Recipe: Black Grapes Cheesecake by Zalak Maheshwari

By Akhileshwari Anand Raj

Preparation Time - 30 mins

Baking Time - 20 mins

Number Of Servings - 8

Cheesecakes are special in every way. The crumbly crust made of biscuits and the soft cheesecake filling on top make it an adventure to eat. There are so many ways one can make cheesecake, with berries and chocolate flavours being the most popular. Home bakers have also put a spin on it and made it with Indian desserts – gulab jamun, kheer, and paan being top flavours.

Zalak Maheshwari’s recipe for Black Grapes Cheesecake is something very unique. Here is what she has to say about it -

“Baking has always been my first love and something I love to do. I have always worked on using healthy and fresh ingredients in my baking. Since my friends and family enjoy my experiments, I continue to try out different things. This recipe came about because we liked blueberry cheesecake a lot, but we never found fresh blueberries near us. So I substituted black grapes for the blueberries and made black grapes cheesecake It came out really well, and it was much healthier than eating processed food.”

Black Grapes Cheesecake

Ingredients:

For the Base Cake:

Cream Cheese - 1/2 cup

Ricotta Cheese - 1/4 cup

Refined flour - 1/4 cup

Powdered sugar - 1/4 cup

Baking powder - 1/4 tsp

Cinnamon powder - 1/4 tsp

Lemon juice - 1/2 tsp

Lemon zest - 1/4 tsp

Butter - 1 tbsp

Butter cookies - 5-6

For the Top layer jelly:

Concentrated Black Grapes juice (which you can make by blending it in your blender) - 1/2 cup

Lemon juice - 1/4 tsp

Sugar - 2 tsp

Agar-agar powder – 1 tsp

Water – 2 tbsp

Method:

1. For the base, crush the cookies and mix it in with the butter to form a firm mixture.

2. Use a circular mould, preferably with a ring that is detachable. Line this with butter paper. Spread the cookies mixture in it and press it downward to make an even layer, using a spoon.

3. Freeze this for 15 minutes.

4. Preheat your oven to 170-degree Celcius.

5. In one bowl, add the cream cheese, ricotta cheese, sugar, and baking powder. Mix all of this until the sugar is thoroughly incorporated. Use a hand mixer for this step.

6. Now, to this, add refined flour, lemon juice, cinnamon powder, and lemon zest. Fold it in.

7. Take out the biscuit mixture from the freezer and add the cream cheese mixture to mould.

8. Bake this cake for 20 minutes.

9. Let this rest in the oven for five to ten more minutes, and then remove it and let it cool.

10. For the jelly mixture, take the water and agar-agar powder in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave it for 2 minutes, till the mixture becomes thick and slimy.

11. Add the fresh black grape juice, lemon juice, and sugar to it.

12. You can also add food colouring to the jelly but that is optional.

13. Mix it well and pour it on the cheesecake.

14. Freeze it for 1 hour.

15. Remove the cake from the mould, and garnish with some fresh grapes and lemon wedges.

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