Obviously, not Libyan! But for those of us who keep to a halal diet, cheesecake is a problem, as many recipes contain gelatin, and vegetarian gelatin is often not as strong as the animal-based products. We tried many recipes before arriving at our own fail-proof recipe. This one is topped with fresh cherries, but you can substitute other summer berries, fruit or try a chocolate, caramel or marzipan topping. Try it out and let us know what you think!
Crust
75g butter
16-20 digestive biscuits
Filling
2 deciliters milk
2 tablespoons of cornstarch
50-75g sugar
200g unflavored soft cream cheese (eg Philadelphia)
200g fresh cream
1 tspn vanilla sugar
2 eggs
A satchet of Dr. Oetker's Vegegele (or two heaped teaspoons of vegetarian gelatin)
Topping
About 250g cherries
A satchet of cherry vegetarian jelly crystals
Put the digestive biscuits in a blender.
Melt the butter.
Add the melted butter onto the biscuits and blend.
Pour the mixture onto a springform pan, about 25cm across.
Smooth flat with the back of a spoon.
Make sure it is evenly spread throughout the base.
Add the gelatine to boiled hot milk, stir until dissolved. Put in the blender.
Add the cheese and cream to the blender.
Add the cornstarch, sugar, vanilla sugar and eggs.
Blend well. Pour out the smoothly blended mixture onto the biscuit base.
Place in the oven at 150 C, for just long enough that the cheese filling sets, but not long enough that the surface browns! About 15 minutes should do it.
Wash the cherries, remove the stems and stones, cut the cherries in half.
Place the half-cherries onto the surface of the cheese filling.
Make the jelly, pouring the crystals into boiling water and making sure all the powder has dissolved.
Pour the jelly slowly and carefully onto the surface of the cake.
Place in the fridge for at least four hours, longer is better.
When the jelly has done its work, run a knife lightly around the edge of the pan, then remove the sides from the base carefully.
Slice and serve while cold
