NO BAKE STRAWBERRY & QUARK CHEESCAKE ... and a hang tags giveaway!

"Gourmandise is an impassioned, rational and habitual preference for all objects that flatter the sense of taste."

Jean Antheleme Brillat-Savarin

Happy MAY! Anyone know what happened to March and April? Time is flying, and how. In the blink of an eye, the first quarter of 2010 whizzed by, and strangely enough, we're already into May. Summer is here in the Northern Hemisphere, much awaited after a cold dark winter, yet a little too hot for us. We are truly looking the hot Indian summer in the face with the mercury consistently hitting 40-43C, much the 'fry the egg on the sidewalk' situation. Our days are ruled by heavy dust laden winds that swoop in from the deserts of Rajasthan as the plains of North India bake in the sweltering heat. The upside? Summer fruit, and light refreshing desserts.

Here's one I made with my last batch of strawberries; a no bake refrigerator cheesecake. The pie filling uses a mix of low fat cream and a curd cheese known as quark. An ingredient I discovered through food blogging, quark is a soft curd cheese that is used extensively in Germany. It's an easy  cheese to make, a recipe that I learnt from Arwen's blog @ HogletK, and one that I can now shut my eyes and make. It's basically like setting yogurt at home, but the culture here is buttermilk. The curd is set for 24 hours in a warm, draft free place, then drained for a further 24 hours. In the end you get this delightful creamy curd cheese, which adds luxury to a light summer dessert sans the calories.

It was as simple as simple could be, and one that is a firm favourite with me. I use it often as a partial cream substitute and often , as a cake filler, and find it compliments fruit desserts beautifully. I even made some for the Dresden Stollen I did over Christmas, and it was the best think that happened to us at that time. You can find the quark recipe here in my 'Cheese Post', amidst many other soft cheeses like mascarpone, ricotta and cottage cheese.

With summer here, I make quark very often, and it pairs beautifully with fruit based desserts, or just served with fruit. I've used strawberries here, but I think you can pretty much use any summer berries or fruit. I've used quark in a Strawberry Cake with Quark & Mascarpone, as also in this Orange Tian a short while ago. Another huge hit at home was the Almond Nut Torte with Quark, Peaches & Plums. As you can see, soft cheese making is a passion with me, and the possibilities are endless. Alice Medrich has a Quark Souffle recipe that I'd love to try one day, in cooler weather.

I've got a fun give away for readers from the US sponsored by Uprinting, where one reader can win 250 hangtags! I love finishing off a gift with a hang tag; if it's customised, even better. They look pretty on a bottle of  preserves, a jar of cookies etc.  Hangtags  are also a great way to promote to your business in a charming little way. What would you do with them? Love to hear your ideas?  

Dimension: 2x3.5
Paper: 14pt cardstock gloss
Finishing: 3/16 hole drilling, (hole location: top-center; top-left; top-right)
Shipping: FREE UPS Ground Shipping
Eligibility: Limited to US Residents only. You must be at least 18 years old to enter.

 Do leave a comment on this post before the 8th of May. I will draw a winner thereafter.

NO BAKE STRAWBERRY & QUARK CHEESECAKE

Biscuit base

150gms digestive cookies, crushed with rolling pin

50gms butter (1/4 cup), melted

Pie filling

350gms quark

200ml low fat cream (25%)

1/2 cup powdered vanilla sugar (or Castor sugar)

1 1/2 tsp gelatin (can decrease if the weather is not too hot)

250-300gms strawberries, cape gooseberries (other seasonal berries/fruit too)

Method:

Crush the biscuits in a ziploc, mix with melted butter in a bowl and turn into the base of an 8" dessert ring placed on the serving platter.

Press gently to create uniform base. the bottom of a flat glass works well here. Chill in freezer for 10 minutes, while you prepare the filling.

Filling:

Sprinkle the gelatin over 2 tbsp of water to soften. Place the bowl in a slightly bigger bowl of warm water, and leave for a short while till it becomes translucent.

Beat the cream till it thickens and holds soft peaks. In another bowl. beat the quark with the powdered sugar, with the same beaters, until smooth. Then beat in the gelatin quickly and thoroughly. Fold in the whipped cream. Taste for sweetness, and adjust if required.

Turn this over the biscuit case, and place in the freezr for 20-30 minutes.

Bring down into the fridge, and leave to set for 6-8 hours, or overnight. Top with strawberry coulis and fresh fruit and serve.

Alternative fruit suggestions...

Halve some cape gooseberies, place on top of the chilled pie, brush over with cooled melted preserves, and cover and chill in the fridge for 4-6 hours, or better overnight.

I love the Cape Gooseberry, or Physallis as it's called. It is also referred to as Ground Cherries in the US, and hides under a papery thin shell. The berry is beautiful when cross sectioned, and the taste ranges from slightly tart to sweet.

♥ Thank you for stopping by ♥

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