100th Post - Lemon Citrus Cheesecake

Its my 100th post...''Wooohhooo".. I'm totally ecstatic and overwhelmed at the fact that I have made it this far. After all the zillion ISD calls to my Mum on the basics,  I feel 'I'm not that bad a cook now'. So thank you Mummy for the constant thunderous verbal admonishing. Thank you Sat and Arun for being the guinea pigs to my every created dish and sometimes to the disastrous ones too. Thank you Jen gurl and BJ for being my everyday tasters to the desserts and bakes I dish out. My all time assistant needs special mention which is my son, for pitching in to help which only results in a messed up kitchen and house. And much to your surprise you just might find my vegetable peeler in his toy box, or an onion peel stuffed into the DVD player.

Speaking of my "My blog", this is something that birthed out of sheer boredom. In my random surfing on the net I have came across images of dishes being plated/ baked/made in the most exquisite and alluring ways possible. And bang on I knew that more than the cooking, its capturing the food through the lens that gives me the absolute pleasure. A new found hobby, and blogging is all about a continuous journey of not only cooking different culinary styles, but experimenting the new, being introduced to the unknown and getting to know amazing blogger friends. An ode to myself for having reached one of the many milestones - Cheers!!

Ingredients:
[For the base]
Digestive Biscuits - 150gms crushed
Butter - 2 oz melted

For the filling
Lemon Jelly - 5oz
Cream Cheese - 8oz
Castor Sugar - 4oz
Vanilla Essence - 1/2tsp
Whipping cream - 250ml
Sour cream - 150ml

To garnish
Kiwi - cut into semi roundrels
Strawberries - quartered

Into a large bowl, combine the crushed biscuits and melted butter. Press onto the bottom of a well greased of 8-9 inch spring form pan. Refrigerate to chill while making the filling.
Dissolve the jelly in 150ml of hot water, and leave it cool and set partially. In the meantime, using a hand - mixer beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat in vanilla essence. Add the sour cream and beat well. Into another clean bowl beat the whipping cream till stiff and soft peaks are formed. Fold the cheese mixture into the whipped cream. Fold in half-set jelly. Pour over the biscuit base and leave to set in the refrigerator overnight. Once the cheesecake has set, garnish with kiwis and strawberries and serve.

Tip: To procure lemon jelly is what I found difficult, so instead used 2tsps of gelatin dissolved in 4-5tbs of water. Microwave the gelatin mixture for about 5-10 secs till dissolved. Add about 1tsp of lemon essence to the gelatin mixture. Add this to the folded cream cheese mixture and combine well.