Recipe: Mini Amaretti & Lime Cheesecakes

January. It's a bit of a rubbish month isn't it? It's cold, rainy and you have to wait even longer for pay-day because you got paid early at Christmas. Which is why (I'm assuming here, by the way) it's the most popular time for people to start looking and booking that dreamy summer holiday.

This cheesecake recipe was formed because I had both limes and amaretti biscuits that needed using up. However, after a month of over-indulging of rich foods, I was certain that I wanted a slightly lighter dessert - plus it has limes so it could totally count as one of your five a day, right?

When the creamy, zesty lime and that crunch of amaretti touched my lips I was immediately transported back to Italy, one of my favourite holiday destinations. For those five seconds (before I wolfed down the whole pot) it didn't feel like January, and I wasn't sat in my joggers at the dining room table.

This recipe is so simple to make, is no-bake and only takes about 30 minutes to conjure up (excluding chill time), plus it has less than 10 ingredients! I have to say the first time I made this it was a bit of a fail as I used way too much butter in the biscuit base which left a thin layer of congealed fat at the bottom after chilling (yuk!) but after venting my frustrations on Twitter, my lovely followers encouraged me to have another go and include picture of said fail. So here you go:

fail attempt!!! 

As there is only two of us in this household the recipes below make 4 individual cheesecakes, however if you need more you could double the ingredients to create 8 or one big one (I have not tried this, and I am bad at maths, so I do not hold any responsibility if this does not work).

Where's on your 2015 destination list?

Amaretti & Lime Cheesecakes 
Makes 4 Mini Cheesecakes

Ingredients 
75g amaretti biscuits
1 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1 tbsp honey
250g mascarpone cheese
2 limes - zest of 1 & juice of 2
50g caster sugar

Optional: Zest of 1 lime and 1 tbsp of icing sugar to decorate

Equipment: 4 Ramekins 

Method 
1. Crush the amaretti biscuits until they are almost a crumb consistency, it doesn't matter if some are slightly larger as the different consistencies give it an extra crunch.

2. Add the melted butter and honey and stir until well combined. (note: pour the butter in slowly, learn from my mistake - you really don't need that much butter at all to make it stick together. Too much butter will leave a congealed layer of fat at the bottom - see fail pic!)

3. Add a quarter of the mixture to each ramekin dish and press down to form a base. Put in the fridge to set whilst you make the creamy topping.

4. Mix together the mascarpone cheese and caster sugar in a bowl (with a wooden spoon is fine) until the mixture is well combined, smooth and extremely creamy. Then add the lime (juice and zest) and stir again.

5. Take the ramekins out of the fridge and top the amaretti base with the lime mixture, and smooth over the the back of a knife or a frosting spatula until level

6. Chill in the fridge for a minimum of 2 hours, then when ready to serve finish them off with a touch of lime zest and a sprinkle of icing sugar

Sophie x

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