THIS week Charlotte has baked up a treat for those who want to get a taste of Wimbledon Fortnight, even if there isn’t any tennis.
Charlotte Seddon’s strawberry and Pimms cheesecake takes less than an hour to prepare, but you will need 24 hours cooking and setting time.
MasterChef semi-finalist Charlotte, of Shotton, said: “My friends would all vouch for the fact that I am the least active person going. I don’t play or watch sport, however the thing I do love about big sporting events is the food! This week was meant to be the start of Wimbledon and I don’t think there are many sporting events out there that symbolise British produce more than Wimbledon and Strawberries. The eagle-eyed watchers of MasterChef may have noticed that there wasn’t a dish I didn’t put up that didn’t include alcohol and when I think of strawberries, Wimbledon and the British summer it has to be Pimms!
“If you prefer your desserts to be alcohol free you can simply remove the Pimms from the recipe. I find a springform cake tin reduces the risk of throwing the cake against the wall when trying to remove it (a tip my best friend said to definitely mention as she found out the hard way). I also learnt that unless eating the whole cake in one sitting do not pour all the topping over the cheesecake as it will make it soggy the next day. Instead keep it separate and just pour some on top of each slice you eat.”
Ingredients:
Cheesecake
240g Digestive biscuits
110g Butter
800g Cream cheese
5 Eggs
150ml Sour cream
250g Caster sugar
1 Lemon
3 tbsp Plain flour
2 tbsp Pimms (optional)
Topping
500g Strawberries
1 Lemon
150g Caster sugar
30ml Pimms (optional)
Method:
1. Pre heat oven to 200 degrees
2. Line the outside (including the bottom) of a 20-22cm cake tin with two layers of foil and scrunch it at the top of the tin (do not let the foil go down the inside of the tin). This stops any butter leaking into the bottom of the oven when you cook
3. Put the digestive biscuits into a freezer bag and bash it with a rolling pin until the biscuits resemble fine crumbs and you have released all your pent up anger from being stuck in the house for 3 months
4. Put the butter in a medium bowl and melt in the microwave (normally about 50 seconds depending on how cold the butter is)
5. Add the biscuits to the melted butter and mix together until fully combined, tip them into the bottom of the cake tin and spread out
6.Use a glass to beat down the biscuits until they are solid and form an even layer at the bottom, then place in the fridge
7. In a large bowl beat together the cream cheese, caster sugar and flour
8. Add the zest and juice of the lemon to the bowl with a pinch of salt and mix
9. Add the eggs one a time (if you have a stand mixer this will be easier) make sure each egg is mixed in before adding the next
10. Add the sour cream and Pimms and mix through
11. Remove the cake tin from the fridge and brush the sides with some more melted butter
12. Pour in the cheesecake mixture and bake in the over for 10mins
13. After 10mins reduce the oven temperature to 90 degrees and bake for a further 45mins
14. After 45mins turn the oven off and leave the door slightly ajar and allow to cool for 2hrs
15. Once cool put in the fridge overnight
16. To make the topping take the tops off your strawberries then chop half of them into small dice
17. Add the chopped strawberries to a saucepan with the juice of half of the lemon, sugar and pimms and simmer for around 10mins until the strawberries break down
18. Whilst this is breaking down chop the remaining strawberries into halves
19. Remove the saucepan from the heat and add the halved strawberries
20. Serve a slice of cheescake with the strawberry and Pimms topping
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