For all gourmands, and especially those with a sweet tooth, spring is the season for red fruit desserts, so much better when they are prepared during the peak season. Strawberries are particularly in the spotlight, often combined with rhubarb, particularly in tarts. But blogger Emma Geoffroy decided to revisit the concept with a generous, very airy cheesecake. She is for this inspired by the Mazaltov cake from Meilleur Ouvrier de France Jean-Paul Hévin, but also Alsatian white cheese tart. “At my house, it was literally a hit! Even the teenagers, who had decided that they didn’t like rhubarb, asked for more!” she assures. It is, however, a recipe that requires time and a large quantity of egg whites. It is therefore better to tackle it on the weekend or on a public holiday.
Strawberry-rhubarb syrup and express biscuit
Start by making a syrup by pouring 20 cl of water into a saucepan. Add 2 cm of peeled and sliced ginger as well as 50 g of sugar. Cook everything for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, peel and cut 250 g of rhubarb into sections, and add them to the syrup. Cover and cook for an additional 5 to 6 minutes. Remove the ginger and rhubarb, then reserve the latter in a cool place. Place 100 g of strawberries and 30 g of additional sugar in your mixture and cook it for 15 to 20 minutes more to obtain a nice syrupy consistency. Filter through a strainer and keep the syrup cool.
For the biscuit base, Emma Geoffroy uses a very simple trick. Finely mix 175 g of dry biscuits. Add 70 g of melted butter and mix well. Place this dough in a 26 cm mold with a high edge (ideally hinged to facilitate unmolding), packing it down well. Add your rhubarb compote and your ginger, taking care to leave at least one centimeter of space with the edge. The goal is for them not to be visible once the cheesecake is cooked. Keep everything cool.
The technique for a very airy cheesecake
For the heart of the preparation, clarify around a dozen eggs. The objective is to keep 3 yolks and 370 g of whites. In a salad bowl, mix the yolks with 570 g of 0% fat cottage cheese, 120 g of sugar, 1 sachet of vanilla sugar, 70 g of cornstarch and the juice of half a lemon. Beat your whites until stiff with 100 g of sugar. First incorporate two tablespoons of it into your mixture to loosen it, then the rest delicately with a spatula. Pour this mixture over your biscuit and your rhubarb and smooth it well.
Place everything in an oven preheated to 240°C. After about 10 minutes, when your cheesecake has browned, open the door to quickly lower the temperature to 150°C. Bake for another 50 to 60 minutes, until a knife comes out clean from the cake. Let it cool before unmolding. Sprinkle with icing sugar and place around ten fresh strawberries in the center, then finally top with your syrup, before serving.