Burnt lime leaf cheesecake & minty mango

The lime leaf glut continues...

I’m back on the lime leaves

Regular listeners may recall the crispy coconut cauliflower and lime leaf dressing from the other week. Well, the lime tree is growing so quickly you can almost see it and I have more leaves than I know what to do with.

A lime leaf glut

This calls for recipes that require more than just a couple of leaves delicately infusing a curry. This glut needs recipes that uses fistfuls of leaves.

Lime and cheesecake

It’s a familiar combo – regular lime and cream cheese baked or fridge-chilled. So here I’ve experimented with makrut leaves chopped to a powder and mixed into a baked cheesecake in the Basque style. The basic recipe is an adaptation of one by Ravneet Gill in The Guardian. At first, I tried infusing the cream with lime leaves but the flavour was too subtle (and it only used a few leaves), so I went all in and stirred flecks of fresh leaves into the mixture instead.

It’s delicious, and a doddle to make, but barely makes a dent in the lime leaf glut. So if you need some lime leaves, let me know. I’ll post you some…

Parish notice

A quick reminder for paid subscribers about the next live cookery class:

• WHEN: Wednesday 30th April at 1pm GMT

• WHERE: Live from the greenhouse here on Substack

• WHAT: 3 Ways with rhubarb that aren’t crumble. The maincrop rhubarb harvest is just beginning and I always think it gets overlooked in favour of the cuter forced rhubarb. Which is a shame because it is, as you will discover, excellent for pickling, roasting, poaching and using in salads, puddings, ceviche and beyond.

Reminder and joining info coming on Monday.

Burnt lime leaf cheesecake with mango

For clarity, it’s the cheesecake that’s burnt not the leaves. Caramelised would be a better way to describe the toasty edges and top achieved by cooking it hot and fast, as traditionally done in the Basque region where this method originated, but (and purists look away now) infused with here with makrut lime leaves. The overnight resting is essential for both a creamy cake and a juicy mango accompaniment.

Serves 8

• 650g full-fat cream cheese

• 300g golden caster sugar

• 5 eggs

• 8-10 makrut lime leaves