This Apricot Cheesecake recipe is another old family favorite and has been for over 40 years. More importantly it is a cold set cheesecake so there is no cooking involved. The recipe came from the Australian Women’s Weekly and made a reappearance in an old box of recipe cards that came out sometime in the 80s. Apricot Cheesecakes are not that popular really, yet there are many examples of apricot cheesecakes on the internet. I have also seen this one called Apricot Syrup Cheesecake. I have never made it and had someone say to me, “I had a slice of this last week”. For this reason if you want something different this is the one to try. This is a beautiful, sweet, soft and smooth, cold set Cheesecake. It helps if you like Apricots, of course. If you do, you will love this cheesecake and you will make it again and again. I won’t lie, it is fiddly to make but well worth it. Enjoy!
Ingredients
Base
5 oz (155 g) plain biscuits crushed, Marie or Arrowroot will do
2 oz butter (75 g)
Filling
1 can (470 g) apricot nectar
1 tablespoon gelatin
12 oz (375 g) cream cheese
1 tablespoon lemon juice
½ pint ((1 ¼ cups) whipped cream
½ cup castor sugar
Topping
1 tablespoon sugar
1 ½ dessertspoon arrowroot powder
1 dessertspoon rum or brandy
Tin of Apricot halves for decoration
Method
Base
Line the base of an 8 inch (20 cm) spring-form pan with non stick baking paper. Crush the biscuits finely and mix withthe melted butter. Press firmly in the bottom of the spring form pan and refrigerate for 2 hours at least. Line the spring-form pan with non stick baking paper to make removal later easier.
Filling
Pour 1 cup of the apricot nectar into a small saucepan and reserve the remainder.
Sprinkle the gelatin over the top and stir over a low heat until dissolved. Allow to cool and thicken.
Beat softened cream cheese and sugar until smooth and creamy then add the lemon juice and the cooled apricot nectar and fold in whipped cream. Pour this mix into the spring-form pan, onto the biscuit crust and refrigerate for a minimum 2 hours or overnight.
Topping
Place the sugar and arrowroot in a saucepan and stir in the reserved apricot nectar. Bring to the boil stirring constantly.
Remove from the heat and add brandy or rum then continue to stir until cool.
Spread this over the top of the cheesecake.
Decorate with Apricot halves and piped whipped cream.
Put back into the refrigerator to set.
Hints
You can start making this a day earlier because it needs to set overnight.
Line the spring-form pan with non stick baking paper to make removal easier.
You can check out springform cake pans here.
Use the small single serve spring-form pans for individual serves (great impact for a dinner party, but time consuming). They are available online at Amazon here.
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