No Bake Strawberry Ripple Cheesecake

My first cheesecake post !!  I have tried a few no bake cheesecakes in the past, but they were all too ‘cheesy’ for me..  after the few failed attempts I had not ventured in to cheesecakes for sometime..

Recently as I was skipping through one of the new cookbooks I bought, came across this cheesecake recipe.. Actually it was the snap that caught my attention, all pink and heart shaped !! And  the recipe didn’t have loads of cheese . One of my favourite puddings is the one with yogurt and cream. This cheesecake recipe had both these along with the cheese.. So this was something that would be suitable for my taste palettes !!

The original recipe calls for raspberry.. but as strawberries are in season, I thought of trying those.. And while browsing through the foodgawker site, came across this beautiful heart shaped swirl patterns at Tracy’s culinary adventures ..  I love these swirls, don’t you??

[ RECIPE SOURCE – ADAPTED FROM COMPLETE BOOK OF DESSERTS, GOOD HOUSEKEEPING ]

INGREDIENTS

FOR THE BASE

• Chocolate bisuit crushed – 225gm ( I used Good day biscuits)
• Butter (at room temperature) – 100 gm

FOR THE FILLING

• Strawberry puree (sieved) – 1/2 cup + 3 tbsp for the swirl design
• Yogurt – 300 ml
• Low fat soft cheese – 150gm (I used Puck cream cheese)
• Gelatine – 1 tbsp
• Whipping cream – 2 cups
• Icing sugar – 100gm
• Mint leaves – to decorate

METHOD

Grease a spring release cake tin

For the base

1. Mix the crushed biscuits and butter .
2. Spoon the mixture into the base of the cake tin .
3. Chill while making the filling

For the filling

1. Mix the yogurt, cheese and strawberry puree in a blender.
2. Sprinkle the gelatine over 2 tbsp pf water in a small bowl and leave to soak for 2-3 minutes.  Place the bowl over a pan of simmering water and stir until dissolved.Leave to cool for 2 minutes and add to the cheese mixture .
3. Fold the whipping cream into the cheese mixture with a spoon.
4. Pour the cheese mixture over the biscuit base.

For the swirl pattern

Spoon in the puree into a piping or sandwich bag with a small hole at the tip . Pipe in small circles on the cheesecake in a swirl pattern.  Run a toothpick , beginning from the outer circle through each dot all the way to the center , without lifting the toothpick . Or you can just put in random dots all over and swirl them with the toothpick.

Refrigerate the cheesecake for 5-6 hours… Decorate with mint leaves and serve .

Strawberry Shrikand

Shrikand is a popular Indian sweet  made using hung yogurt and sugar. It is a main dish in Gujarati and Maharashtrian cuisine..  There are many variations of shrikand – by adding almonds, mango or strawberry. The procedure to prepare this is very simple, just make sure that the yogurt is hung overnight so that all the water content is removed and you get a thick creamy residue. I read in another blog that sour cream added will give it an added zing… Well, maybe next time I will try it with the cream too..

Ingredients

• Hung Yogurt – 2 cups (made from 4 cups of yogurt)
• Sugar – ¾  cup (add according to sweetness required)
• Strawberry – 10
• Almonds chopped– few
• Almonds, Pistachios for garnishing

Preparation

1. To get hung yogurt, keep 1 litre of yogurt in a muslin cloth and hang it overnight. The water from the yogurt will be removed and you will get a thick yogurt.
2. Beat the strawberries and sugar in a blender. (adjust sugar according to your sweetness)
3. Add it to the thick yogurt and mix well with a spoon. (Do not put the yogurt in the blender as it will loosen the consistency).
4. Add almonds and chill for a few hours
5. Decorate with almonds, strawberry , pistachios. (I did not have any pistas on hand.. so left it out.. )

Sending this as entry to Flavours of Maharashtra Event hosted by PJ and Naina.

and Treat to Eyes Event hosted by Rumana of Spice Ur Senses.

Sending this to AWED Indian Cuisine Event hosted by Umm Mymoonah of  Taste of Pearl City , started by DK of Chef In You

… and to Indian Mithai Mela at What’s Cooking by Kalyani