A cheesecake ice-cream cake with lime and gooseberries

For me, childhood summer memories are hot, hazy days building sandcastles, infinite hours in the swimming pool and endlessly sticky ice cream fingers. Unfortunately time marches on, but that doesn’t mean we have to stop having fun. Here is a legitimately childlike ice cream cake with a little boozy twist for the grown-ups. Gooseberries, lime and zingy citrus laced with a generous splash of gin make this dessert the perfect end to a balmy, festive meal.

If you’re a big cheesecake fan, then this dessert has also been created with you in mind. The big bonus is that you can make it way in advance and just pop it out of the freezer a few minutes before you’re ready to indulge.

Ingredients:

Prep time: 30 min | Freeze time: Overnight | Serves: 12 | Yields: One 25cm cake – to increase tiers simply double recipe as required

For the base
300 g ginger biscuits, finely ground
80 g butter, melted

For the ice cream cake
500 g cream cheese
770 g condensed milk
500 ml fresh cream
10ml (2 tsp) vanilla extract
Zest of 3 limes
100 g fresh gooseberries, halved

For the citrus and ginger topping
340 g orange marmalade
175 g ginger preserve, pieces halved
60 ml gin (can be omitted or replaced with a splash of fresh orange juice)
100 g ginger biscuits

Method:

1. Line the base of a 25 cm cake tin with baking paper.
2. Combine the finely ground biscuit crumbs with the melted butter.
3. Push the biscuit mixture firmly into the base of the cake tin and place the cake tin into the freezer to set.
4. Soften the cream cheese by beating vigorously with a spatula. Add in the condensed milk and combine thoroughly.
5. Whip the cream to stiff peak stage.
6. Fold in the cream cheese and condensed milk mixture, vanilla extract and lime zest.
7. Fold in the fresh gooseberries and pour into the cake tin.
8. Place into the freezer to set overnight.
9. While the cake is freezing, combine all the cake topping ingredients except the ginger biscuits.

When ready to serve, leave to sit out of the freezer for 10 minutes before attempting to remove from the cake tin. Remove the ice cream cake carefully, place on a cake stand and top with the citrus and ginger mixture and ginger biscuits. You could also prep this in a serving bowl if you’re worried about it melting off the cake stand and simply pop in the fridge and serve from the bowl.

Now this is one impressive dessert, fit for the best of summer’s days in South Africa. Whether it makes it onto your Christmas table this year, or perhaps, is reason enough to invite your friends over for a new year’s celebration, we would love to see your pics of it! Share them with us on Instagram.