Lemon, Honey & Thyme Cheesecake
We don’t really eat puddings at home – or when eating in restaurants either! But there are times that warrant a sweet dessert. For my niece-in-law’s last birthday I made this lemon, honey and thyme cheesecake and it was very well received.
22cm Cheesecake
700gram Greek style yoghurt – 375g when strained
500g cream cheese
12 Digestive biscuits or similar
2 tbsp fresh, picked thyme leaves
200g white chocolate/ Milky Bar
70g melted butter
60g icing sugar
Fine zest of 1 lemon (organic/ untreated)
5 -7 tbsp flavoursome honey (Tomillo/ Romero/ Brezo/ etc.)
Fresh berries to decorate
Instructions
Start by straining the yoghurt, line a large sieve with a clean kitchen cloth (cheesecloth) or fine weave towel and place it over a bowl. Spoon in the Greek style yoghurt. Pull up the sides and gently, but firmly, squeeze out some of the whey and form the yoghurt into a ball. Remove the straining yoghurt and the apparatus to the fridge while you continue with the other steps. You could strain the yoghurt a day ahead if you desire. This is exactly the same process used to make labneh.
For the base, place the biscuits in a clean kitchen towel and smash with a rolling pin. Then melt the butter in a small pan over a gentle heat. Remove from the heat before adding one tablespoon of thyme leaves. Leave to infuse for ten minutes. Place the crushed biscuits into a bowl and pour in the infused melted butter – stir to incorporate. Press the biscuit/ butter mix down onto the base of your springform cake pan. Remove to the fridge to cool.
To melt the chocolate, beak the chocolate into small pieces and place in a heatproof bowl. Place the bowl over a barely simmering pan of water and stir to melt. Remember that the bowl should not touch the water and be careful to avoid any moisture entering the bowl. Once melted remove from the heat.
For the cream filling, whisk together the cream cheese, cooled chocolate, strained yoghurt, caster sugar and lemon zest until creamy and smooth. Evenly spread the cream cheese mix over the prepared base and return to the fridge for a minimum of two hours to set.
Once you are ready to serve, remove the cheesecake from the fridge. transfer it from its springform base to a serving plate. Gently heat through the honey in a small pan, remove from the heat and stir in the remaining thyme leaves. Pour over the honey and decorate with berries before dusting with a little more icing sugar.
James and the flat peach x