Spring is around the corner and the sun is teasing us with its sunshine. I am feeling a skip and a whoo hoo shout coming along.

It seems that Paris has had a long winter and to be honest I am rather fed up of wearing my heavy winter coat that my mum calls a duvet! But I must thank The North Face for making such excellent coats, mine has lasted a whopping 6 years! I think I will buy one for next winter.

As the sun shined on the weekend and I saw the local market and supermarket being stocked full with all kinds of barriers and strawberries even mangos and pineapples it was confirmed to me that winter days are over and warm sunny days are coming soon.

 

Knowing I have to cook a small ‘luncheon’ for old friends of my husband I decided the perfect dessert would be a strawberry cheesecake.

I love cheesecakes. I prefer to make the non-bake ones as they are so quick to make however, tricky to master the firmness of the cheese! I have tried a few recipes to get it right and being a perfectionist I don’t think I have cracked it but I have come close many times. Some recipes use condensed milk, or adding eggs or double cream.

This time I thought I would consult the Kitchen Goddess herself Nigella Lawson. I have adjusted her recipe slightly and I am so happy with the results. Instead of cheery I am adding fresh strawberries and berries also I added more of the ingredients and I added one lemon zest. The recipe is very straightforward and you can’t go wrong with it.

Have a go and have a happy non baking time !

 

Ingredients

17 digestive biscuits ( 1 packet of 250g)

100 grams soft butter

400 grams cream cheese

8 table spoon icing sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ teaspoon lemon juice

1 lemon zest

250 millilitres double cream

Method

Step 1- Crush the digestive biscuits in to crumbs then add the melted butter. Mix well.

Step 2- Press the mixture into a cake tine, preferably spring-form. Press really firmly and place in the fridge for at least an hour.

Step 3- In a large bowl mix the cream cheese with icing sugar, vanilla extract , lemon zest and juice. Using spatula or an electric mixer.

Step 4- In a separate bowl lightly whip the double cream and then fold into the cream cheese mixture.

Step 5- Take the cake tin out of the fridge and spoon the mixture in. Smooth with spatula and place in the fridge for a minimum of 3 hours. Overnight is best.

Step 6- Just before serving the cheesecake, unmold it very carefully into a platter and carefully arrange strawberries and barriers on top or around the cheesecake.