Strawberries and Cream Pie

The fruity theme continues! This recipe evolved from a total experiment – I was going to make a traditional strawberry cheesecake for pudding, but wondered how it would work if the strawberries were combined with the cheesecake mix rather than as a topping.

Truth be told, this was also an attempt at being cunning! Little S isn’t the greatest berry fan, and she’s be known to scrape off any recognisable berry, so I reckoned in combining them with the cream cheese mixture she wouldn’t have the option! Good plan it was too! By adding the strawberry purée to the cream cheese mix the filling becomes more mousse like, the flavour is spot on ‘strawberries and cream’, and it looks rather elegant too!

Strawberries and Cream Pie (dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, sesame-free, vegetarian and vegan)

• 1/2 pack Bourbon biscuits, crushed
• 1 tbsp dairy-free spread, melted
• 1 tub tofutti cream cheese
• 1 cup chopped strawberries
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/4-1/2 cup icing sugar, depending on taste

– Mix together the crushed biscuits and melted spread and press into the bottom of a loose leaf cake tin
– Place in the fridge to set
– Meanwhile, whizz up the strawberries in a food processor until they become a smooth purée
– Add the cream cheese, vanilla and 1/4 cup of icing sugar
– Pulse until it has formed a smooth mixture that’s well combined
– Taste and add more icing sugar if desired
– Pour over the biscuit base and leave to set in the fridge for a couple of hours