RAMADAN DESSERTS: BLUEBERRY AND VANILLA CHEESECAKE

My blueberry and vanilla cheesecake is one known to impress at dinner parties/iftars, it's just the perfect consistency of light creamy textures with the crunch of the base. I'm not a huge fan of cheesecakes which are too rich and heavy. So if you want something a little lighter, this is a recipe you'll keep close to you. I hope you enjoy!

INGREDIENTS

• 250g digestive biscuits

• 100g butter

• 1 vanilla pod (or vanilla bean paste)

• 600g soft cream philadelphia cheese

• 284ml heavy whipping cream

• 100g icing sugar

• 2 tbsp honey (Manuka honey is what I use!)

• 2 punnets of blueberries

METHOD

Base:

1. Grease the tin with some butter.

2. Melt the 100g of butter and crumble the digestive biscuits to fine pieces adding in the melted butter.

3. Mix it all together and pat together in the base of the cheesecake tin and refrigerate for an hour.

Filling:

1. Mix together the icing sugar, cream cheese and vanilla with an electric whisk

2. Add the heavy whipping cream and whisk until you get stiff peaks

3. Evenly spread this on top of the digestive biscuits in the pan to form a thick creamy layer to form the cheesecake.

4. Place in the fridge overnight.

Topping:

1. Add 2 punnets of blueberries mixed with 2tbsp of honey in a pan on a medium flame

2. Gently simmer until the blueberries slightly soften, but do not let them break

3. Once the blueberry coulis has formed, set aside to cool down to room temperature.

4. Once it has cooled, pour across the top of the cheesecake forming the final layer and refrigerate for a few hours before serving

Tip: If you aren't a huge fan of blueberries, you can use any fruit you prefer and heat this with honey to form a coulis. (E.g. Raspberries, summer berries, mango)