Raspberry and Lime Cheesecake

 The love affair with cheesecake is not yet over... here's a fresh, tangy raspberry and lime version, with a gel made from fresh raspberries.   It is a perfect way of using home grown fruit which is less than perfect, as any unwanted extras are sieved out!    I made this for a family lunch, and there was very little left over and lots of happy faces.  This was made with gluten free digestive biscuits, which are a fantastic alternative to standard ones. 

Raspberry and Lime Cheesecake

Raspberry and Lime Cheesecake

8oz/225g digestive biscuits, crushed to crumbs

4oz/110g butter

 8oz/225g cream cheese or soft cheese (full fat)

8oz/225g Mascarpone cheese (or just cream cheese)

3oz/75g icing sugar

10floz/280ml double cream

Juice and zest of 2 limes

 

12oz/340g raspberries (fresh or frozen)

4oz/110g sugar

1tsp lemon juice

2 sheets gelatine softened in cold water

3 fl oz/80ml near-boiling water

 More raspberries (fresh, optional), herb leaves and a lime

Line a 9” spring clip tin with parchment.   Melt the butter in a bowl, add the biscuit crumbs, mix well and spread them over the base of the tin.  Chill in the fridge until set.    In a Magimix, beat together the cream cheese, Mascarpone, icing sugar, cream and lime juice.  Beat until the cream thickens up, then add the lime zest.  Pour the mixture into the tin and level it, making sure that it goes right to the edges.   Allow to chill for 2hrs.

Bring the raspberries to the boil with the sugar until you can see that the raspberries have broken down.   Sieve the hot purée.   Now take the softened gelatine and melt it into the hot water – if it doesn’t dissolve, heat the water a bit more.  Stir well, and then pour this into the raspberry mixture.   Here it is best to wait until the gelatine has started to cool and set before pouring it over the cheesecake, but I couldn’t wait that long!  I also sieved it again to get a little more clarity in the gel.  Chill for a couple of hours until set.   

To remove from the tin, run a knife or thin spatula around the edge so that, when you remove the clip, the jelly layer does not break (nor do you lose a lot of the cheesecake on the sides of the tin, though that’s a cook’s bonus!).  Decorate with raspberries, herb leaves and parings of lime zest.