Hello everyone and happy new year. I hope you all had an amazing holiday break. I wanted to start this year with a bang. With a recipe that I know is such a hit. This cherry cheesecake semifreddo (Jamie Oliver’s recipe) is a huge hit with my family. I make it every single Christmas and holiday season for all my friends and family. It works beautifully with lactose free products.
As always, this recipe is completely lactose free providing you use the right ingredients. You can either set the semifreddo in a large bowl or use silicone molds. I opted to use small rectangle molds. It is much easier to serve.
Ingredients
- 250g Cherries
- 250g Caster Sugar
- 1 Lemon
- 150g Lactose free digestive biscuits
- 70g Lactose free margarine
- Pinch of salt
- 4 Eggs
- 250ml Lactose free cream
- 250ml Lactose free cream cheese
Steps
To start we need to prepare the cherries. Take off the stems, cut in half and take out the stone in the centre.
Zest the entire lemon and slice in half. Juice one half of the lemon.
In a small saucepan add the zest and juice. Add 200g of the caster sugar.
Place the prepared cherries in the saucepan and place on a medium heat.
Stir and bring the mixture to a boil. Turn the heat down low and leave to simmer for ten minutes until the cherries are softened and the mixture is syrupy. You don’t want the mixture to be thick.
Leave the mixture to cool down completely.
When the mixture has cooled down blend until smooth
Preheat your oven to 170°c
Place the biscuits in blender and process until fine. Place biscuits in a bowl.
Melt the margarine and add to the biscuits with the salt. Stir until well combined.
Grease a brownie pan and place the biscuit mixture into the pan. Smooth down.
Cook for 10 to 15 minutes until brown and firm.
Leave aside to cool down. Then crush into small pieces and set aside for later.
Grab three large bowls. Separate the eggs. Place the egg whites in one bowl, egg yolks in another bowl and the cream in the third bowl.
Add the remaining caster sugar (50g) to the egg yolks and beat until pale and creamy.
Whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form.
Very gently fold the egg whites into the yolks.
Whish the cream to soft peaks.
Add the cream cheese and beat until smooth.
Very gently fold the egg mixture into the cream cheese mixture.
Add ¾ of the biscuits to the semifreddo and mix.
Spoon the mixture into rectangle shaped silicone trays. The mixture will be enough to fill 9 rectangle moulds. You can always use one large bowl to freeze the mixture in instead of making individual portions.
Grab the pureed cherry mixture. Spoon a tablespoon of the mixture onto each of the rectangle moulds.
Use a skewer to swirl the cherry mixture through the semifreddo. Leave any leftover mixture for decorating later.
Gently place in a freezer for several hours until the mixture is frozen solid.
Serve with extra cherry syrup, fresh berries and the crumbled biscuits.
Enjoy.
