POMEGRANATE AND LIME CHEESECAKE

Prep time: 30 minutes, plus chilling time

Serves 8

The vivid red of pomegranate makes this cheesecake a real showstopper, and you can add as much or as little as you like, allowing guests to spoon over more seeds if they want to.

INGREDIENTS For the base

– 300g digestive biscuits – 100g unsalted

butter, melted

– 70g condensed milk

For the syrup

– seeds from 1 medium

pomegranate

– 70g caster sugar –juiceof1limeand

zest of ½ lime

For the filling

– 600g soft cream

cheese

– 200g mascarpone – zest of ½ lime – 100g caster sugar – 1 tsp vanilla paste

METHOD

Line a 23cm springform cake tin with some greaseproof baking paper. Crush the biscuits (the best way to do this is to place them in a sealed bag and bash with a rolling pin).

Remove the pomegranate seeds from the skin. You can detach the seeds by either peeling carefully or bashing each half of the pomegranate into a bowl, but there will be splatters. Pick through the seeds to make sure there is no bitter pith (white parts) left in with the fruit.

Add the crushed biscuits, melted butter and condensed milk to a bowl, then mix them together, using a wooden spoon or your fingers, to combine but not completely squash.

Spread the mixture out in the prepared tin, pressing down to make sure it is firm, in order to create an even base. Place it in the fridge to chill for a few hours.

Next, make the syrup.

Put the pomegranate seeds, sugar, lime juice and zest in a saucepan with 200ml water. Bring the mixture to the boil, let it simmer for 15 minutes, then remove from the heat and leave to cool.

For the filling, put both the cheeses, a pinch of lime zest, the sugar and vanilla paste in a bowl and mix together with a spatula until smoothly combined (you could use a stand mixer on a gentle speed). Spread the filling evenly over the biscuit base and return to the fridge.

Chill for about 4-5 hours. Remove from fridge and take out of the tin. Place on a serving plate and spoon over the syrup, complete with seeds. Sprinkle with the rest of the lime zest before serving.