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Monday, October 7, 2013

Pistachio Lime Cheesecake - No Bake Cheesecakes #1



This cake was a feat!

I got to know that my BIL’s birthday was on the day itself at 1.30pm. I asked him whether he wants a cake, and he said yeah, cheesecake but egg free please. Then I searched for some cheesecake series and passed the phone to him, asking him to select the one he wants. He chose a lime and strawberry cheesecake.

I had no strawberries on hand but I happened to have some homegrown limes from my brother’s neighbor. That’s perfect! I don’t have limes at home usually and he’s one lucky man! And I also bought a good sum dairy products in baking the day before, so, making a cheesecake will not be too hard. A baked one will take too long as I had to get the cake ready that day itself and ah-ha, since he wanted it egg free, let’s just make a no bake cheesecake, a lime flavoured one.




The whole cake was by experiment, I don’t have the time to google for a recipe. At first I used too little biscuit crumbs and since the butter was already in I had no choice but to add more biscuits. In the end I had more than I want, I pressed a wall for my cheesecake.

Then came the filling, I was testing and testing by dipping my finger in many many times… making sure the sweetness is right, tang is right, adding a bit here and there until I hit the right balance of sweet and sour. I also contemplated about adding whipped cream, I thought I had enough of filling with the sour cream and cheese..but nah, better bulk up the volume, anything extra can be set separately. Haha, true enough, it was just right. So glad!


The cake turned out to be very very very well received. I was surprised that my tang hating hubby took 2nds and asked me later that night whether I still have cake for him to eat the next day. My BIL took 3 servings(1/4 of the cake)! All my kids finished their portions and my MIL said she liked it a lot. She commented it tasted very refreshing and not heavy at all. I laughed and said, the lime is the culprit here for making everybody eating so much. It whetted everybody’s appetite.

Don’t say I didn’t warn you….. this cake needs serious portion control and self control. It’s a cheater.


Pistachio Lime Cheesecake
Recipe by WendyinKK 

Crust
75gm pistachios, toasted weight
125gm digestive biscuits
75gm butter, melted

Filling
250gm cream cheese, room temperature
130gm sugar
250gm light sour cream
200gm whipping cream
20gm gelatin
60gm water
50-60gm lime juice (from 4 limes)
Zest from 3 limes

Decoration
80gm whipping cream
1 tsp sugar
½ tsp gelatin +1 tbsp water
Zest from 1 lime

Prepare Crust
1. Toast pistachios in oven at 160C until they start to smell good(mine was 8 mins w/o preheating). Grind it.
2. Grind digestive biscuits until fine.
3. Combine pistachios, biscuit crumbs and melted butter together and press into a 8 inch pan with removable base. (I pressed a 2 inch tall wall and base. Line the sides if preferred). Freeze the crust.

Prepare Filling
4. Put water into a suitable bowl (depending whether u are using microwave or not). Sprinkle gelatin over and let it sit for 2 minutes. Mel the gelatin. (refer here)
5. Beat whipping cream until medium stiff. Keep the cream chilled in fridge.
6. (no need to wash beaters)Beat cream cheese gently (on low speed) until it looks smooth. Won’t take long.
7. Put in sugar and beat. Add in sour cream and beat. Add in lime juice and beat. At this point, taste the mixture and adjust as needed(more juice or more sugar). Take note that after the cream is folded in, the sweetness will be slightly reduced. (this step not longer than 2 minutes).
8. Beat in melted gelatin into the mixture.
9. Remove the cream from fridge and fold the whipped cream into the cheese mixture. Add lime zest and fold.
10. Remove crust from freezer and gently pour the cheese filling into the crust.
11. Chill for at least 5 hours. (or if you are in a rush, freeze for 1 hour, but remember to take it out).
12. Remove cake from mould. Place into cake board or serving dish.
13. Prepare cream (see here) for decoration and pipe them onto the cake. Sprinkle lime zest over the cream. Keep cake chilled until time to serve.



28 comments:

  1. Beautiful cheesecake, Wendy! I have yet to try a lime flavoured one :)

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  2. Beautiful cheesecake, your BIL is one lucky fella to be related to YOU!!!! I can imagine the tangy flavour from the lime really cuts through the heaviness of the cream cheese and the cream. Bookmarking this.

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  3. lovely cheesecake... wished i can be there to try!

