No-Bake Eton Mess Cheesecake!

Mini Meringues!

• 3 Medium Egg Whites
• 150 g Caster Sugar
• Red Food Colouring

Biscuit Base

• 300 g Digestives
• 150 g Unsalted Butter (melted)

Cheesecake Filling

• 500-600 g Full-Fat Cream Cheese
• 100 g Icing Sugar
• 300 ml Double Cream
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 100-200 g Strawberries (chopped)

Decoration

• 150 ml Double Cream
• 2 tbsp Icing Sugar
• Fresh Strawberries
• Freeze Dried Strawberries

For the Meringues

• Preheat the oven to 100C/90°C Fan and line two Baking Trays with Parchment Paper!
• Separate the eggs into a spotlessly clean bowl (stand mixer bowl) and discard the yolks – or use them to make something else!! – but be careful not to get anything else in the egg whites such as a spot of yolk as this will ruin the meringue!
• Whisk the Egg Whites on their own until soft peaks are form – it’ll double/triple in volume and look foamy and white, nothing like the normal egg white! Continue whisking the eggs on a Medium-High Speed and add the Caster Sugar a teaspoon at a time making sure its whisked in before you add the next spoonful. I realise this is time consuming, but adding the sugar any quicker will ruin it!
• Once the sugar is all in the mixture with Meringue should be ultra white, glossy, and if you hold the bowl upside down nothing will fall out! If you’re brave, hold it above your head when you test it ? Put the 1cm round tip that you’re using into a Disposable Piping Bag with the end removed. Brush a few stripes of the Sugarflair Christmas Red Food Colouring into the inside of the Disposable Piping Bag that you’re using – I did three lines to make a pattern!
• Pipe the Meringues onto the baking sheets – I use a 1cm round tip to make my little Meringue shells – Bake in the oven for 1 & 1/2 hours and then turn the oven off. Leave the Meringues to cool off completely in the oven till the oven is cold! This is very important that you leave them to cool off completely as if you take them out any sooner they will taste amazing, but they won’t crush down and they’d have the Chewy Meringue feel you can get sometimes!

For the Cheesecake

• Blitz the biscuits in a food processor to a fine crumb, or mash them up in a bag and add the melted butter – pulse a few times until it is combined well. Tip into a 8″/20cm Deep Springform Tin and press down firmly – chill in the refrigerator whilst you do the rest!
• With an electric mixer (I used my KitchenAid) Mix the Philadelphia and Icing Sugar together until smooth, it’ll only take a few seconds – whilst whisking slowly, pour in the liquid double cream & Vanilla and continue to Whip the Cream Cheese/Cream Mixture until it is starting to thicken. (Don’t whip it too fast, I whisk it on level 6/10 on my kitchenaid maximum. Too fast and it may split.. better to be slightly under whipped than over whipped!)
• Once its thick, fold through the chopped up strawberries. It might look a little odd at first as its quite a moist fruit mixing into a mixture, but be gentle and thorough! Spread onto the biscuit base and spread evenly. Leave to set in the fridge, covered, for 5-6 hours, or preferably over night.
• Carefully remove the cheesecake from the tin, and decorate with some whipped creamed and top each swirl of cream with one of your homemade meringues. Put some fresh whole strawberries into the middle of the cheesecake, crush over some meringues, and some freeze dried strawberries! Enjoy!

• I recommend using a 8″/20cm Deep Springform Tin and Disposable Piping Bagin this recipe!
• I use my Sugarflair Christmas Red Food Colouring for the food colouring as I only use concentrated colourings like these – supermarket ones won’t work as they’re too liquid.. but gel ones might!
• I personally used Philadelphia Cream Cheese in this recipe as I find it the best Cream Cheese by far and it’s available in nearly every supermarket ever! You can also use Mascarpone, but they both MUST be Full-Fat!
• I always set my cheesecakes in the fridge overnight otherwise they risk being a little sloppy still – you’re more likely to get a better result for the longer you leave it  
• This Cheesecake will last covered in the fridge for 3 days!