No Bake Dirty Coke Cheesecake

A couple of years ago, when surfing online,  I saw a recipe on the fabulous blog Sugar Hero – for Dirty Coke Fudge.

The name of the recipe intrigued me and I read on. I discovered that a dirty coke was cola flavoured with coconut syrup and lime juice.

Elizabeth at Sugar Hero explained that the drink can be made with other fizzy drinks such as Dr Pepper and Pepsi. She loved the flavour combination so much she turned it into a fudge.

Intrigued, I decided to make the fudge too and it was a revelation. Coconut, lime and cola go so well together, I was a convert!

Recently we had Disneyboi’s family over for a few drinks and we put on a buffet, the usual nibbles, that I had made for my family visiting recently. Sarnies, crisps, sausage rolls and so on. For the dessert though, instead of the Chocolate and Peanut Butter cake I made my lot (it’s been a big hit – check it out) – I decided to make a cheesecake, but what flavour would I make?

You guessed it, I decided to crack out the cola flavouring, coconut extract and some lime juice and made a Dirty Coke Cheesecake. How would the flavours translate combined with cream cheese and a biscuit crust? Well, as it turned out.

This is a no-bake cheesecake, so does incorporate gelatine – apologies to vegetarians. I’m not sure if vege-gel would work here, but if anyone tries it out, please let me know.

When I made the dirty coke fudge, I found cola flavouring on the shelves in Sainsbury’s. I think this may have been discontinued since then. This time instead, I bought some flavouring oil online. This is a brand called LorAnn, which I’ve used before. It is super-concentrated and only needs a few drops to incorporate the flavour, as they are three to four times as intense as regular flavourings and extracts.

I had some normal coconut flavouring in the cupboard as well, so with the purchase of a few other ingredients, I was good to go.

The proportions in a dirty coke are to taste really, so play about and see what you like. But I can assure you, however you like the flavours, any combination will be a big hit in this chilled cheesecake.

I used lime zest in the cheesecake filling only, not lime juice, but I added lime marmalade to the top of the cake, when it had set in the fridge, to give it a good hit of lime. I also grated some extra zest on top too. Lime curd would work well here too, instead of marmalade if you can’t find it (or even a wee bit of lime jelly).

Here's how I made it...

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Dirty Coke Cheesecake

by Stuart Vettese April-4-2016

No-bake cheesecake flavoured with cola, coconut and lime.

Ingredients

• 250 grams digestive biscuits
• 113 grams melted unsalted butter
• 55 grams granulated sugar
• 300 ml double cream
• 250 grams full-fat cream cheese
• 125 grams caster sugar
• 2 1/2 teaspoons coconut extract
• 3-4 drops Lorann cola flavouring
• 1 1/2 lime zest
• 1 sachet sachet of gelatine (approx. 4 teaspoons)
• 250 grams lime marmalade (or curd)

Instructions

Crush the digestive biscuits in a food processor until they resemble fine crumbs (or attack them with a rolling pin) and mix in the 55 grams of sugar.Line a 9” springform pan with a sheet of greaseproof paper, then melt the butter.Pour the melted butter into the digestive/sugar mix and stir to combine.Transfer to the springform pan and press down firmly with your hands or an off-set spatula to an even layer, coming about one inch up the sides. Place in the fridge to chill.In a bowl, place the sachet of gelatine with 2-3 tablespoons of water. Let it sit for 10 minutes to absorb. Then heat the gelatine over a pan of simmering water until it turns liquid.In the bowl of a food mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, place the cream, cream cheese, coconut extract, cola flavouring, zest of one lime and the caster sugar. Beat until stiff peaks form.Add the slightly cooled gelatine and continue to whisk for a further 2 to 3 minutes then transfer the filling to the chilled cheesecake base. Smooth over with a spatula and place in the fridge again to chill for at least 2 hours or overnight.For the lime marmalade topping, gently heat it in a saucepan, until it turns more liquid and spreadable. Pour this on top of the chilled cheesecake and gently spread out. Add the remaining lime zest on top.Return to the fridge to firm up, at least another two hours.To unmould your cheesecake, open the springform pan and slide off the base onto a serving plate, ready to slice with a sharp knife.Enjoy!

Details

Prep time: 30 mins Cook time: 2 hour Total time: 2 hour 30 mins Yield: 1 9" cheesecake