Strawberry cheesecake

My favourite dessert. The vegetarian version of this recipe is healthier than the non-veggie way of making it, because when using jelly instead of gelatine you need to add much less sugar, so it's a good reason to eat even more of it :) The amounts given below makes 2 regular sized cheesecakes.

Ingredients:
1 small tub of cream
1 tub of Philadelphia cream cheese
1 tablespoon of sugar
1 square of strawberry jelly
8 Digestive biscuits (Graham crackers are an American equivalent when these can't be found)
A small block of butter, about the thickness of an average table knife is a good guide for the amount

Preparation:
1) Pour the cream into a large bowl and use an electric whisk to whip it.
2) Melt the strawberry jelly in a large cup until it's completely liquid and leave it to cool. A low temperature in the microwave is the fastest way to melt it.
3) Add the Philadelphia cheese to the whipped cream, stirring well while adding it.
4) Add the tablespoon of sugar and stir well again.
5) Now a fun part. Put the Digestive biscuits into a small plastic bag and crush them with your hands until they're very fine with no large lumps. The empty bag from a loaf of bread works well for this. When finished pour the crumbs into a dish.
6) Melt the butter and add it to the biscuit crumbs. Stir well until all of the crumbs have been wet and thickened by the butter, add more butter if it's necessary.
7) While doing the last two parts, keep an eye on the melted jelly as the consistency of it when you add it to the cream is important. It should be still liquid but starting to thicken, such that it's starting to stick to the spoon a little when you stir it. This way it won't make the cream too watery and won't harden and turn into lumps of jelly again before you've mixed it into the cream. When it seems right, add it to the cream slowly, stirring well all the time.
8) Find a small round cake tray and cover the base and sides with cling film. Put the biscuit mixture into the bottom of the tray and flatten it down well with a spoon until it's a base covering the whole bottom of the tray. The thickness is just a matter of preference. Leave in the fridge for at least 10 minutes before going on to the next step.
9) Pour the strawberry cream cheese mixture on top of the base, the whole thing should be at least an inch thick from top to bottom but again that's a matter of preference.
10) Put the tray/trays in the fridge for at least a few hours and then it's ready to serve.


A slice of the finished cheesecake. Don't even think about cutting it in slices smaller than this, desserts aren't meant to be eaten in small portions :)