No-bake cheese cake with strawberry hearts

I made this no-bake cheese cake on Valentine's Day. Strawberry hearts. You can't get more cheesy than this!

Recipe (adapted from Foodista)), method and some photos to share here. You need to do this a day earlier as the cake needs time to chill and form at different layers.

Ingredients


1. For the crust

300g digestive biscuits
150g melted butter

2. For the cheesecake layer

500g cream cheese (softened at room temperature)
1.5 Tbsp gelatin powder
1.25 cup boiling water
2/3 cup caster sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
12 strawberries

3. For the top jelly layer


160g strawberry flavoured jelly
1.5 cups boiling water
1.5 cups cold water


Here goes:- Break digestive biscuits into fine crumbs, mix with melted butter, stir well to combine and pack mixture tightly into a pan. Chill in the fridge for at least half an hour or until it is hard and tight and not crumbly. You're done with first layer.

To work on second layer, start by mixing gelatin powder and water. Stir well till all gelatin has dissolved. Set aside to cool.

 Mix cream cheese and caster sugar into a mixing bowl and whisk  till mixture is light and fluffy. Add vanilla extract, then add the cooled gelatin mixture gradually. The gelatin mixture should be in liquid form. Whisk well to combine. The finished mixture should be a runny smooth liquid like milkshake. You should be pouring it into the crust rather than scooping it!

Next, remove crust pan from the fridge and prick holes all over biscuit base. Pour cream cheese mixture onto the base. Let it rest for 10 minutes at room temperature.

Mine was a bit harder than milkshake. It should be more runny than this.

Next, cut deep V-shape strawberries and press them into the cream cheese mixture. Cover pan with cling wrap and chill at least 4 hours or overnight.

And now for the third layer. Mix strawberry jelly powder into a bowl. Dissolve with hot water, then add cold water and mix well. Ensure the mixture has cooled before pouring it over the cream cheese layer. Pour enough to cover the strawberries.

Look at this very telling picture. I was afraid it may turn out too sweet so I didn't use all the jelly mixture and did not fully cover my strawberries! It's a mistake you must not repeat! This recipe is not too sweet at all.

Chill for at least 4 hours before cutting into individual jelly hearts. You need a sharp knife dipped into a large jar of boiling water to get clean lines of each cake piece. Clean your knife thoroughly after each slice or you get crumbs sticking at the side and strawberry stains on the white cheesecake.

Nom nom, yum yum. I like the taste! Even my mom who doesn't fancy cheese had a piece all to herself! My son's friend came over and gobbled one piece in record seconds and gave me a score of 10/10, LOL.

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