#RooibosDay / #RooibosDag
So, today is National Rooibos Day in South Africa. It is the first Rooibos Day ever. After 300 years of consumption, it is about time this plant with its wonderful health benefits gets its own celebratory day!
The rooibos plant is naturally found in the Cederberg Mountains in the Western Cape and is indigenously South African first used by the indigenous Khoisan people. Because Clanwilliam is so closely situated to the Cederberg Mountains, this small town will be the host of the Rooibos Day celebrations with all glory to this wonder tea!
Because of the tea’s international popularity, many tourists visit the Western Cape especially to explore the Rooibos Route. You can read more about this route here.
Rooibos tea does not contain any caffeine making it great to consume during pregnancy. It is also low in tannins, making it less bitter and more naturally sweet. Rooibos is also high in anti-oxidants that help:
• Reduce aging
• Fight cancer cells,
• Enhance the immune system
You can read more about the history of rooibos tea on the Agri Orbit website. If you would like to know more about Rooibos Day, you can follow the website here.
RedEspresso® = Rooibos Espresso
If you are a big rooibos-lover (and cheesecake lover) like I am, this recipe is especially for you! I use RedEspresso® shots in my recipe. RedEspresso® is a staple in our house and it creates extremely intense rooibos tea, perfect for Red Cappuccinos or Red Lattés.
If you don’t have an espresso machine, you can boil 3 teabags with a cup of water to get a very strong tea that you can use instead of the rooibos tea shots.
I cannot wait to come up with more recipes using this versatile plant that is indigenously South African. Here’s to Rooibos Tea!
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 Packet of Tennis Biscuits (200g)
- 120g Butter (melted)
- 5ml Cinnamon
- 30ml Cake Flour
- 15ml Honey (optional)
Filling
- 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
- 100ml Caster Sugar
- 100ml Red Espresso (Rooibos Espresso)
- 150 ml Cream
- 15ml Freshly Squeezed Lemon Juice
- 10ml Powdered Gelatine
- 5ml Rooibos Tea
- Honey (for garnish)
- Blueberries (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 23cm tart pan and move outwards until the wall of the tart pan is also coated. Neaten the corners of the tart pan by pressing a little harder towards the wall and make sure that the crumb crust doesn’t slope to form a thick corner.
- Bake for 15 minutes.
- Cool on a wire rack.
Filling
- 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 red espresso and mix until combined.
- ‘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.
- Make a rooibos powder from the rooibos tea and by using a pestle and mortar.
- Cut blueberries in half and gently place it in the middle of the set cheesecake.
- Swirl some honey over the cheesecake and on top of the blueberries.
- Dust with rooibos powder.
- Your cheesecake is ready to be served!
This looks delicious. I have some Rooibos from Kenya in my cabinet so I’ll have to give your recipe a try!
Hi Charlie. It is really good! If you love rooibos tea, you will love this. It’s great to hear people from all over the world knows what rooibos tea is. Let me know what you think of the cheesecake. xx