book & Bucket’s Potter cheese (a soft cow’s milk cheese), or any full-fat cream cheese
- 70g caster sugar
- 80g ripe strawberries, diced
- Zest and juice of 1 lemon
- 150ml double cream
For the top:
- 1-2 punnets ripe strawberries
- Icing sugar
- Zest and juice of 1 lemon
How to make it…
Break the biscuits into a food processor and blitz until fine. If you don’t have one, place in a freezer bag and crush with the base of a pot or rolling pin.
Gently heat the butter and honey until just melted. Pour the hot liquid onto the crushed biscuits and, with a spoon, work in the butter mix until all the crumbs are coated. Divide the biscuit crumb between the dessert rings and press down with the base of a teaspoon. Chill in the fridge.
In a food mixer with the beater attachment (or large bowl and spatula), combine the cheese and 50g of the sugar – take care not to overwork it!
Place the diced strawberries in a small pan with the juice of the lemon and the remaining 20g sugar; gently heat until the strawberries break down to a pulp. Leave to cool completely.
In another large bowl, whip the cream with the lemon zest until it forms soft peaks – again, don’t whip it too much or it’ll split.
Using a spatula, gently fold the cream into the cheese in three or four stages. Mix in the chilled strawberry pulp (this adds a bit of colour and sharpness to the rich mix).
Remove the bases from the fridge. You can either spoon the cream cheese mix onto the base or you might find it easier to use a piping bag. Now, with a stepped palette knife (or the back of a spoon or spatula), level the mixture (if you run the spatula under hot water then dry it, it’ll be much easier to smooth).
Chill uncovered for at least 2 hours.
While the cheesecakes are chilling, hull and cut the small strawberries into halves and the larger ones into quarters, place in a bowl and sprinkle with a good amount of icing sugar and the zest and the juice of the lemon. Cover and leave at room temperature.
When you’re ready to serve, gently remove the cheesecakes from their moulds and decorate with the strawberries, then drizzle over the strawberry juices.
Find many more PIG favourite recipes in our very own PIG Book: 500 Miles of Food, Friends and Local Legends – so you can bring all the flavours of our house to yours!
