A classic dessert presented in an elegant form. It’s worth taking a moment to prepare it because it looks and tastes wonderful!
Ingredients
Crust
- Digestive biscuits: 150 g
- Butter: 100 g
- Almonds: 100 g
- Grated lemon zest: 2 tablespoons
Cheesecake filling
- Eggs: 4
- Sugar: 75 g
- Vanilla sugar: 2 packets
- Grated lemon zest: 2 tablespoons
- Lemon juice: 2 tablespoons
- 30% cream: 400 ml
- Ground cottage cheese: 1 kg
- Water: 60 ml
- Gelatin: 30 g
Italian meringue
- Eggs: 3
- Sugar: 250 g
- Water: 60 ml
Decoration
- Lemon: 1
- Fresh mint: 2 tablespoons
- Grated milk chocolate: 30 g
Preparation
Crush the digestive biscuits finely and combine them in a bowl with chopped almonds, softened butter, and grated lemon zest. Mix all the ingredients thoroughly. Press the mixture firmly onto the bottom of a buttered baking pan. Bake for 10-12 minutes at 180°C (convection) or 190-200°C (without convection). Let it cool.
Mix the gelatin with water in a small bowl. Stir and set aside. Beat 200 ml of cream, sugar, vanilla sugar, and egg yolks over steam until the sauce thickens. Add the dissolved gelatin and mix until completely dissolved. Add the cottage cheese, lemon juice, and grated lemon zest. Mix thoroughly and let it cool. Whip the remaining 200 ml of cream. When the filling starts to thicken, fold it into the whipped cream. Pour the mixture over the nut crust and chill in the refrigerator for about 3 hours.
Heat water with sugar to a temperature of about 118°C (soft ball stage). Beat the egg whites until soft peaks form, then gradually pour in the hot syrup while continuing to beat. Mix until you get a stiff, glossy meringue. Transfer the meringue into a piping bag.
Remove the cheesecake from the baking pan. Decorate the cake around the edges by piping rosettes with the meringue. Brown the rosettes with a kitchen torch. Decorate the cheesecake with curls of white chocolate, lemon slices, and mint leaves.
