Triple Berry Cheesecakes Recipe

BOUTIQUE BAKING by PEGGY PORSCHEN, published by Quadrille (£20, hardback) Photos © GEORGIA GLYNN SMITH

Ingredients

For the biscuit base

• 100g melted butter
• 2 tbsp runny honey
• 200g digestive biscuits, finely crushed
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• For the cheesecake
• 6 gelatine leaves (I use Supercook Platinum)
• 100ml blueberry purée
• 100ml raspberry purée
• 100ml strawberry purée
• (if you can’t find berry purées, make your own by puréeing fresh berries in a blender and passing them through a fine sieve)
• 620g full-fat cream cheese
• 185g caster sugar
• 210g crème fraîche
• 640ml double or whipping cream

equipment

• Sixteen 5cm (2in) round dessert rings or mousse moulds
• 5cm (2in) deep acetate strips
• Three plastic piping bags

Method

1. Line the insides of the dessert rings or mousse moulds with the acetate strips.
2. To make the biscuit base, melt the butter with the honey in a saucepan. Add the crushed biscuits and cinnamon and mix until combined. Carefully press a tablespoonful of the biscuit mixture into the bottom of each mould, keeping the sides as clean as possible.
3. To make the cheesecake, place the gelatine leaves into a bowl and soak them in cold water. Gently warm each of the fruit purées separately, squeeze the water from the gelatine leaves and dissolve two leaves in each of the hot fruit purées. Set aside to cool.
4. Place the cream cheese and caster sugar in a bowl and mix together until smooth and combined. Then add the crème fraîche. Whip the cream to a soft-peak consistency, taking care not to overwhip.
5. Divide the cream cheese mixture into three equal parts. Once the fruit purées have cooled to room temperature, mix each one separately with a third of the cream cheese mixture, using a whisk. From this point, you must work quickly as the gelatine can set.
6. Divide the whipped cream into three equal parts. Gently fold through each of the three cream cheese mixtures until combined.
7. Starting with strawberry, followed by raspberry and then blueberry, layer the three fruit mixtures in the lined rings or moulds. I find it easier and neater to use piping bags to create the different layers. However, if you do not have piping bags you can carefully spoon the mixtures into the moulds instead.
8. If using piping bags, fill a plastic piping bag with each mixture. Snip 2.5cm (1in) from the tip of the bag and pipe a layer over the bottom of the biscuit base to about halfway up the sides. Repeat for the two other fruit mixtures until you reach the top.
9. Flatten the top layers with a palette knife or the back of a spoon. Chill for at least 4 hours or until set.
10. You can make these cheesecakes up to 3 days in advance if stored in the fridge. De-mould and remove the acetate strips just before serving.