Its been a long time in between posts! Let’s celebrate with a luscious cheesecake tart with the classic combination of chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry.

I’m a huge fan of baked cheesecake, and this year I have been riffing on Smitten Kitchen’s recipe. So far I have done a blueberry version and a mango variation, both with kaffir lime fragranced filling (more on that in a post to come). This one is more of a shake up of my Neo-Neopolitan recipe, and came around a little unexpectedly: I had a dark chocolate tart case left over from another recipe, and every time I opened the freezer, it was looking up at me, all lonely. Obviously it was yearning for some cheesecakey filling. Well, maybe it was just me. I have a deep and abiding love for strawberry cheesecake.

I love fresh fruit topping on cheesecake as it offsets the creaminess of the filling. So, as it is now the height of summer in New Zealand, sliced strawberries are a go-to choice. The fresh fruit is finished with a simple gelatine glaze. In the recipe below the glaze is flavoured with citrus zest of your choice (lime is always nice), but I actually used a syrup made with pohutukawa blossom, which has a strawberry and nectar flavour.

The key to the glaze is for the tart to be completely cold – otherwise the warmth of the crust will melt the gelatine resulting in a runny glaze which is hard to manage. I mention this because I have been known to fail to take my own advice on such matters.

Strawberry Cheesecake Tart with Chocolate Crust

Makes a 30×10cm rectangular tart. You could also make an 18cm round tart with the same quantities of ingredients.

Chocolate Crust

ingredients

85g unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 egg yolk
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour
25g dark cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt

mixing

Cream the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Beat in the egg and vanilla until just combined. Add the flour, cocoa powder and salt and mix on low speed until well mixed.  Shape the dough into an oblong and flatten slightly with your hand. Wrap tightly in cling wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Roll the dough out to a rectangle about 3mm thick and 35x15cm in size. Transfer the dough to the tart tin by loosely rolling it onto the rolling pin and unrolling over the tin. Press into the tin and trim the edges. Chill the uncooked tart case for at least 30 minutes.

Bake the cold tart case at 180 degrees for about 15 minutes. Remove from the oven, and while the cookie is still hot, use the back of a dessertspoon to compact the cookie against the walls and floor of the tin.

Strawberry cheesecake filling

ingredients

375g cream cheese, softened, (preferably Philadelphia)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla paste
2 eggs

250g small strawberries, sliced into 2mm thin slices
1/2 cup water
1/2 tsp citrus zest
1/4 cup sugar
1 sheet “gold strength” gelatine

mixing

Combine cream cheese, sugar and vanilla in medium bowl, beat until smooth with an electric mixer. Beat in eggs one at a time. Pour the mixture into the prepared crust (its OK if the crust is still hot!), and bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 20 minutes or until the filling is puffed up and set. Cool until room temperature.

While the cheesecake is cooling, prepare the topping. Combine the water, citrus zest and sugar in a small saucepan and bring to the boil, stirring so the sugar dissolves. Boil 1 minute and let cool. While the mixture is cooling, soak the gelatine sheet in ice cold water for 10 minutes. Remove the sheet from the water and squeeze out excess liquid, then add to the syrup, which will still be warm. Chill, keeping an eye on the mixture as when it is cool enough it will start to gel.

When the tart is cold and the gelatine mixture is starting to gel, arrange the strawberry slices on top of the tart, then brush with the gelatine mixture to glaze. Refrigerate until the glaze is set.

Enjoy! xxx