Millions of Peaches, Peaches for Me
Peaches have been in season for quite some time, and boy, am I happy about that! After mangoes and raspberries, peaches are my favourite. A peach is so delicious and juicy! The colours are so appealing, ranging from light orange, pink to dark purple – a beautifully constructed ombré.
When I was a child I was always the unlucky one who would get a worm in their fruit. Since then I have always been cautious when eating fruit. Luckily I have not found a worm staring from the fruit I have just bitten into for many years. Phew…
My husband loves fruit. Unfortunately I am a picky fruit-eater. I mainly buy the groceries in the house and I have to make sure there is a lot of fruit for my husband. The nice thing about choosing the groceries is that I also choose which fruits I buy for the house. Peaches being my 3rd favourite fruit will always be in the house when they are in season.
Stone Fruits
Peaches are classified as stone fruits. Nectarines are a variety of peaches. They are quite similar in taste, but the skins of nectarines are smooth. The skins of peaches are fuzzy. I know a few people who cannot stand peaches with fuzzy skins – they cannot even touch it! The struggle is real!
My favourite variety is peaches with white flesh.
A Clingstone or Freestone Peach?
Have you noticed that the stones of some peaches are removed easily and some not so much? The reason being is that peaches are either clingstone or freestone. The flesh of clingstone peaches is tightly against the stones. These types of peaches will hold their shape better when they are cooked, thus these peaches are most often used for canning purposes. You will be able to remove the stone from freestone peaches much easier because the flesh does not stick to the stones that much. These peaches are easier to eat.
This cheesecake is light and fluffy. I hate a gelatinous cheesecake that almost needs a knife to cut through!
Enjoy!
xxx
Ingredients
Crust:
- 1 Packet of Tennis Biscuits (200g)
- 120g Butter (melted)
- 30ml Cake Flour
Filling:
- 4 Fresh Peaches
- 1 Tub Full Fat Smooth Cottage Cheese (250g; room temperature)
- 1 Tub Plain Full Fat Cream Cheese (230g; room temperature)
- 5ml Vanilla Essence or Vanilla Extract
- 60ml Caster Sugar
- 150 ml Cream
- 15ml Freshly Squeezed Lemon Juice
- 10ml Powdered Gelatine
- Peaches & Mint for Garnish
Instructions
Crust:
- Preheat the oven to 175°C.
- Crush the biscuits in a food processor until fine. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix until well combined and without clumps.
- By using your hands, press the biscuit mixture against the bottom of a rectangular oven pan or 23cm tart pan. If you are using a rectangular pan there will not be enough of the biscuit mixture for the sides as well. Make sure the bottom is as equal as possible to ensure a crust that is equally thick on all sides.
- Bake for 12 minutes or until golden in colour.
- Cool on a wire rack.
Filling:
- Wash the peaches and remove the stones. Cut into a few smaller pieces. By using a stick blender / emulsion blender, blend the peaches until fine and a purée forms.
- In a small microwave-safe container add 4 teaspoons (20ml) of water and sprinkle the gelatine over. Let the gelatine stand for a few minutes until all of the water has been absorbed. Melt the hydrated gelatine in the microwave until the gelatine is completely liquid – MAKE SURE NOT TO LET IT BOIL. Let it stand until it reaches room temperature. Pour the melted gelatine into a larger metal bowl.
- By using a stand mixer or a hand mixer, mix the cottage cheese and cream cheese, vanilla essence, and caster sugar until it is smooth. Make sure you wipe down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Add the peach purée and mix well.
- ‘Temper’ the gelatine with 50ml of the cream. Slowly add the cream cheese mixture with gelatine mixture and mix until well combined. Add the lemon juice.
- Whip the remaining cream with a stand mixer or a hand mixer until it reaches stiff peaks. Slowly fold in the cream with the cream cheese gelatine mixture.
- Transfer the filling to the cool tart shell. The top will already be smooth, so it is not necessary to try smoothing it out even further.
- Pop the cheesecake into the fridge for a few hours until completely set.
- Cut some extra peaches and place it on top of the cheesecake. You can also add some crème fraîche dollops to finish it off. If you would like to you can cut the cheesecake into pieces and garnish only once it is on a plate and ready to be served (this will ease the cutting process).
- Your cheesecake is ready to be served!
ymmy Renske ek gaan dit probeer. Jou resepte maak my mond water!
Hi tannie Louise. Tannie moet dit beslis probeer. Garnish sommer met lekker baie perskes dan is die smaak so lekker!
Laai asb. ‘n foto op FB as tannie dit probeer het. Dis altyd so lekker om te hoor en te sien mense probeer actually my resepte. xxx