The Kitchen · Desserts · Summer
Cottage Cheesecake with Fruit
Drink: an espresso, or a late harvest Riesling if you lean sweet.
Cheesecake, lightened for the heat. Cottage cheese blends into something silky and slightly tangy, closer to a cheesecake mousse than a heavy slice, and nobody guesses what it is.
The lime zest is doing quiet, important work here. Do not skip it.
Method
- Stir the graham crumbs into the melted butter until it holds together when pressed. Divide between six cups or glasses and press into an even layer.
- Blend the cottage cheese until completely smooth, a full 2 minutes. Any graininess now is graininess later.
- Blend in the powdered sugar, lime zest, and vanilla.
- Spoon the filling over the bases and chill for at least 2 hours, until set enough to hold a spoon mark.
- Just before serving, top with the berries and spoon the passion fruit pulp over everything.
Make it yours
- Any ripe fruit works on top. Sliced peaches in August, macerated strawberries in June.
- A firmer version: add 2 tsp of gelatin bloomed in cold water to the filling and chill overnight.
- Swap the graham base for crushed digestive biscuits or speculoos.
Between us
The blender is the whole recipe. Give the cottage cheese the full two minutes and it turns to silk.
These hold happily in the fridge for two days, topped at the last minute.
Enjoy your thyme.
While you cook
pull up a chair
When the season turns, I write you a letter.
One short note when the menu changes: what’s ripe, what I’m cooking, and a few things worth gathering people around. Nothing else.