Lemon and Amaretti Cheesecake

This is the second of my party food posts from the weekend! First I posted a yummy Tenderstem Broccoli and Sundreid Tomato Quiche which formed part of our buffet dinner. Today I’m sharing one of the puddings, my lemon and amaretti cheesecake!

Lemon cheesecakes are perhaps my favourite cheesecakes because the acidity beautifully cuts through the rich creaminess of the cheese, but a simple lemon cheesecake is not enough, I had to jazz it up a little more.

Amaretti biscuits seemed to me the perfect addition to a lemon cheesecake. Amaretti is Italian for ‘little bitter things’ as they are small round biscuits made from almonds, egg and sugar, with a texture not dissimilar to macaroons and have a bitter taste. It was this bitterness that I believed would give a well rounded flavour to the cheesecake.

Once crushed and combined with the butter they turn the base of a cheesecake from something that’s just there for a bit of texture into the star of the dish! Many of my guests hadn’t tried amaretti biscuits before so couldn’t quite put their finger on what the added ingredient was, but they all absolutely loved it and said the cheesecake stood out from the rest of the desserts. (A few of my guests who knew the liquer Amaretto quite well had suspicions I'd spiked the dessert!)

By using amaretti biscuits you can turn a nice cheesecake into an exciting, luxurious cheesecake that your guests won’t be able to stop talking about!