Strawberry and black lime cheesecake
Black Lime infused Baharat Gulf of Arabia is the perfect infusion for a zesty strawberry and lime cheesecake. This is a sharp and sweet delight that is perfect for all seasons. A sublime table centre piece that is super easy to make. It is a recipe that is the epitome of alchemy where different flavours just work together.
30'+60'
preparation & cooking time
10
serve
Baharat Gulf of Arabia
spice
Ingredients
The base
400g of hobnob biscuits
120g of butter melted
40g of Demerara sugar
½ tsp of almond extract (optional)
1 tsp of Baharat Gulf of Arabia by Cameler Spice Co
The Topping
300ml double cream
2 tsp of Baharat Gulf of Arabia by Cameler Spice Co
680g of Mascarpone cheese
100g of castor sugar
20g of icing sugar
1tsp of vanilla extract
1tsp of runny honey
2 Lime Juice (try get big juicy limes)
1 Lime Zest
To Decorate
500g of strawberries
zest of 1 lime
A dollop of the cheese mix
- Firstly this is a no bake methodology.
- Secondly, why does Baharat work so well with strawberry and lime cheesecake? Firstly it needs to be a Baharat with black lime like Baharat Gulf of Arabia.
- The most obvious answer is that the lime juice and zest goes with the black lime but interestingly the cumin and cinnamon create an alchemy kaleidoscope with the juice of the fresh lime. From the strawberry aspect, the cinnamon, cardamon and black pepper pair beautifully with the fresh strawberries. The Baharat pulls the whole recipe together with the vanilla extract.
- Often it is digestive biscuits that we go to for a biscuit base but we think that hobnob biscuits work much better as they add more texture, making the cheese cake base less dense and less salty.
- Method
- Blitzing the hobnob biscuits is the quickest way but if like us your food processor decided to break down mid action, put them in a sealed bag and beat with a rolling pin.
- Melt your butter first in a saucepan, adding the Baharat Gulf of Arabia, sugar and the optional almond extract.
- Press the biscuit base into a 25 or 26cm springform tin that has been lined with grease proof paper if you have some. Pressing is on the base and also the sides. We found that doing it by hand was the best. Put the biscuit base in the fridge for a minimum of 30 minutes.
- For the topping, whisk the double cream, icing sugar and runny honey until you get smooth peaks. Don't over beat.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the Baharat gulf of Arabia, caster sugar, lime juice of both limes and the lime zest of one lime, mascarpone, vanilla extract together, until there is no juice. This will a couple of minutes max.
- Gently fold in the cream mix from method 4 with the mascarpone mix of method 5 before transferring to the cooled biscuit base that is in the fridge. Be sure to leave a dollop in the bowl for the centre piece decoration.
- Wash and drain the strawberries before you "hull" (cut off the green head). Slice in half and, honestly you can lay them either side. Don't over think it, but perhaps for aesthetics, just commit to a pattern.
- Finally grate the zest of one of the limes over the strawberry top. Add your left over dollop of cream cheese mix in the centre and decorate with a sliced lime twist should you wish. You can put back in the fridge to set for an hour or so. The longer you leave it the better it gets. It would easily last 5 days in the fridge but let us tell you. It will never happen. Bonjour le cheesecake, au revoir fade.