Summer celebrations usually conjure up thoughts of sweet treats and some bubbly. Here’s an easy, delicious dessert which incorporates the best of both these elements. You’re bound to receive a barrage of compliments from your guests!
Ingredients
- 200g digestive biscuits
- 90g butter, melted
Filling
- 15ml gelatine
- 60ml water
- 500g cream cheese
- 85ml castor sugar
- Finely grated rind and juice of 1 lemon
- 125ml sparkling wine (the Arniston Bay Sparkling Brut, with its tropical fruit flavours, is ideal)
- 250ml cream, lightly whipped
- 1 punnet of cherries, washed, retaining stalks
- Sugar
- Icing sugar
Method
- Crush the biscuits and combine with butter.
- Press into base of a 20cm, loose-bottomed cake pan sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.
- Refrigerate.
- Sprinkle gelatine over water and set aside to form a thick cake.
- In a mixing bowl, beat cheese and castor sugar together. Add rind, juice and sparkling wine and beat again.
- Place gelatine in microwave on medium for 1 minute. Pouring from a height, add to cheese mixture and then stir through the cream.
- Pour into biscuit base, cover and refrigerate for three hours.
- Just before serving, stone a handful of cherries.
- Place in food processor with 60ml sugar, 100ml warm water and 15ml honey. Process till you have a chunky sauce.
- Use remaining cherries to decorate the top of the cheesecake.
- Drizzle over the cooled sauce and sift over some icing sugar and serve.
Source: The Times
