Lingonberry cheesecake

Lingonberry cheesecake I had planned to make another cranberry cake for the Christmas dinner, but on the day I did the shopping, I had a choice between imported American cranberries or local Estonian lingonberries. As both berries are tart and sour, I opted for the berries that hadn't been on a long-haul flight, and I also picked up a jar of fresh lingonberry jam (IKEA sells a nice one). I used curd cheese - kohupiim - that is very common in Estonia, but feel free to use cream cheese - the texture is slightly different, but both should work.

Lingonberry cheesecake
(Pohla-kohupiimatort)



Base:
350 grams plain chocolate biscuits
150 grams butter, melted

Cheesecake mixture:
400-500 grams plain curd cheese or cream cheese
400 ml whipping cream
400 grams sweetened lingonberry jam
50 ml sugar
12 gelatine sheets

To decorate:
lingonberries

Crush the biscuits and mix with melted butter. Press the mixture into a baking sheet (I used 22x32 cm, cover with a large piece of baking paper) and put into a fridge.
Whisk whipping cream with some sugar until soft peaks form.
In another bowl, mix the cream or curd cheese with lingonberry jam.
Mix whipped cream and creamed cheese.
Is using gelatine sheets, soak in cold water for 5 minutes, then squeeze dry, mix with 50 ml boiling water and mix, until gelatine has dissolved.
Add to the cream cheese mixture, mixing vigorously, so you wouldn't end up with any lumps. Throw in few generous handfuls of berries, if you wish.
Pour the cheese mixture onto the crushed biscuit base and put the cake in a fridge for at least 4-5 hours or until the following day (or two).
Before serving, lift the cake out with the help of the baking paper. Decorate with lingonberries and cut into small squares.