Lime and ginger cheesecake (no-bake)

Big brothers, they're a pain right? They think they know better than you purely because they're a couple of years older (they sooo don't); they get ridiculously overprotective when they see you talking to pretty much anyone from the male of the species; they reckon they know how to make a better cup of tea than you (I don't think so); and then they pretend that they don't read your blog but subsequently tell you that you post too many chocolate based recipes on it. Too many chocolate based recipes??? Pfft, right, like that's even possible!

And I'm not finished there. The litany of complaints continues: despite untold damage to their street cred, they literally hold your hand pretty much every day of your first year at school because you're too shy to talk to anyone and keep blubbering like a baby; they wake up at stupid times of the night to pick you up from the airport after your holidays so that you don't have to make your own way home with your oversized suitcase crammed with beauty lotions and potions and half your wardrobe; they buy you ridiculously expensive chocolates for no reason other than they know how much you love those teeny-weeny salted caramel truffles that cost a small fortune; and to cap things off, they give you darn good hugs and a shoulder to cry on when some loserface breaks your heart.

So you see, it's like I said, they're a pain. Furthermore, let it be clear that the non-chocolate based blog recipe below is purely to prove a point (this is in fact my second chocolate-free post in a row); in no way is it an attempt to please brother dearest. Hmph.

I can't take the credit for this recipe. It comes from a lovely colleague of mine, John, who not only was kind enough to make this amazing cheesecake for me, he then let me have the recipe and agreed to let me share it with you on my blog. So John, we salute you!

As it's a no-bake cheesecake, this is a pretty easy recipe to follow, yet it tastes incredible; I love the ginger and lime combination. Because I always feel short changed on the biscuit part of cheesecakes, I usually increase the amount of the base, but in this instance, instead I sprinkled extra crushed biscuit on top - almost like a crumble topping - so that you get delicious buttery ginger biscuit either side of the creamy hint-of-lime cheese. I also upped my mascarpone to cream cheese ratio because I love the rich smoothness of mascarpone. Served in individual ramekins, it makes an impressive-looking dessert...even if there's no chocolate in it!

Adapted from my friend John's recipe!

Serves 15-18 (you will need 15-18 ramekins. Alternatively make in one large, shallow dish)

• 400g ginger nuts
• 120g unsalted butter, melted
• 300g cream cheese (I used full-fat Philadelphia)
• 250g mascarpone
• 100g caster sugar
• Zest and juice of 1 lime

Place the biscuits in a food processor and blitz to a fine crumb. Alternatively, place them in a plastic sandwich bag and bash with a rolling pin until they are crushed then place them in a bowl. Add the melted butter to the biscuits and mix thoroughly to combine.

Set aside about a quarter of the crushed butter-biscuit mix in a small bowl, saving it for the topping. Layer the remaining three quarters in the base of your large serving dish or into your ramekins (I made individual desserts and had enough to layer 17 ramekins, filling each one with about three teaspoons of the mix). Press the crumbs down firmly with the back of a spoon or your fingers to even it out and so that it is approximately one centimetre in depth.

Chill in the fridge for 45 minutes to an hour.

Tip the two cheeses, sugar, lime zest and juice into a bowl and beat together with a wooden spoon until well mixed.

Remove the chilled biscuit layer from the fridge and spoon the cheese mix over the base, spreading it evenly so that it is about a centimetre thick.

Sprinkle the remaining biscuit crumbs that you had set aside over the cheese layer for decoration.

Cover with clingfilm and refrigerate again for at least two hours to allow to set.

The cheesecake should keep fine (covered to prevent it from drying out) in the fridge for three to four days.