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  4. Hi, wendy...the whipped cream deco is 1/2 teaspoon gelatin powder right?

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  5. Sharon,
    yes, that's the amount, plus the water.

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  6. Wendy,

    u make my hands gatal again!

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  7. Hi, I sure hope you will add this lovely cheesecake to the dessert table for the next Food on Friday over at Carole's Chatter. Cheers

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  8. Beautiful cheesecake - I havent try a lime flavour yet.

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  9. Wendy,
    SOS..I've just made this cake for my mum's birthday. Everything went well until I poured in the gelatine mixture, When I beat the mixture, I could see the gelatine in pieces, some quite big...What happened here? Does it mean my cake has failed?

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  10. Can the cake be eaten? Jaynelle

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  11. Jaynelle,
    I assume the earlier message if from you too.
    The gelatin formed lump because the mixing could have been a bit slow. Gelatin sets when it comes in contact with coldness. The cake is still edible, just that the gelatin lumps is a bit disturbing in the mouth, but it only taste like chewing gum, spit it out if you don't like it. The major problem will be the cheesecake will be a bit soft for slicing since the gelatin is not properly mixed in.

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  12. Hi Wendy,
    The earlier message was from me. I forget to type in my name.
    Yes, you are right! I'd big problem trying to cut the cake. It was too soft hence, I considered this as cake which has failed, in my hands. But, I will definitely try it again, What will you advise in handling the gelatin?
    Jaynelle

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  13. Jaynelle,
    Always mix in melted gelatin quickly.
    Check out the link at Step 4, that post will tell you how to mix the gelatin.

    ReplyDelete
  14. hi wendy, going to try this cake coming friday. may i know:
    step 5 - beat on what speed?
    step 7 - beat on what speed?
    step 8 - beat on what speed?

    tks for guiding newbies... :)

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  15. Rebecca,
    I don't remember exactly. BTW, I whipped the cream with hand held mixer and i always use the highest speed to do it and combining ingredients with the lowest speed. Every hand held mixer may not be the same. It's all about visual judgement as I didn't state the time and speed.
    Step 6 is mentioned low speed. As long as it's enough to smoothen it out, fine it goes, you can even use a spoon to do it.

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  16. hi wendy
    just did this cake. I was so happy tasting the mix. taste excellent.
    n I forgot to add in sour cream.
    Do u think my cake w fail tmr?
    did this as a birthday cake. not sure how is the outcome when cut it tmr.

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  17. hi wendy...
    i repeated the same cake on 2 consecutive days. hahhaa... finally got it right. tks for sharing.
    may i ask the firmness of the cake is due to the gelatin? what will happen to the texture if we reduce 50% of the gelatin.
    will the beating of the cream impact the firmness of the cake? tks... again... :)

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  18. Rebecca,
    the gelatin helps the cake to set, If you reduce it, the cake will be very wobbly.
    The fluffier your cream is, the lighter the cake will taste

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  19. Hi Wendy

    I made this cake few times and received very good comments from family & friends! All praises to you for kind sharing. Is indeed a very good recipe.

    Thank you and God Bless!
    Sheila

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  20. Sheila,
    Thak you for the feedback, Glad they were well recieved :)

    ReplyDelete
  21. Hi Wendy,
    Can I make half this recipe in a 6 inch round cake pan?
    Thank you,
    Lynn

    ReplyDelete
  22. Lynn,
    a 6 inch will fit only half the recipe

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  23. Hi Wendy,
    Can I replace the light sour cream with cream cheese as I do not have it on hand.

    Thanks
    Lynn

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  24. Lynn,
    You can, but then the cake will be a lot richer.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Hi Wendy,
    This cake reminded my hubby of mousse cake. Is it suppose to be near to that kind of texture for this recipe?
    Thanks
    Lynn

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  26. Lynn,
    Mousse can come with many textures.
    It's at the texture of a creamy cheesecake but not that rich

    ReplyDelete
  27. Do u mean limau katsuri or the normal lime? Limau katsuri (small lime) is Key Lime right? So the zest of 3 limes is referring to the Big Lime/small Limau Katsuri?

    ReplyDelete
  28. Lilian,
    Limau Kasturi : Calamansi
    Limau Nipis : Persian Lime , Key Lime.
    Use either Persian Lime or Key Lime, not Calamansi.

    ReplyDelete

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