Rhubarb & Ginger Cheesecake

Cheesecakes, my other passion in life,

I love cheesecakes because they can be made in so many different ways

: they work with many different types of dairy: cream cheese of course, but also fromage frais, mascarpone and even ricotta. You can put any fruit in it and even vegetables (as in my butternutsquash cheesecake).

They can be cooked or not, and I even discovered they can be steamed!

With the new season, new ingredients are coming back in the market. And rhubarb is one of them, so check out my rhubarb and ginger cheesecake made with petit-suisse cheese.

 I also wanted to add some extra colours so I infused a few hibiscus leaves (can be found in Dalston Market in London or any Afro-Caribbean grocer).

Rhubarb and Ginger petit-suisse cheesecake

(Use a 19 cm large mould for 6 to 8 people)

Biscuit base:

- 170g ginger biscuits

- 60g butter

Filling:

- 600g petit-suisse cheese

- 2 eggs

- 90g sugar

- Juice of 1 lemon

Toppings:

- 200g rhubarb chopped

- 100g water

- 100g sugar

- 1tsp ginger powder

- Optional: 2 hibiscus flowers for the colouring

Preheat you oven at 150°C.

Crumble your biscuits (you can put them in a bag or cloth and beat with a rolling pin).

In a mixing bowl, put together the biscuit and the butter (must be at room temperature)

The best is to use a mould with a removable base so the cake is easy to take out. Otherwise make sure you cover your mould tightly with greaseproof paper.

Pour your mix onto the bottom of the mould and spread gently then beat it with the back of a spoon.

Mix the petit-suisse with sugar until you obtain a smooth texture. Add the egg and the lemon juice and keep mixing. When ready, pour all over the biscuit base.

Fill up a tray with water and place at the bottom of your oven. Then put the cake on the middle shelf. Cook for 1 hour to 1hour 10’.

Take out of the oven and set aside to cool down.

Then place in the fridge for at least 2 hours

Rhubarb topping:

In a pan heat the sugar and water and when the sugar has dissolved, add the rhubarb bits and hibiscus leaves. Cook for 7 minutes and take out the rhubarb (it shouldn’t be too squishy). Leave the rest of the content of the pan to heat until it turns into a thick coulis. Remove the hibiscus.

Put aside and let it cool.

Before serving just cover the cake with the coulis and the rhubarb bits.