Easy lime and ginger cheesecake

Lime and ginger compliment each other perfectly and cheesecake is always a winner in our house (although hubby prefers chocolate flavour… that’s a recipe for another day!).

This cheesecake is very easy, it only has five ingredients and both the base and topping are quick to make. The kids were happy to get involved in making this too – lets face it, bashing biscuits into smithereens is fun and the ingredients mix together quickly so there is no time for little people to get bored.

If, like me, you don’t have a juice extractor you can squeeze the limes by hand, pop them in the microwave for 10-20 seconds first and they will soften up and you will get more out of them.

I often use margarine instead of butter when I’m cooking but it doesn’t really do the job here: its much softer than butter even at fridge temperature so the base doesn’t set as well. It still tastes OK but will be more crumbly.

I used a deep 20cm sandwich tin to make this. I’ve made it in a much larger tin in the past, which is fine as long as you don’t mind thinner layers! The cheesecake will be tricky to get out of the tin (unless you have one with a removable bottom) so I lined it with cling film to help. Tin foil or greaseproof paper would work too but as they are thicker they can leave dents in the edges of the cheesecake.

If you prefer you could use lemons instead of lime, or digestives instead of gingernuts.

Ingredients

Serves 8-10

• 200g gingernut biscuits
• 50g butter
• 500g mascarpone cheese
• 40g icing sugar
•  Juice and rind of two limes

Method

1. Line a 20cm sandwich tin with cling film.
2. Crush the biscuits in a mixing bowl or sandwich bag using a rolling pin.
   

   
3. Melt the butter in the microwave, heating for 10-20 seconds at a time, then stirring.
4. Mix the biscuit crumbs and butter in a bowl until the crumbs are completely coated.
   

   
5. Tip the mixture into the sandwich tin and spread it out to the edges. Press the mixture down firmly with the back of a spoon to get rid of any air and smooth it out to make a flat base.
6. Put the mixture into a fridge to chill for 30 minutes to an hour.

7. To make the topping mix all the ingredients together. When its ready it will thicken and darken slightly (see picture below).

   

   

   

   
8. Spoon the mixture onto the biscuit base and smooth out using the back of a spoon.
9. Place back in the fridge to set for an hour.
10. When you are ready to serve remove the cheesecake from the tin using the cling film. Then run a knife around the outside of it to loosen the topping.

The cheesecake will stay fresh in the fridge for a few days. I keep any leftovers in the sandwich tin it was made in, covered in tin foil.