Strawberries are the very essence of a British summer. Wimbledon wouldn’t be quite the same if there were none.
However, sometimes you can have just too much of a good thing, so after a while we look for innovative ways of serving our crop of fresh strawberries. Well, look no further, this delicious and simple strawberry cheesecake captures the very best of the flavour of the strawberries – with an unusual twist – a pink peppercorn sauce!
In the same way that chilli adds “length” to the flavour of chocolate, rather than heat, so too does the peppercorn. Here, we help to bring out the fullness of flavour in the strawberries and it is sure to become a firm family favourite!
Serves: 10
Prep: 40 minutes (then chill for 4 hours)
Ingredients
Base:
- 200g digestive biscuits
- 3 tbsp sugar
- 100g unsalted butter, melted
Topping:
- 600g soft cheese
- 280ml double cream
- finely grated rind and juice of 1 orange
- 100g icing sugar
- 250g strawberries, hulled and cut in half
- 1 vanilla pod, halved lengthways and seeds scraped out
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Sauce:
- 225g strawberries, hulled and cut into slices
- 50g caster sugar
- 12 – 16 pink peppercorns, crushed
Strawberry cheesecake with pink peppercorn sauce – method
- Crush the biscuits finely. Place in a bowl and stir in the butter. Mix well. Press evenly into the base and sides of a 25cm (10inch) spring clip tin. A clip tin is important if you ever want to get your cheesecake out in one piece.
- Place the soft cheese and double cream in a bowl, mix well. Stir in the rind and juice of the orange and the sugar. Gradually fold into the soft cheese mixture along with the vanilla seed and extract. Mix thoroughly.
- Place the strawberry halves evenly over the biscuit base, spoon the cheese mixture evenly over the base and smooth.
- Place in the fridge for 3 to 4 hours to chill and set.
- To make the sauce: Place the strawberries and caster sugar in a saucepan and allow to simmer gently. Push the strawberries through a sieve to form a smooth sauce or use a hand blender for speed. Stir in the peppercorns and serve with the cheesecake.
If you enjoyed this recipe for Strawberry cheesecake with pink peppercorn sauce, visit our Food and Drink channel for more delicious summer desserts.
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