Low-fat cheesecake
This reduced fat cheesecake uses quark, an almost fat-free soft cheese made from skimmed milk.
Ingredients
For the base
- 6 low-fat digestive biscuits
- 10 low-fat/reduced sugar plain biscuits, such as Rich Tea
- 2 tbsp clear honey
- 75²µ/2½´Ç³ú butter, melted
For the filling
- 6 leaves gelatine
- 150ml/5fl oz skimmed milk
- 50g/2oz cocoa powder
- 100²µ/3½´Ç³ú caster sugar
- 500g/1lb 2oz quark cheese
- 300g/10½oz fat-free Greek yoghurt
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 vanilla pod, seeds only
- 2 free-range egg whites
To serve
- 300g/10½oz fresh strawberries
Method
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4 and line a 23cm/9in spring form cake tin with greaseproof paper.
For the base, put all the biscuits into a freezer bag and bash with a rolling pin until they resemble breadcrumbs. Place into a mixing bowl and add the honey and melted butter and mix well to combine. Press the mixture into the bottom of the tin.
Bake for 10-12 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave to cool while you prepare the filling.
To make the filling, soak the gelatine leaves in a bowl of ice-cold water for 10 minutes. Put the milk, cocoa powder and sugar into a saucepan. Bring to a simmer, stirring constantly, until the sugar has melted and the cocoa is completely combined. Remove from the heat and leave to cool for a few minutes. Whisk in the gelatine and set aside.
Put the quark and yoghurt into a mixing bowl and beat together until smooth. Add the vanilla extract and the vanilla seeds. Beat to mix well and then add the cocoa mixture. Beat until smooth and set aside.
In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form when the whisk is removed from the bowl. Fold one third of the egg whites into the cheesecake mixture and then carefully fold in the remainder.
Spoon the mixture onto the base then put into the fridge to set for at least 4-6 hours or overnight if possible. Decorate with strawberries and serve.