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Lime and coconut cheesecake with pineapple and lime caramel recipe

Cook the cake on a baking sheet with a lip around it so it won’t mess up your oven - Haarala Hamilton
Cook the cake on a baking sheet with a lip around it so it won’t mess up your oven - Haarala Hamilton

Absolutely delicious. The cheesecake could be served on its own – you don’t need to do the pineapple – making it simpler.

The ‘set’ is key. It needs to have a very slight wobble in the centre when you bring it out of the oven. It will set properly in the fridge, though not firmly. Some fat might leak out as it’s cooking but that’s fine – as long as you have the cake on a baking sheet with a lip around it, it won’t mess up your oven.

Timings

Prep time: 30 minutes, plus cooling and chilling time

Cook time: 1 hour 20 minutes

Serves

Ten

Ingredients

For the base

  • 160g butter, plus extra for greasing

  • 350g ginger nut biscuits

For the filling

  • 250ml coconut cream

  • 550g full-fat cream cheese

  • 1 x 397g tin of condensed milk

  • 4 medium eggs (the size is important), lightly beaten

  • finely grated zest of 3 limes and juice of 6

For the pineapple

  • 1 large ripe pineapple

  • 300g soft light brown sugar

  • juice of 6 limes

Method

1. Butter a 20cm springform cake tin (a slightly bigger tin will work if that’s what you have) and line the base.

2. Blitz the biscuits in a food processor using the pulse button or put them in a bag and bash them with a rolling pin. I like a mixture of textures rather than turning them into sand.

3. Put the crumbs in a bowl. Melt the butter and mix it in with a wooden spoon. Tip into the cake tin and use the back of a spoon to press the crumbs to an even thickness, covering the base and coming part of the way up the sides.

4. Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes. Heat the oven to 180C/170C fan/gas mark 4. Shake the tin of coconut cream, then decant it into a bowl and beat it to break down the lumpy bits so the mixture is smoother. Measure out 250ml in a measuring jug (keep the rest for a Thai curry).

5. Drain off any liquid you see in the tubs of cream cheese. Put the cream cheese into the bowl of a mixer – or use a large bowl with a handheld mixer – with the coconut cream and condensed milk. Beat on a medium speed until smooth. Add the eggs a third at a time, beating well, then gradually add the lime juice and zest.

6. Put the tin with the ginger crust on a baking sheet with a lip. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove and leave to cool completely.

7. Meanwhile turn the oven down to 160C/150C fan/gas mark 3. Pour the cream cheese mixture into the cake tin up to the top. Carefully put it, still on the baking sheet, in the oven and bake for an hour. The edges will be set and the middle will still be slightly wobbly when you touch it with your index finger. If the top browns too quickly, reduce the temperature to 150C/140C fan/gas mark 2 and bake until the wobble is right, which could be 10-15 minutes on top of the hour – it’s crucial to keep checking the set.

8. Leave to cool completely then put in the fridge for eight hours (or more). The middle will hold together but still be slightly soft. Keep in the fridge until an hour before you want to serve.

9. Cut the pineapple into slices and halve each one. Remove the small firm core from each half and trim the skin all the way round.

10. Put the sugar in two frying pans that will each hold half of the pineapple slices in a single layer. Set these over a medium heat and cook the pineapple in the sugar for about four minutes. Turn the slices over a couple of times. Move the pans around a bit so the sugar doesn’t burn (one area can get hotter than others). With a slotted spoon, remove the pineapple to a large plate.

11. Divide the lime juice between the frying pans and heat it, scraping up the sugar until it has melted. Pour the contents of each pan through a sieve into the same bowl. Leave to cool. If the caramel gets too thick on cooling, add a little water. Add any liquid that comes out of the cooked pineapple too.

12. Run a knife between the cheesecake and the tin and carefully remove on to a serving plate. Serve in slices with the pineapple and the syrup, or put the pineapple on top of the whole cheesecake and pour the syrup over it before slicing.

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