Oreo, key lime and chilli cheesecake with mixed fruit compote

So I’m not really a dessert sort of person. Sure, ill eat one if absolutely necessary (yeah right!!!) but I saw a cheesecake recipe on a cooking programme with chilli in it and the inevitable turning of my minds cogs got going and I’ve come up with this.

It’s not a million miles away from the original recipe I actually saw, but I thought I’d roll with a few tweaks and changes that I thought would make the cheesecake better and my own. And the fact I had a few bits in the fridge and cupboards that needed using (always the starting point in my recipes, got to use what you’ve got!!).

Right so, shopping list:

1 1/2 packs of Oreo cookies
85g of melted butter
5 eggs (separated)
4 limes (zest and juice)
450g of caster sugar
1 chilli
500g of soft cream cheese
250g of mascarpone cheese
Hand full of raspberries
Hand full of strawberries
Hand full of blueberries

First of all we need to make the crust. Chuck the pack of Oreos in a food processor and blitz until there fine crumbs. Add in the melted butter and pulse until it starts to come together. Mould the crumbed crust into the bottom of a springform cake tin so its about 3 cm thick. Place in the fridge to set.

For the filling combine the egg yolks, lime juice and zest, 250g of the caster sugar and the chilli pepper (finely diced) then whisk till combined.

Fold in both the cream cheese and mascarpone then again set aside. At this point you’ll want to get your oven on at about 180 degrees C.

With the egg whites, whisk them until they form stiff peaks adding in about 3 tablespoons of caster sugar to create a nice shine.

Delicately fold this into the cheesecake mixture and then on top of the crumb mix in the springform tin.

Wrap the edges of the springform tin loosely with tin foil and place in a Bain Marie, using enough water to come up at least half way of the cheesecake. I doubled up my tinfoil to make absolutely sure the water doesn’t get through and ruin the cheesecake. Bake in the oven for a good hour to hour and half.

Once it’s slightly browned around the top and set in the middle allow to cool completely on the worktop then cool in the fridge for a good couple of hours, I left mine overnight.

For the mixed berry syrup, add the raspberries, strawberries and blueberries into a small saucepan with 100g of caster sugar and heat for around 5 mins.

Mash up all the fruit with a potato masher and simmer for another few minutes. Pour the mixture through a fine mesh sieve and I put mine in a drizzle bottle but whatever you have to hand will do and refrigerate till ready to eat the cheesecake.

Cut out a decent wedge and serve with the mixed berry compote and a birra lime zest and a sprig of mint and your away!!! The lime flavour comes through first with a slight kick from the chilli giving a gentle heat after. Nice!!!!!