No bake strawberry cheesecake

When good strawberries have been hard to come by for awhile we get a little bit excited when we stumble across delicious berries like these. They smell absolutely sensational, and taste as sweet as can be. Eaten fresh, they require nothing else to compliment their beautiful flavour. Added to a cheesecake however, they are equally as delicious, and the sweet smell of strawberries only compliments the mild flavour of cheesecake.

These beauties are locally grown in Wanneroo, and if you like strawberries we suggest you get your hands on some.

Ingredients
Base:
250g Granita biscuits, blend to crumbs

100g unsalted butter, melted

Filling:
300ml whipping cream

500g light cream cheese, softened

100g caster sugar

Juice of 1 lemon

1 punnet strawberries, hulled and pureed

10g unflavoured gelatine (1 sachet - or 2 sachets if you prefer your cheesecake more on the firm side)

Topping:
1 punnet strawberries, hulled

Grease round springform cake tin. ** Tip: turn removable base of tin upside down so the cheesecake base won’t stick into the groove that forms at the join.

Mix biscuit crumbs and butter well and press firmly into base of tin. Place into the fridge while making the filling. 

Whip cream to medium stiffness (mousse-like texture) and chill. In another bowl mix cream cheese and sugar together until smooth and creamy.

Heat lemon juice and pureed strawberries in saucepan. Take pan off heat and sprinkle in gelatine, stirring until dissolved. Set aside to cool – gelatine and cream cheese mixtures must be at the same temperature before combining. Add ¾ of the cooled puree mixture to cream cheese and sugar mixture (the remaining ¼ kept for the top of the cheesecake), stir until combined. Fold in whipped cream until well combined. Pour into base and chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

Remove cheesecake from fridge after 1 hour and pour remainder of puree mixture on top. Return to fridge overnight or until fully set.

Once set, gently run a knife around the edge of the cheesecake to loosen it before unlocking the spring form pan. Garnish with strawberries and serve!

We are joining in the Berry nice to meet you! blog hop. Check out some of the other lovely recipes below.