With National Cheesecake Day this week, supermarket Aldi has a selection of desserts and recipes to mark what is for some a very important date in the diary.
So if you’re looking for a big family treat or something sweet and indulgent, you’ll be spoilt for choice with the range in store, starting from just £1.35.
If you prefer classic desserts, then Aldi’s New York Cheesecake (£2.49, 550g), available in Vanilla or Lemon, is exactly what you might go for. The traditional crumbly digestive biscuit base is topped with a creamy and silky smooth full fat soft cheese and flavoured with vanilla or lemon. Simple, sweet yet reminiscent of the New York classic.
The Specially Selected Cheesecakes are rich. Indulgent and available in Belgian Chocolate or Lemon & Mascarpone (£2.99). The Belgian Milk Chocolate Cheesecake (560g) is truly decadent. The crunchy digestive base is hand finished with a chocolate ganache and milk chocolate Belgian chocolate curls, whilst the Lemon & Mascarpone (539g) is flavoured with a zesty lemon sauce and topped with candied lemon pieces. Simply defrost and eat.
Can’t choose between ice cream and cheesecake? Well, you can have both with Aldi’s Specially Selected Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream (£1.89, 480ml). Made with British Double Cream, this deliciously creamy dairy cheesecake flavoured ice cream with swirls of strawberry sauce and crunchy digestive biscuit pieces, is packed full of flavour. Better still, its over £1 cheaper than Häagen-Dazs’ Ice Cream Strawberry Cheesecake.
For those of you looking to bake up your own cheesecake delight, Aldi has recipes for creating your own at home. Enjoy a moreish Baked Strawberry Cheesecake, get in the summer mood with a Summer Berry Cheesecake or experiment with a Gingerbread Cheesecake, don’t worry – these recipes are a piece of cake!
Aldi’s Baked Strawberry Cheesecake, 8 servings
Ingredients
- 2 x 227g Packs Fresh Strawberries
- 200g Digestive Biscuits
- 100g Unsalted Butter
- 40g Flaked Almonds
- 100g Caster Sugar
- 2 x Medium Eggs
- ½ tsp Vanilla Essence
- 150ml Soured Cream
- 2 x 200g Packs Plain Soft Cheese
- 50g Ground Almonds
- Sunflower Oil for greasing
- 22cm Spring Clip Cake Tin
Method
Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4.
Lightly grease the sides and base of the cake tin.
Break up the biscuits and put into a food processor.
Process until you have crumbs.
Melt the butter – add this to the biscuit crumbs and mix well.
Use to line the base and halfway up the sides of the cake tin.
Put in the fridge to chill for 10 minutes.
Wash and dry the strawberries.
Keep 4 back for decoration – remove the green leaves and finely chop the rest.
In a bowl mix the eggs, soft cheese, sour cream, caster sugar, ground almonds and vanilla essence.
Gently mix in the chopped strawberries.
Put the mixture into the cake tin.
Bake in the oven for 40 minutes until just set.
Remove and allow to cool.
Remove from the tin – decorate with remaining strawberries and serve.
Aldi’s Summer Berry Cheesecake, 8 servings
Ingredients
- 130g Digestive Biscuits
- 60g Scottish Butter
- 135g pack Delicious Desserts Strawberry Jelly
- 200g pack Full Fat Soft Cheese
- 150ml Scottish Double Cream
- 100g Fresh Strawberries
- 200g Scottish Raspberries
- 100g Fresh Blackberries
- Juice ½ Lemon
- 2lb loaf tin
Method
Line the base and sides of the loaf tin with some tin foil.
Break up the biscuits and put into a food processor and turn into fine crumbs.
Melt the butter and mix in with the crumbs.
Use this to line the base of the tin.
Put in the refrigerator to set.
Dissolve the jelly in 125ml boiling water.
Once dissolved add the soft cheese and whisk well to combine, then allow to cool.
Whisk the cream until thick and fold this into the cheese mix.
Pour into the prepared tin.
Put back into the fridge and leave until just setting – about 20 minutes.
Slice 30g of the strawberries and scatter them along with 30g raspberries and blueberries over the cheesecake.
With a small spoon, poke the fruit down into the mix, then put back in the fridge to completely set.
Mash 100g raspberries with the lemon juice, then sieve to remove the seeds.
Once the cheesecake is firm, turn out on a plate.
Decorate with the remaining berries and drizzle over the raspberry sauce.
Aldi’s Gingerbread Cheesecake, 10 servings
Ingredients
Cheesecake
- 200g Gingernut Biscuits
- 75g Unsalted Butter, melted
- 675g Cream Cheese
- 250ml Double Cream (plus 200ml to serve)
- 125g Brown Sugar
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 3 Medium Eggs
- 3 tbsp Plain Flour
- 1 tbsp Ground Ginger
- 1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
- 2 tbsp Caster Sugar
Poached Pears
- 5 Pears, ripe and peeled
- 75ml Maple Syrup (plus extra for serving)
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 300ml Water
- 1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
- 23cm/9in Loose Bottom Cake Tin
- Greaseproof Paper
Method
Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4.
Line the cake tin with greaseproof paper.
Blitz the biscuits into crumbs with the melted butter.
Press into the base of the cake tin and slightly up the sides.
Whisk the cream cheese until fluffy. Add the cream, sugar, cinnamon, ginger and vanilla and whisk again until fully combined.
Add the eggs one at a time, stirring and then stir in the flour.
Pour over the crumb base and bake for 45-50 minutes until set, but a slight wobble remains.
In the meantime, heat the water with the maple syrup, vanilla and cinnamon.
Add the pears and cover, poaching for approx. 15-20 minutes.
Whip the extra 200ml of double cream with the caster sugar.
Remove the cheesecake from the oven and, when cooled, pile the whipped cream on to the centre of the cake and place the pears around the edge.
Serve the cheesecake drizzled with maple syrup.
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