‘A cocktail in a cake’.

Love Margaritas?  Give this tequila and lime cheesecake recipe a go.

On a recent visit to the USA I became a huge fan of the Cheesecake Factory.  I thought I’d try my hand at cheesecake making to fill the cheesecake-shaped gap in my life, since the Cheesecake Factory, sadly, does not have a UK branch *sob sob*.

This recipe is one I concocted myself, after some experimenting.  It is quick and easy to make and features a blend of flavours ranging from lime, ginger, and a hint of tequila, that blend together like a perfect Margarita cocktail. Deeeeelish.

Overall time needed: 30 minutes (note: needs to set overnight)

Ingredients:

• 7 digestive biscuits
• 4 ginger biscuits
• 50g butter, melted
• 25g caster sugar
• 150ml double cream
• 397g can full-fat condensed milk
• 175g full-fat cream cheese (room temperature)
• 3 tablespoons tequila
• grated zest and juice of 4 limes
• ½ lime, thinly sliced, to decorate

Method:

• To make the biscuit base crush the digestive and ginger biscuits into tiny crumbs.  A good way of doing this is to place the biscuits in a sandwich bag and beat with a rolling pin. (Effective therapy for anyone with anger issues too!)

• Melt the butter and sugar in a saucepan over a low heat and add the crushed biscuits to the pan.  Stir until thoroughly mixed.

• Turn the biscuit mixture into a 20cm (8in) circular loose-bottomed baking tin and press firmly and evenly over the bottom of the tin using the back of a metal spoon. Chill for 30 minutes in the fridge until set.

• Make the filling: place the double cream, condensed milk and cream cheese in a bowl with lime zests.  A tip for zesting the limes – use a cheese grater if you don’t have a zesting tool.  Mix thoroughly.

• Gradually mix in the lime juice and tequila and continue mixing until the mixture thickens.

• Pour the filling into the baking tin on top of the biscuit base and spread evenly using a spatula.

• Cover with Clingfilm and chill overnight.  Then, your cheesecake will be ready to devour! Enjoy.