Strawberry Cheesecake

I still had some strawberries from our PYO trip that desperately needed some attention, so I decided to make a strawberry cheesecake. Plus I got a Cuissential Non-stick Silicone Baking Mat for my birthday from my dear friend, the creator of Kabi's Kitchen, so I had no choice, but test it on the same day:)

Strawberry Cheesecake

For the base

250g digestive biscuit

90g unsalted butter

For the filling

350g strawberries

300g mascarpone

200ml double cream

1 dream topping

1vanilla pod

3 tbsp icing sugar

For the top

100g strawberries

1 Greens Quick Red Jel or any other red cake cover jelly

For the decoration 

50g good quality dark chocolate preferably with 70% cocoa solids

Line the base of a 23cm spring form tin. Crush the biscuits to crumbs(I usually use the end of my rolling pin) and mix it with the melted butter. Press firmly the mixture into the form and put it to the fridge for at least 30 minutes to harden. Line the sides of the cake pan.

Whip the double cream to stiff peaks, add the mascarpone,dream topping, vanilla seeds and icing sugar,and mix it together. Carefully fold in the chopped strawberries. Spoon the cream to the biscuit base.

Prepare the cake cover jelly according to the instructions. Leave it to cool stirring occasionally. In the meantime slice up the rest of the strawberries to small pieces then arrange on top of the cream. When the jelly is almost set, pour on top of the cake and leave to set in the fridge for at least 4hours.

To prepare the decoration melt the chocolate in a bowl over simmering water, than fill into a sandwich bag or any other plastic bag. Cut a small hole at one corner....I mean: small, it should be tiny to achieve a nice and delicate chocolate lines. Using a baking paper or a non -stick silicone baking mat, squeeze the chocolate on the surface creating a criss cross effect.

Put it to the freezer and leave it to harden. 5-10 minutes before serving, remove the chocolate from the freezer and leave it to defrost. When it is still hard but not frozen cut out circles with a  metal cookie cutter and arrange on top of the cake.