It may be labelled as a strawberry cheesecake, but strawberry cheesecake on toast is probably a more apt description. Alyn Williams' deconstructed cheesecake recipe plays on some traditional flavour combinations in an inventive, modern way.
Preheat the oven to 90°C
For the cheesecake, whisk together the milk, cream cheese and double cream until smooth and set aside.
Whisk the eggs and sugar together until smooth. Allow to settle and skim off any foamy mixture that floats to the top. Mix the whisked eggs and sugar with the cream cheese mixture. Pass through a sieve and set aside.
Pour the mixture into a 28cm x 13cm x 7cm tin and cook in a bain marie for 1 hour until just set and firm on top. Remove and leave to cool before refrigerating.
Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4. Heat the honey in a pan until boiling then whisk in the butter. Brush the bread liberally with the honey mixture and put the slices on a non-stick baking tray. Bake in the oven until caramelised (about 4-5 minutes). Take off the tray and set aside to cool. It should turn crispy when completely cool
Hull and quarter the four reserved strawberries and refrigerate. Hull and roughly chop the remaining strawberries and set aside in a bowl
Melt the sugar in a pan until soft-ball 112°C. Add the chopped strawberries and cook until stewed and soft
After sprinkling in the pectin, stir until dissolved and then pour the mixture into a blender and blitz until smooth. Transfer to a squeezy bottle and set aside
To serve swipe a spoonful of cheesecake onto the caramelized bread. Pipe three dots of strawberry purée on top of the cheesecake and finish with the strawberry quarters.
