I am a cheesecake fiend, but I avoid it as much as possible because I know that it will go straight to my hips. It is especially hard to avoid when I work near a cheesecake shop that sells cheesecake by the slice for $3.45.
As it has been a while since I made cheesecake, I thought it was time to lift the curfew and try out a recipe emailed to me by my Mum in 2004, and which until now I had not made. Her recipe is for lemon and passionfruit cheesecake. She probably got it out of a magazine, but its origins are lost in the fog of time.
This cheesecake is no-bake, making it super easy to put together. The base is also a crushed biscuit base, which means there is no pastry rolling either. It contains store bought lemon curd and tinned passionfruit pulp, and if you have a food processor to crush the biscuits, the whole thing is a breeze to put together.
The end result is a tangy, lemony cheesecake that is not at all heavy on the palate. As an added bonus, it is made in a slice tray, so that you cut it into neat little squares instead of wedges - so of course you can have more than one piece!
If this cheesecake sounds like your type of treat, you will need:
1 packet of sweet biscuits (I used gingernuts)
150g butter
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 x 250g blocks of cream cheese
1 x 280g bottle of lemon curd
1 small tin of passionfruit
3 teaspoons gelatine (I used 4 teaspoons)
¼ cup hot water
Line a bar/slice tray with baking paper, and spray the baking paper with cooking spray.
Blitz the biscuits into breadcrumb size pieces in a food processor, or crush them with a rolling pin. Melt the butter, and pour it over the crushed biscuits. Add the cinnamon and vanilla, and combine well. Press the mixture into the prepared bar/slice tray and refrigerate while you make the filling.
Dissolve the gelatine in the water, and set aside to cool slightly.
Cut the cream cheese into cubes, then using an electric mixer, beat it until smooth. Beat in the lemon curd, followed by the passionfruit pulp and the gelatine. Pour the cheese filling over the chilled biscuit base, smooth the top with a spoon, and refrigerate over night or until set.
Cut the cheesecake into squares (~20) and serve chilled.
