Strawberry Cheesecake with pink meringues

When I asked our little blossom what she might like for pudding when our friends came around she was adamant she wanted meringues. To be fair she and her buddies just loved them the last time we made then. Thinking the adults might like something more than a meringue, I decided to whip up this very simple and easy Strawberry Cheesecake. You can swap the strawberries for any summer fruit that happens to be handy. Be sure to allow yourself enough chilling time as it doesn't contain any gelatine, so needs the full 4 hours in the fridge.

Strawberry Cheesecake

250g plain sweet biscuits - I used Wine biscuits
80g butter

500g cream cheese - softened at room temperature
1/2 cup caster sugar
the juice of half a lemon
a 250g punnet of strawberries
1 cup cream

Line the sides of a loose bottomed baking tin with baking paper and set aside. 

Using a food processor, crumb the biscuits until they are fine. Add the melted butter and process again until combined. 

Press the buttery crumbs into the bottom and sides of the lined baking tin and chill in the fridge while you make the filling.

Clean the crumbs from the food processor and blend the cream cheese and caster sugar until it is soft and smooth. 

This will take a few minutes. 

Add the lemon juice and process again. 

Clean and hull the strawberries. 

Add to the processor bowl with the cream cheese mixture and process until the strawberries are completely combined. 

In a separate bowl, whip the cream into soft peaks. Fold the cream cheese mixture into the cream. 

Pour the filling into the chilled biscuit base and return to the fridge for a least 4 hours. 

Just prior to serving, take the cheesecake from the fridge and release from the tin by placing the base onto a cup and pulling the sides of the tin down. Remove the paper and place the whole lot, base and all, onto a serving plate. 

Decorate the top with a little extra strawberry.

Place the meringues around the outside of the cheesecake. I made a half recipe of these ones, but instead of piping the mixture, I just put teaspoons lots onto the tray.

Nothing like pudding to put a smile on everyone's face.