Midsummer cheesecake

Yay! Tomorrow will be our first Midsummer party in Sweden, so I made this guilt free Strawberry cheesecake to celebrate!

Living in Sweden you simply can't pass on this holiday and for some Swedes Midsummer is more important than Christmas. Hence, I had to find out what this party is all about! I can write an entire blog about 'the history, the when and why', but I chose to be streetwise and watch this little video. Midsummer suddenly became totally clear to me ;-)

After watching this video, you'll understand why my husband and I are going to the Swedish archipelago tomorrow to celebrate with friends. I can't wait! 

STRAWBERRIES

On Midsummer's eve the traditional desert contains strawberries. The Swedish strawberries are so sweet and tasteful that you could eat them just as they are. However, I decided to make it a bit more festive and create a guiltless strawberry cheesecake!

TIME

Preparation: 15 minutes
Time in the fridge: at least 3 hours

WHAT WILL YOU NEED? (for 10 - 12 slices)

• Spring cake tin 24cm
• Small pan
• Baking paper
• 200g walnuts
• 100g hazelnuts
• 6 speculoos cookies
• 4 tbs strawberry marmelade
• 1000g quark
• 20 strawberries
• 4 gelatine sheets

HOW TO?

Crust:

• Put half of the nuts and the cookies in your food processor and mix until it gets a fine structure. Then add the other half and mix for a few more seconds (so that some of the nuts and cookie crumbles are still crunchy)
• Place the baking paper over your spring cake tin, close and press the nuts-and-cookie-mixture firmly into the tin

Filling:

• Place the gelatine sheets in some cold water for at least 5 minutes
• Cut 10 strawberries in small cubes
• Mix the quark and the marmelade in a big bowl
• Add 5 tbs of this mixture to a small pan and heat it on a medium fire until it boils. Keep stirring regularly!
• Once the mixture is boiling, squeeze out the gelatine sheets and add them to the warm quark fluid, while you keep stirring
• Once the gelatine is completely dissolved into the fluid, add the fluid to the rest of the quark mixture. Add the chopped strawberries and stir thoroughly
• Add the entire mix to your cake tin and smoothen it with a spoon
   

Leave the cake in your fridge for at east 3 hours, but preferably an entire night.

Finish:

• Cut the rest of your strawberries and add them on top op the cake
   

Remove the spring cake tin and your Strawberry Cheesecake is ready to serve!

GUILTLESS?

This cake is a good alternative to regular cheesecakes and one piece makes for a tasty treat. It contains more protein en less saturated fat than you would normally find in cheesecakes. However, don't be fooled by the calorie containing and eat the entire cake, because a calorie is still a calorie :)

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much I do. Let me know what you thought of it :)

And for all the people celebrating tomorrow:
NJUTA AV MIDSOMMAREN

X Mieke