Watermelon Lime Cheesecake Bites Food

LAYERED LIME CHEESECAKE

Steps:

• Whizz the biscuits to crumbs in a food processor, or tip into a food bag and crush with a rolling pin. Mix with the melted butter, then press into the base of a 20cm springform cake tin. Chill in the fridge until needed.
• Put the cream cheese, icing sugar and lime zest in a bowl, then beat with an electric mixer until smooth. Tip in the double cream and continue beating until completely combined. Spoon the cream mixture onto the biscuit base, working from the edges inwards and making sure that there are no air bubbles. Smooth the top of the cheesecake down with the back of a dessert spoon. Leave to set in the fridge while you make the glaze.
• Soak the gelatine leaves in cold water. Tip the other ingredients for the glaze into a saucepan with 200ml water. Cook gently until the sugar has dissolved and the syrup is simmering. Drain and squeeze the gelatine of any excess water, then stir into the hot syrup to dissolve. Leave everything to infuse until just warm, then sieve the syrup into a jug. When cooled, pour over the cheesecake and put in the fridge overnight to set. Carefully remove the cake from tin before serving.

WATERMELON LIME CHEESECAKE BITES

Steps:

• Make the lime cheesecake filling:
• To a bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment (hand mixer works here as well), add cream cheese, lime zest, lime juice, and vanilla extract. Whisk on medium/high speed until combined. Turn off the mixer and add the powdered sugar. Whisk on the lowest speed until sugar is fully incorporated into the cream cheese mixture. Increase the speed to medium/high and mix until fluffy, about 40 seconds. Add the heavy cream in 3 parts, allowing the heavy cream to thicken after each addition before adding more heavy cream. Mix until thickened, about 30 seconds. Transfer the lime cheesecake to a large piping bag fitted with a round or star tip and place in the freezer while you prepare the watermelon rounds.
• Prepare the watermelon rounds:
• Cut the watermelon into disks about 2 inches thick. Using a 2 inch round cookie or biscuit cutter, cut about 5-6 cylinders out of each watermelon disk. Remove any seeds (seedless watermelons aren't exactly seedless) with tweezers. With a small cookie scoop (or the small end of a melon baller), hollow out the center of each watermelon round a bit, but not all the way through. Place the watermelon rounds (hollow side down) onto paper towels to drain any excess watermelon juice, about 15 minutes.
• To assemble:
• Remove piping bag containing lime cheesecake from the freezer. Pipe the lime cheesecake filling inside each watermelon indentation until you reach the very top. Garnish with lime slices and serve immediately.

KEY LIME CHEESECAKE

Steps:

• Place a greased 9-in. springform pan on a double thickness of heavy-duty foil (about 18 in. square). Securely wrap foil around pan. , In a large bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs and sugar; stir in butter. Press onto the bottom of prepared pan. Place pan on a baking sheet. Bake at 350° for 10 minutes. Cool on a wire rack. , In a large bowl, beat the cream cheeses, sugar substitute, sugar and flour until smooth. Add eggs; beat on low speed just until combined. Stir in the sour cream, lime juice, vanilla, lime zest and food coloring if desired. Pour filling onto crust. , Place springform pan in a large baking pan; add 1 in. of hot water to larger pan. Bake at 350° for 40-45 minutes or until center is just set and top appears dull. Remove springform pan from water bath. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Carefully run a knife around edge of pan to loosen; cool 1 hour longer. , Chill overnight. Refrigerate leftovers.