This one's my own, with some rather unique suggestions from my lovely niece Sarah for her 21st Birthday Cheesecake.
Ingredients:
2 packets of Oreo biscuits (classic)
1 tablespoon melted butter
2 packets Philadelphia cream cheese
2 eggs
1 vanilla bean
grated rind of 1 lemon and 1 orange
3/4-1 cup castor sugar
2 tubs creme fraiche
2 tbsp fresh cream
3 gelatin leaves
1 cup white wine or champagne
squeeze of lemon juice
3 tubs strawberries
2 tbs castor sugar
Method:
- Butter an 18cm-20cm spring form pan, and line the bottom with baking paper.
- Put oven on low heat, around 100 degrees (Celsius).
- Using a food processor, grind up the oreos. (If you don't have a food processor, place the biscuits in a large clean plastic bag and crush with a rolling pin until fine.)
- Place crushed biscuits in a bowl and add melted butter.
- Pour crushed oreos onto pan and press down to make a base. (Don't go up the side.) Place in refridgerator.
- Place cream cheese, eggs, vanilla bean, citrus rind and around a half cup of castor sugar into food processor and blend until smooth. (You can add a tablespoon of fresh cream and more sugar to taste.)
- Pour into cake tin and bake for around 40 minutes.
- In the meantime, blend cream fraiche and 2 tablepoons of castor sugar.
- Pour onto cream cheese mixture and continue to make for another 20-25 minutes.
- Cool cheesecake.
- Place gelatin leaves in cold water.
- Place wine or champagne into small saucepan and heat until sugar dissolves. Allow to get to room temperature and add squeezed gelatine leaves.
- In the meantime, hull and slice strawberries and arrange on top of cheesecake.
- Gently pour the wine mixture over the top of the cheesecake and refrigerate for at least 4 hours. You may need to put a tray underneath cheesecake to catch any of the jelly.
- When the jelly is set, remove cake.
- Carefully run a sharp knife around the outside of the cake and loosen the ring.
- (Optional: Serve with strawberry coulis, made with a punnet of strawberries, pureed up with champagne and sugar to taste.)
