From Nigel's Kitchen Table

Strawberry Couscous Cheesecake

Recipe by Nigel Clease Kitchen-tested

Cakes & Muffins 4 min read

An easy no-bake strawberry cheesecake with a delicate couscous filling, ideal for relaxed summer entertaining.

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This strawberry couscous cheesecake is a no-bake cheesecake with a combination of strawberries, white chocolate, couscous and cream cheese filling on a biscuit base – it is just sublime.

It’s a winner! Delicious, easy to make and a great dessert for the strawberry season when family or friends are coming around to visit.

RECIPE HIGHLIGHTS

EASE: easy.
TASTE: a creamy white chocolate cream cheese filling, topped with fresh summer strawberries.
TEXTURE: a crisp base with a cheesecake cream studded with couscous pearls and topped with juicy strawberries.
QUANTITY: 12 slices (23cm / 9inch springform pan)
TIME: 60 minutes

Strawberry Couscous Cheesecake – preparation step 2

INGREDIENTS

For this cheesecake recipe, all you need are these ingredients:

Plain biscuits or digestives
Unsalted butter
White chocolate
Double or heavy cream
Water
Couscous
Cream cheese
Caster or granulated sugar
Fresh strawberries

Nigel Recommends

Don’t Skip the Salt

I always recommend adding a generous pinch of fine sea salt to your cakes. It balances the sweetness, softens any bitterness and brings out flavours such as chocolate, vanilla, fruit and spices. You should not taste the salt itself—it simply gives the finished cake greater depth and a more rounded flavour.

VIEW THE SALT I RECOMMEND

Nigel Recommends

The Vanilla I Recommend

I recommend Taylor & Colledge vanilla products because they add a delicious depth of flavour while enhancing the other ingredients in the recipe. Choose from pure vanilla extract, vanilla paste or vanilla pods, depending on the recipe and the intensity of flavour you prefer.

VIEW THE VANILLA I RECOMMEND

WHAT VARIATIONS CAN I MAKE?

Strawberries: If you don’t want to use so many strawberries you can just dice some up and add them to the filling.

Alternative fruit: Try raspberries or blackberries instead of strawberries they make great alternatives.

EQUIPMENT SUGGESTIONS

Electric hand whisk – I recommend the Breville Classic Combo Stand and Hand Mixer because it includes a generous 3.7-litre stainless steel bowl and a convenient stand, so you do not have to hold the mixer throughout use. You can find it and more of my favourite baking equipment in my Amazon Kitchen Equipment collection.

Measuring Spoons – I recommend these magnetic stainless steel measuring spoons for accurately measuring small quantities of ingredients. Their narrow shape fits comfortably inside most spice jars, while the magnetic handles keep the set neatly together for easy storage. You can find them and more of my favourite baking equipment in my Amazon Baking Essentials collection.

Springform Round Cake Pan/Tin, Loose Base, 23cm (9 inch)

These springform pans make removing cakes from them after baking a doddle. I personally tend to line them as often as possible to ensure that my cakes don’t break for added security.

Nutrition

Serving: one strawberry couscous cheesecake slice

419.85 kcal

CALORIES · 21% DV

31.42 g

TOTAL FAT · 45% DV

28.93 g

CARBOHYDRATES · 11% DV

12.99 g

SUGARS · 14% DV

5.16 g

PROTEIN · 10% DV

333.16 mg

SODIUM · 17% DV

1.78 g

FIBRE · 6% DV

% Daily Values based on a 2,000-calorie diet

Nutrition information is provided as an estimate and may vary depending on the ingredients and portion size used.

STORAGE AND FREEZING

This cheesecake keeps well for up to 5 days in the fridge.

Freezing: I would only recommend freezing the base and filling of this cake, made with only diced strawberries inside. And finishing the top of the cake on the day of serving.

Strawberry Couscous Cheesecake

Preparation:30

Chilling time:30

Total:1

Servings: 12 servings

Tools you’ll need:

23cm / 9inch springform pan

A no-bake strawberry couscous cheesecake, delicious, easy to make and perfect for when friends or family are coming around to visit.

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INGREDIENTS LIST

Biscuit base

200 g digestive biscuits
100 g butter

Cheesecake filling

100 g white chocolate (chopped)
200 g double or heavy cream
80 g water (boiled)
80 g couscous
400 g full-fat cream cheese
1 tsp pure vanilla extract or 1/2 tsp of vanilla paste
2.5 tbsp caster sugar
200 g fresh strawberries (halved, see notes)
100 g fresh strawberries (diced, optional see notes)

Decoration

450 g fresh strawberries (see notes )

Preparation

Line a 23cm (9inch) springform pan with baking/parchment paper. To stop the cake from getting stuck around the edge and clingfilm or acetate around the edge.
Biscuit base: Melt the butter over a low heat.
Crush the biscuits using a bag and rolling pin or food processor.
Add the melted butter to the crushed biscuits and pour into the lined baking pan.
Evenly spread the biscuit crumbs around the bottom of the pan. Then using a drinking glass with a flat bottom, press down to compact the crumbs to make a nice base for your cake.
Place in the fridge to set while you make the filling.
Cheese filling: In a small heatproof bowl add the chopped white chocolate and half the cream. Set the bowl over a pan of gently simmering water to create a double boiler. Stir occasionally until all the chocolate is melted. Remove the bowl from the heat and set it aside.
Couscous: Boil the water and pour over the couscous in a small bowl. Stir and place a lid or plate over the top of the bowl to allow the couscous to steam.
Cream cheese: In a medium bowl whip the remaining cream until the whisk leaves a trail behind it. Add the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla and mix until well smooth and incorporated.
Check the couscous is cooked and use a fork to loosen it up. Add it to the cream cheese filling along with the white chocolate and cream mixture. Stir to incorporate.
Strawberry edging: Now you can either make the cake as I have with the strawberries around the middle or simple dice and add them to the cheese filling.
If you are going to make the cake as I have with the strawberries in the middle, cut the tops of the strawberries then cut them in half and place them neatly around the biscuit base.
Pour half the filling into the middle of the pan and using the back of a spoon spread it around and between the strawberries.
Add 100 g of diced strawberries to the remaining filling and then add this to the centre of the cake, evening it out. (Leave this out if you diced all the strawberries for the centre.)
Place in the refrigerator while you prepare the strawberries for decoration.
Decide if you want to use strawberries sliced or in halves and place them in a circular pattern around the outside first and then working in towards the centre.
Finally, I added 3 whole strawberries in the middle to complete the decoration.

Notes & Tips

Filling

Instead of halving the strawberries around the middle of the cake, an easier option is to dice the strawberries and mix them into the filling.

Decoration

I made this cake with lots of strawberries cut in half from the garden. If you don’t have so many you can slice the strawberries instead to make them go further.

FROM MY KITCHEN TO YOURS

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