Madhouse recipe : No-bake marscapone cheesecake

Holyart, an online e-commerce for religious and natural products made by a number of monasteries, recently got in touch and asked if I'd like to try out some of their foodie products. They are based in Italy but sell all over the world and they sent me two of their products to try out: a jar of "Limoni E Mapo", lemon and tangelo marmalade made by the discalced Carmelites of San Remo in Italy, which is produced according to ancient recipes and artisanal methods, and extra bitter cocoa powder, produced by the trappist monks of the Frattocchie monastery using traditional recipes and 100% natural ingredients.

The cocoa powder is as bitter as it sounds and the lemon and tangelo marmalade is gorgeously fresh and fruity but also very tart, so I decided I needed to incorporate them into a sweet dessert recipe (although I want to try the marmalade in a glaze on pork or chicken too). As it's been really hot lately, I've been trying lots of no-bake recipes so this marscapone cheesecake was ideal. It's quick and simple to put together and is really refreshing at the end of a meal.

No-bake marscapone cheesecake

ingredients:

5 digestive biscuits

40g butter

250g marscapone

80g sugar

squeeze of lemon juice

topping 1 :  lemon and tangelo marmalade

topping 2 : 1 banana + extra bitter cocoa powder + crushed pasteli (sesame/honey biscuits)

Put the biscuits in a plastic bag and crush them with a rolling pin.

Melt the butter in the microwave and mix in the biscuit crumbs.

Press into the bottom of individual ramekins and put in the fridge to chill.

Gently fold the sugar and lemon juice into the marscapone with a spatula.

Spoon the marscapone mixture on top of the biscuit bases then dollop a tablespoonful of lemon and tangelo marmalade on top.

These were my favourites because they are really fresh, fruity and zesty.

For the second option, I placed slices of banana in the ramekins then sprinkled cocoa powder and crushed pasteli on top. (Pasteli are the sesame/honey biscuits that I had in my Greek-themed Kitchen Trotter box.)

The kids loved these ones and the different flavours and textures all balanced perfectly - soft sweet banana, crunchy sweet honey/sesame biscuit, bitter cocoa powder, cold smooth marscapone ...

This is such a quick dessert - it takes all of ten minutes to throw together - but it looks and tastes really special.

Disclosure : I received the marmalade and cocoa powder in order to write an honest review and use them in a recipe.