Strawberry & Fudge Cheesecake / Strawberry Curd Recipes

What to make with lots of strawberries? Well, with my first batch I made this awesome strawberry & fudge cheesecake.

• 75g butter, melted, plus extra for greasing
• 250g HobNobs biscuits 
• 250g vanilla fudge 
• 300g mascarpone  
• 400ml double cream, softly whipped 
• 250g strawberries, sliced
• 2 tsp icing sugar

1. Lightly butter a 23cm springform cake tin. Pulse the biscuits to crumbs in a food processor. Add the melted butter and pulse until combined and clumped together. Tip into the base of the tin and press down evenly. Chill.

2. Meanwhile, put 200g of the fudge in a large bowl and melt in a microwave for 1 minute on High, or until it forms a soft paste (or alternatively melt in a pan over a very low heat). Cool slightly. Beat the mascarpone in a bowl with a wooden spoon until soft, then add to the melted fudge and mix until combined. Gently fold in the whipped cream.

3. Chop the remaining fudge into small chunks and stir into the filling. Add a few chopped strawberries too. Spoon over the chilled biscuit base, smoothing the top. Cover and chill for 6 hours or overnight – the fudge will set the cheesecake.

4. Once set, put the strawberries in a bowl and toss with the icing sugar. Set aside to macerate for 20 minutes. Cover the top of the cheesecake with these strawberries.

Serve chilled.
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This is my work-in-progress shot...

And the final thing, ready to take to share at work.

I also made strawberry curd. Only made lemon curd before so wasn't sure how it would turn out. It isn't as set as a lemon curd but thickened ok and tastes amazing - actually just like a strawberry cheesecake!

 

• 500g (1lb) strawberries, washed, hulled & halved
• 100g (3 1/2 oz) white granulated sugar
• 60g (2 oz) salted butter, roughly chopped
• 2 large eggs, beaten

1. Place strawberries plus 2 tbsp of water in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Cover and bring to the boil. Simmer for 5 minutes or until the strawberries are really soft.

2. Pour into a mesh sieve over a clean, heatproof bowl and use the back of a spoon to push the strawberry pulp through into the liquid. 

3. Place the heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water on medium heat. Make sure the bowl fits snugly and that the water doesn't touch the bottom of the bowl. Add the sugar, beaten eggs and butter to the bowl and stir with a wooden spoon until the butter melts. Continue to stir constantly for about 10 minutes.

4. Turn the heat up and continue to stir for another 10 minutes or until the mixture thickens. It's important to keep stirring otherwise the mixture could curdle.

5. Carefully pour mixture into hot sterilized jars and seal.    (Makes 2 jam jars)

Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 months.