When Life Gives you Lemons...

... Make Cheesecake *grins*

I went to see a friend of mine on Saturday night. Phil made dinner and, as is our tradition, I took cheesecake.

I love this cheesecake. I've been using this recipe since making it at a school cookery lesson and it is still my favourite ever cheesecake (in fairness, closely followed by Prezzo's Honeycomb Smash Cheesecake).

The only modification to the original recipe is a ginger biscuit base, instead of digestives, idea courtesy of my mum who knew it would be soooooo much better as a result.

I realised that I've been making this for 15 years *wide eyes* Ok, so that makes me feel old!

Recipe:

100g Ginger biscuits - crushed
60g Butter - melted

1 small tub Philadelphia (you can use "light", but this is a hugely calorific recipe - so it makes no difference *laughs)
1 small tub Double Cream
4tbsp Caster Sugar
Zest and juice of 2 large Lemons

Mix the melted butter into the crushed biscuits, pack down into your chosen cheesecake dish (for this one I made them in individual ramekins, but a springform cake tin works well). Refrigerate.

Soften the Philly and mix in the sugar. Add the lemon zest and gradually add the juice (if you add all the juice at once it tends to develop lumps and then you have to waste time mixing it back to smoothness). You might not need all of the juice, probably only three quarters of it, unless you like it really, really tart!

Whip the cream (you want it as firm as you can) then fold into the Philly mixture. Pour over the biscuit base.

It looks very soft (and it is - I hate baked cheesecakes) so it needs time in the fridge. Overnight preferably, though it still won't be without gorgeous, silky, creamy wobbliness! Of course, making it in ramekins means that it doesn't matter that it's not altogether firm.

I also made some candied lemon peel to go on the top, but I pretty much made that up as I went along, so no recipe for that one!