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.