After almost a week in Baskinta with a lot of things happening and so much prep to do, this week was a calmer one. The weather decided to take it easy on us as well. Of course I haven’t tried to go to the beach but I still went out after 5, like an office employee.

A while ago, when I got my hands on some blueberries from Toot Berry, a local berry producer (FINALLY!), I decided to use them in every way possible. In a previous post, I shared a recipe for Blueberry Green Tea ice tea. Now I’ll be sharing a blueberry swirl cheesecake made my way. I realized also that I don’t have any legit cheesecake recipes here. So here’s to the first one! AND BLUEBERRIES!!!

The typical cheesecake, the no-bake ones at least, include whipped cream, cream cheese, and sometimes sweetened condensed milk and gelatin. I like my cheesecake with a bite of tartness and no gelatin please. I don’t like the cheesecake to be overly sweet, except maybe because of the fruits. So I don’t add any sugar, and I add a few tablespoons of labneh for thethexture, creaminess, and tartness. I love labneh in desserts. It is very versatile.
Labneh is simply strained yogurt, stripped from most of the whey, a creamy mass, spreadable on its own on bread and toast, or in pita bread with vegetables and fresh herbs, or mixed with little garlic and served in a plate with vegetables and bread to scoop, or as I like to use it as well, in sweets. Cheesecake is where I like to use this original dairy product in, try thinning it with milk or water and serve it with fruits and honey for breakfast, with granola, to make frozen yogurt treats, or to top Sumner fruits. The possibilities are endless. Share your favorite way of using labneh in the comments below!

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For the cheesecake base, I used a big box of biscuits crushed into a powder to make a high-sided pie. Go ahead and use any type, digestive or your local tea biscuits. It’s only a difference in texture and flavor, I can say. I whipped the cream then added the labneh and cream cheese and set aside. Then I cooked half of the blueberries slightly with some sugar in a pot to get then to burst and release their beautiful blue violet, the color of the sky minutes before dusk, and to get their flavors to meld with the creamy goodness underneath and dance into simple swirls. Stud the top with generous handfuls of fresh blueberries.

Olly eyes the subject

Olly pretends she doesnt care

Olly takes a chance

Blueberry Swirl No-bake Labneh Cheesecake 

Ingredients 

For the crust

• 300g biscuits, digestive or tea biscuits
• 50g butter, melted

For the filling

• 2 cups whipping cream
• 200g cream cheese
• 200g labneh
• 2 cups blueberries
• 4-5 tbsp sugar

Procedure

• Crush the biscuits in a food processor or in a bag into a fine ground. (I used to make a mistake of not making them fine enough. They wouldn’t absorb the butter evenly and they wouldn’t hold well together)
• Add the melted butter and mix well until evenly coated. Press well into a springform pan. I like crust, so I lifted mine high up over where I’m expecting the filling to be and pressed it well. If it isn’t holding well, mix more melted butter and press
• Cover with plastic wrap and chill
• In a deep saucepan, mix 1 cup blueberries with the sugar and gently heat over low heat, stirring occasionally. Once they release some juices and color, and the sugar has dissolved, remove from heat and cool
• In a large bowl, beat the cream until fluffy with stiff peaks
• In another bowl, mix the labneh and cream cheese until homogeneous and smooth then gently fold into the cream until well incorporated
• Spoon the cooled cooked berries onto the cream mixture. Run a knife or a tablespoon’s handle into the mixture to create swirls
• Top with the remaining blueberries, cover and chill
• Serve within a day or two to prevent the crust from becoming soggy