Prep time:

Cooking time:

Total time:

Serves: 6

250g Digestive Biscuits

125g Melted Butter

1 Pack of Lemon Jelly Crystals

2 Purple Sun Carrots

1 Thumb sized piece of Ginger

250g Cream Cheese

225g Caster Sugar

1tsp Vanilla Extract

½tsp Mixed Spice

1 Can of Evaporated Milk

This fluorescent purple cheesecake takes the best bits of carrot cake (the creamy frosting and spices) and ditches the worst (the baking and fuss). It’s coloured entirely by the natural hue of the carrots, but if you don’t like the purple there are plenty of other shades to pick from. Miss the walnuts? Just shove a handful of chopped ones into the base mix.

  1. Seal the biscuits in a plastic bag and whack them with a rolling pin until they are crushed, then mix with the melted butter.
  2. Press the biscuits/butter rubble onto the base of a 25cm spring-form cake tin. Bake for 10 minutes in a preheated 150°C / gas mark 2 oven and leave to cool.
  3. Dissolve the jelly crystals in 200ml hot water.
  4. Grate the carrots and ginger using a microplane (extremely fine grater). The goal is a fluffy confetti, not chunky shards.
  5. Beat the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla extract, mixed spice, carrots and ginger in a mixing bowl until well combined,
  6. Whisk the chilled evaporated milk in a large mixing bowl until it thickens like whipped cream. This only works if it is well chilled, so make sure it is icy cold before you start.
  7. Fold in the cheese/carrot mixture and, last of all, stir through the lemon jelly liquid.
  8. Pour the mixture over the cooled base and refrigerate overnight or for at least 8 hours.
  9. Serve decorated with carrot leaves (which are edible, by the way) and slices of carrot.

  • words:
  • pictures: Jason Ingram

You may also like

Pot-roast chicken pot au feu

Pot au feu is a classic French dish literally translating to ‘pot in fire’. All the flavours of a well-bred free-range chicken mingle together with summer baby vegetables, herbs and white wine. The technique may be French and harking back...

Cured trout, crème fraîche & pickled kohlrabi, cucumber & dill

This easy starter is impressive in looks and taste; taking only minutes to prepare, it does need to be chilled overnight in the fridge and is a perfect light and summery dish to have ready to serve when your guests...

Gooseberry & elderflower fool

Gooseberries often lose out in the popularity contest to other soft seasonal fruit. These tart and firm little berries just need a little heat and sweetness to reveal their charms. Here Robin pairs the tasty fruit with the classic pairing...