Simple Strawberry Cheesecake

This recipe came about as a result of a bit of late night experimentation when I had a craving for cheesecake. I didn't want a really heavy one so used fat-free Greek yoghurt and light Philadelphia cream cheese. I've made it since without the biscuit base and for some reason I can justify eating a lot more of it to myself as the base is where the 'bad' things are. It's not really heavy like other cheesecakes and I'm sure it's MUCH lighter on the calories and fat too so I consider it semi-healthy (not that I need much persuasion for a good cheesecake!!). I added a load of strawberries to it but if you wanted to add something else instead or leave it as a plain vanilla one it'd work just as well. This recipe makes around enough for a standard sandwich tin sized cheesecake (about 12cm I think). I had to improvise and use a bigger rectangular one as my baking stuff is packed in the attic of the new house I've moved into and I was too lazy to go and dig it out. If you have too much mixture just put it into a ramekin and bake by itself.

I find the Greek yoghurt makes the cheesecake really creamy but stops it from being too heavy. It's such a simple and quick recipe and requires minimal effort. 

Ingredients

200g digestive biscuits, crushed

50g melted butter

200g fat free yoghurt

200g light cream cheese

2 eggs

4-6 tbsp icing sugar (to taste)

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 punnet chopped strawberries (optional)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 140 degrees Celsius.

2. Mix the butter and biscuits together and press into a tin (I had to improvise as I didn't have the usual sandwich sized tin so used a bigger rectangular one which made a bigger but thinner base). Bake for 5 minutes.

3. Mix the rest of the ingredients in a bowl. Be careful not to overmix it. 

4. Add the cream cheese mixture to the top of the biscuit base and bake for 25 minutes at 120 degrees Celsius until firm on top but with a slight wobble.

5. Remove from the oven and leave to cool.

Tips

- It works really well with raspberries and white chocolate chunks!

- It tastes better cold. I was really impatient and tried to eat some before it was cool and despite still being good, it was much better after I'd waited for it to cool down. 

Better than brownies... Cheesecake brownies!!

Okay, so I looooove cheesecake. The one thing I possibly love more is cheesecake baked into cake. For some reason it's just heaven for me.  Cheesecake frosting is also a front-runner in the list of my favourite things to eat. Anyway, the brownie recipe that I posted is awesome in itself, but I've found that a way to make it even better (in my opinion) is to turn it into a cheesecake brownie.

The brownie recipe is exactly the same as the one I posted before (http://bronnibakes.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/bronni-bakes-brownies.html) but I just mix a baked cheesecake filling through the brownie batter.

The cheesecake mixture is basically the same as the first recipe in the cheesecake frosting page which is just a 200g tub of full-fat cream cheese with icing sugar mixed through to taste (do it a tablespoon at a time as it really doesn't need too much. Don't make it too sweet as the brownie itself is rather sugary so you want to keep that cream cheesey tang. Once combined mix a large egg through the mixture with a fork. 

If you want to add some chocolate chips or chunks of chopped up belgian chocolate that works reeeeeally well too (this most certainly isn't a healthy recipe!!). I sometimes add white chocolate to the cream cheese and sugar mix (melted sometimes then folded through or in chunks, whatever you prefer) and mix through some fresh raspberries for a white chocolate and raspberry cheesecake brownie. I must admit it's pretty damn special. Cherries also work well in it. 

It's really versatile and you can play around with it as you want. I'm sure some grated orange zest through the cheesecake mixture would work a treat in the brownie too. Maybe chop up some chocolate orange segments and mix them through it too to reinforce the orangeyness? That would be a pretty good Christmas brownie I reckon!!

Tips

- Don't over-mix the cream cheese - it'll go runny and won't give the thick and creamy texture of a good cheesecake when it's baked through

- Try adding the cream cheese filling to cupcakes too. Just a teaspoon full in each cupcake before putting them in the oven works a treat and gives each cake a nice cheesecakey filling. If you wanted to do chocolate cheesecake cupcakes, use the vanilla batter in the link but substitute 20g of the flour for cocoa powder. 

- When adding the cheesecake to the brownie, don't mix it through thoroughly. Swirl it through leaving good 'blobs' of it still there otherwise it'll all blend into one batter and won't give the contrast you want between gooey brownie and soft, fluffy cheesecake.

-If you wanted a simple but impressive dessert at a dinner party that everyone thinks has taken considerable effort and time, make this and serve warm with some ice cream!

It really is a super simple recipe that gives gorgeous results. Give it a go and you won't regret it. It'll soon become one of your favourite things too!