Lemon and lime cheesecake

WHO doesn't love cheesecake? In the dessert world, it allows you to have your cake and eat it, offering a crunchy, biscuity base and a smooth, rich, creamy topping.

It's a great pudding to make for a dinner party, not just because of its ubiquitous popularity, but because it can be prepared in advance (this recipe is best made the day before and left to chill in the fridge overnight).

Baked cheesecakes have a thicker, more fudgy, taste while those that set in the fridge are lighter and creamier.

In the past, I've always used gelatine to as a setting agent for the no-bake variety. However, vegetarian friends were coming over for lunch and I wanted to make a lemon and lime cheesecake to complement my Mexican menu of chilli sin carne.

A quick visit to Google brought up a range of cheesecake recipes that would set by themselves in the fridge.

I was dubious to whether they would work, but, as the cliché goes, the proof of the pudding was in the eating. And it was absolutely delicious. Do try this at home.

Lemon and lime cheesecake

Ingredients:

175g digestive biscuits (can mix with ginger biscuits if desired)

75g butter

Grated zest and juice of 1/2 lemon and grated zest and juice of 3 limes (only use 100mls of lime and lemon juice, otherwise it will be too runny)

115g sugar

350g full-fat cream cheese

150ml double cream

Fresh raspberries (optional topping)

Method

1. Crush the digestive biscuits into crumbs.

2. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over a low heat. Mix together the biscuit crumbs and melted butter, mixing thoroughly.

3. Press the biscuit crumb mixture into a 20cm loose-based flan tin.

4. Place the cream cheese in a food processor or mixing bowl. Add the sugar, lemon and lime zest, and about 100ml of the lemon and lime juice. Mix together thoroughly.

5. Whisk the double cream until soft peaks form. Fold the whisked cream into the cream cheese mixture.

6. Put the combined mixture into the loose-based flan tin lined with biscuit crumb mixture.

7. Chill overnight in the refrigerator until set. Serve with the raspberries, if desired.