Berry Mallow cheesecake

Yeah… it was Mr Drapers birthday!!! Hooray for him!!! May he be spoiled with gifts, laughter and friendship on this particular day and everyday thereafter!

I wanted to make him a cake for his party… so my question to him was “Lemon, cheese or chocolate?” (obviously referring to the type of cake I would offer)… and he grinned and said “CHEESE!!!”… so I knew that I had to pull out the big guns and make something super fabulous (just like him)!

I found this recipe in my stack of *recipes I must try* from the BBC Good Food Magazine (July 2012 issue) and it looked so pretty in the picture that I knew that this was IT!!

(my little electric beater died in the making of this cheesecake… RIP)

Berry Mallow Cheesecake

7 sheets leaf gelatine

500g berries (they recommend strawberries)

100ml milk

250g ricotta

140g caster sugar

300ml double cream

400g pink & white marshmallows (snipped into quarters)

175g cold butter, chopped

200g plain flour

85g caster sugar

sunflower oil for greasing the tin

to make the shortbread base, rub butter, flour and sugar together to make a sticky dough (either by hand or food processor)
Press evenly into a non-stick springform tin and smooth with the back of a metal spoon
Prick holes with a fork and bake for 25-30min at 160C until pale golden colour.
Leave to cool, then grease the sides of the tin
To make the filling, soak the gelatine in cold water for a few minutes to soften
Puree the berries in a food processor or with a hand held blender until very smooth and rub through a sieve to remove any seeds.
Pour the milk into a small pan and warm gently.
Squeeze the gelatine of excess water and add to the milk
Remove from the heat and stir to dissolve.
Cool
Stir the berry purée, gelatine mixture, ricotta and sugar together until smooth
in a separate bowl, whisk the cream until it softly holds its shape, then fold in the berry mixture with three-quarters of the marshmallows
Carefully pour into the cooled base and scatter over remaining marshmallows.
cover the tin with cling wrap and chill until firm (preferably overnight)