Traditional Puddings – Strawberry Cheesecake

Whilst shopping in Kuala Lumpur recently, as usual, I found myself browsing the cookbook section of a large bookshop. The cover photo of Traditional Puddings attracted me immediately – and I don’t even like sweet things very much!

A quick flick through the book revealed lots of other promising goodies, such as Mississippi mud pie, banana splits, as well as the tantalising strawberry and white chocolate cheesecake. I couldn’t resist buying this book.

So without further ado, let’s have a look at their strawberry cheesecake recipe. Well, I confess I didn’t try it, preferring instead to do a ‘make-it-up-as-you-go-along’ no-bake version. But for those who like to follow recipes, here you are:

Ingredients

(Serves 8)

Base

• 50 g/2 oz butter, preferably unsalted
• 200 g/ 7 oz digestive biscuits, crushed
• 85 g/3 oz chopped walnuts

Filling

• 450 g/1 lb mascarpone cheese
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 3 tbsp caster sugar
• 250 g /9 oz white chocolate, broken into pieces
• 300 g/10½ oz strawberries, hulled and quartered

Topping

175 g/6 oz mascarpone cheese
50 g/1¾ oz white chocolate shavings
4 strawberries, halved

Method

Preheat the oven to 150°C/300°F/Gas Mark 2. Melt the butter in a saucepan over a low heat and stir in the crushed biscuits and nuts. Spoon into a 23 cm/9 inch round springform cake tin and press even over the base with the back of a spoon. Set aside.

To make the filling, beat the mascarpone cheese in a bowl until smooth, then beat in the eggs and sugar. Melt the white chocolate in a heat proof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water, stirring until smooth. Remove from the heat and leave to cool slightly, then stir into the cheese mixture. Stir in the strawberries.

Spoon the mixture into the cake tin, spread out evenly and smooth the surface. Bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour, or until the filling is just firm. Turn off the oven and leave the cheesecake to cool inside with the door slightly ajar until completely cold. Transfer to a serving plate.

For the topping, spread the mascarpone cheese on top. Decorate with the chocolate shavings and the strawberry halves.

If this all sounds like a bit of a kerfuffle, then try my easy no-bake recipe for strawberry and white chocolate cheesecake instead.

Traditional Puddings

Paperback, 80 pages
2008, Parragon Books
ISBN 978 1 4075 3406 0
RRP: £4.99