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oday I am making an extremely simple and easy, yet awesomly delicious and gluten free dessert – no-bake fig, walnut and honey cheesecake! Good stuff!
A Few Words About Figs
Before I show you how to make it, let me tell you a few words about a wonderful flower that is most often so unjustly neglected, and almost never has a chance to shine under the spotlights. Figs! “Figs?!”, I hear you ask in disbelief, “Are you all right Tereza, what flower, what are you talking about?!” Well, I’m quite well, thanks for asking, and yes – in simple terms, figs are technically not a fruit ― they are inverted flowers!
You see, fig trees don’t flower like apples and peaches. Their flowers bloom inside the pear-shaped pod, which later matures into the fruit we eat. Each flower then produces a single, one-seeded, hard-shelled fruit called achene ― that’s what gives the fig the crunch we know ― and the fig is made up of multiple achene. So, when we eat a fig we are actually eating multiple fruits. Mind-blowing, right? However, that’s not the end of the uniqueness that sets the fig apart.
Since fig flowers bloom internally, they need a special process for pollination, since bees are useless in this case, and that’s where the fig wasp comes in. I will not get into details since this is a rather complicated relationship, but let me just say that without wasps there would be no figs, and vice versa – without figs there would not be wasps. Amazing! Of course, modern science has developed a way to produce self-pollinating cultivars, so the figs can reproduce without wasps, but still – mind-blowing stuff, don’t you agree? O.K., if you want to hear more interesting stuff about figs, listen to my educational intro! :)
My No-Bake Fig, Walnut and Honey Cheesecake
As I already mentioned, my no-bake fig, walnut and honey cheesecake is simple, delicious and gluten free! So today, I will make the cheesecake base out of walnuts, dried figs, orange zest, orange juice and some honey. Easy and super tasty! Next, I’ll make cream cheese mousse and pour it onto the base. When my cheesecake sets, I will top it with beautiful fresh figs, and drizzle some honey over them. Awesome! Now, if figs aren’t your cup of tea, take a glimpse at my other cheesecake recipes like, for example – cheesecake hearts with raspberry sauce, no-bake passion fruit cheesecake, strawberry cheesecake bars, no-bake double chocolate cheesecake, no-bake chocolate and passion fruit cheesecake, no-bake coconut cheesecake or guilt-free blueberry cheesecake, I hope you’ll find something you’ll like! So, without further ado I’ll get to work and show you how to make one super yummy, no bake, fig, walnut and honey cheesecake!
No-Bake Fig, Walnut and Honey Cheesecake Recipe
by:Tereza Alabanda,The Pastry Maestra
PRINT PDF (EN) ISPIŠI PDF (HR)Prep. time : 15 minutes
Cook time : 0 minutes
Ready in 15 minutes plus cooling
Level : Basic
Ingredients: Dried Fig and Walnut Base:- Dried figs 75g (2.6oz)
- Walnuts 50g (1.8oz)
- Orange zest 2g (1/2Tsp)
- Orange juice 10g (1Tbsp)
- Honey 5g (1Tsp)
- Cream cheese 200g (7oz)
- Sour cream 55g (2oz)
- Milk 55g (2oz)
- Sugar 55g (2oz)
- Gelatin 4g (2.5 leaves)
- Vanilla powder or scraped vanilla pod
- Cream (35%) 225g (8oz)
- Fresh figs
- Honey
- Place walnuts into a food processor and pulse until you roughly chop them. Add finely diced dried figs, orange zest, orange juice and honey, and pulse a couple of more times until you get crumbly and sticky mixture.
- Cover the bottom of three 8cm (about 3″) in diameter and 5cm (2″) high cake rings with cling film, and line them with acetate strip. Divide the mixture and press it into the bottom of your molds using the bottom of a glass or a back of a spoon. Put everything in the fridge.
- To make cream cheese mousse, soak gelatin in cold water. As soon as the gelatin softens take it out and squeeze to get rid of the excess water. Put the cream cheese into a bowl, and mix it with a silicone spatula until it becomes smooth. Add sour cream and continue mixing until the mixture becomes uniform. Put milk into another bowl, add sugar and vanilla and stir with a whisk to combine. Heat up this mixture in the microwave. When the milk gets hot add gelatin and stir until it melts. Add this mixture to cream cheese mixture and stir with a whisk until it becomes uniform. Whip the cream in a stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment to soft peaks. Add cream cheese mixture into the whipped cream and stir with a whisk until the mixture becomes uniform.
- Transfer the mousse into a piping bag without tip and fill the molds all the way to the top. Level the mousse using a small spatula and put everything in the freezer until it sets.
- Remove frozen cheesecakes from the mold. Place fresh figs onto the mousse and drizzle some honey over the figs.
- There, your delicious no-bake fig, walnut and honey cheesecake is done! Enjoy!
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