No-bake stracciatella cheesecake with strawberries

An utterly irresistible stracciatella cheesecake with strawberries. It’s impossible to resist! Chocolate and strawberries are a match made in heaven, and this is a combination you simply have to try! And, as an added bonus, there’s no baking involved ;).

Ingredients for the base:

• a dozen or so round sponge fingers, enough to cover the bottom of the tin

Line a 23–25 cm round springform tin with baking paper. Arrange the sponge fingers over the bottom of the tin.

Ingredients for the cheesecake filling:

• 500 g semi-fat or full-fat curd cheese, ground three times
• 150 g icing sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla bean paste or 8 g vanillin sugar
• 15 g powdered gelatine (5 tsp) + 100 ml cold water
• 150 g kefir or buttermilk
• 300 ml double cream, chilled
• 350 g strawberries
• 70 g dark or milk chocolate

All ingredients (apart from the double cream) should be at room temperature. Hull the strawberries and cut them into smaller pieces. Finely chop the chocolate.

Place the curd cheese, icing sugar and vanilla in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat until combined. Sprinkle the powdered gelatine over 100 ml cold water, stir and leave to bloom for 10 minutes. Place over low heat and warm, stirring, until the gelatine has completely dissolved, or heat it in the microwave. Do not let it boil, as this will cause the gelatine to lose its setting properties. Remove from the heat and leave to cool slightly.

Mix the gelatine thoroughly with the kefir, making sure there are no lumps of gelatine, then add to the cheese mixture. Mix thoroughly until combined. If the cheese mixture is very runny, place it in the refrigerator briefly, checking frequently to make sure it does not set too much. Whip the double cream until stiff. Add it to the cheese mixture and gently fold together. Add the strawberries and chocolate and gently fold through. Transfer the cheesecake mixture to the tin, spreading it evenly over the sponge fingers, and refrigerate for several hours until set.

Additionally:

• several or more strawberries, cut into smaller pieces
• a few squares of dark or milk chocolate, finely chopped

Once set, decorate the cheesecake with the chopped chocolate and strawberries.

Store the stracciatella cheesecake with strawberries in the refrigerator.

Enjoy!