Lime Cheesecake and Raspberry/Cherry sauce

I love cakes, yeah, I know, that is something you know already.:):) But unlike most of the cakes which require cooking in an oven, this is one of those categories which not only tastes heavenly but also a cake which can be made without even touching an oven, isn’t that great?
Now, this cake is composed of a crumbly textured lime flavoured crust which doesn’t need any cooking and a rich and airy cheesy cream which can be done in a jiffy and which almost melts on the palate and I should say , yes it is caloric but it tastes too good to be avoided.

Since it is a refrigerated dessert, I would have said that it is a perfect dessert for a hot summer day, but no, no, no, no way for a gourmet like me! I could never wait until Mr. Summer comes, (another 6 months to go) to relish this cheesy delight, could you?

Ingredients (for 8)

For the crust:
360g butter cookies
120g butter
4 limes

For the cream:
480g cream cheese (I used Philadelphia )
40g heavy cream
400ml full fat liquid cream (keep it ready in a bowl placed on a bed of ice cubes)
140g icing sugar
5 gelatin sheets

Method:

Crumble the cookies finely. Remove the zest from the limes and make it crumbly using a mixer.

Extract the juice of the limes and keep it separately.

Melt the butter on low flame.

In a bowl, mix together the zest, the crumbled cookies and the melted butter to form a smooth dough.

Line a baking tray (a springform pan is a must) with a baking sheet and place the dough on it and flatten it evenly by pressing well to form a nice firm crust. Refrigerate it.

For the creamy part:

Soak the gelatin sheets in cold water until they soften.

In a bowl, whip the cream cheese for a minute. Add the heavy cream and 40g of icing sugar and continue whipping. Keep it aside.

Whip the liquid cream in a separate bowl (keeping the bowl on the ice cubes) and add 100g of icing sugar and continue whipping until it is sufficiently airy and stiff. When it is done, add this whipped cream delicately to the cheese mixture.

In a vessel, pour the extracted juice of the limes and add the drained and softened gelatin sheets and heat on very low flame while stirring, until the gelatin melts.

Pour the above delicately to the prepared cream mixture and mix delicately.

Now, to assemble the cake, remove the pan which contains the crust from the refrigerator and pour the cream mixture carefully over the base and equalize the top with a spatula to make a smooth surface.

Now refrigerate the whole cake for at least eight hours or overnight would be even better.

Unmold it very carefully and transfer it to the serving tray.

Now feel free to top with any kind of fruit compotes or candied fruit sauces. I’ve used a mixture of raspberries and cherries for my sauce;

To make the fruit sauce:
Put 400g of cherries and 400g of raspberries along with the juice of 3 lemons and 120g of brown sugar in a vessel and heat it. Let it boil and then, let it be reduced to form a thick sauce containing some whole pieces of the candied fruits.(don't over cook like I did, my fruits were all crumbled).  Leave it to cool down completely and spoon the sauce over the cake just before serving. Enjoy!!