7-Up Lemon Cheesecake with Strawberry Glaze

Ingredients:

For the Crumb Crust:
300g Graham Cracker (or Digestive Biscuit) Crumbs
100g icing sugar
100g butter; melted
1 tsp ground cinnamon

For the 7-Up Filling:
1 packet un-flavuored gelatine
60ml 7-up
2 large eggs
200g sugar
3 tbsp cornflour (cornstarch)
2 tbsp plain flour
300ml 7-up
1/2 tsp freshly-grated lemon zest
80ml lemon juice
50g butter
100ml water
330g cream cheese; softened

For the Strawberry Glaze:
120ml Strawberry jelly; melted
Fresh strawberries or unsweetened frozen whole strawberries, thawed

Method:

For the crust, combine the biscuit crumbs, icing sugar, cinnamon and melted butter in a bowl. Stir thoroughly to combine then press into the base and 4cm up the sides of a well buttered 22cm diameter springform cake pan. Place in the refrigerator to chill as you prepare the filling.

Combine the gelatine and 60ml 7-up in a bowl and set aside to soften as you prepare the lemon filling. Whisk the eggs in a large bowl and set aside. Meanwhile, combine the sugar, cornflour and flour in a large (at least 2l) saucepan. Whisk in the 7-up and water until smooth then place the mixture over medium hat and bring to a simmer, stirring frequently. Continue simmering for 2 minutes then take off the heat.

Whisk half the buttermilk mixture into the beaten eggs to temper them then pour the egg mixture into the pan and whisk to combine with the 7-up mix in there. Add the lemon zest, lemon juice and butter then heat over a medium flame, whisking constantly until the mixture thickens sufficiently to coat the back of a spoon (about 5 minutes), but ensure that the mixture does not boil or it will split. Add the softened gelatine and stir over gently heat until the gelatine has dissolved. Take off the heat and set aside to cool. When the mixture has begun to thicken beat the cream cheese until soft then whisk in the lemon pie filling.

Pour the resultant mix over the chilled crust then return to the refrigerator and chill over night, or until completely set. Now prepare the strawberry glaze. Add the strawberry jelly to a pan and heat until melted. Brush the top of the chilled cheesecake with the melted jelly then arrange the strawberries, so they stand upright, on top of the cake. Brush with the remaining melted strawberry jelly then chill for at least 2 hours before removing the sides of the cake tin and serving.