My attempt of the Strawberry Jelly Hearts

I'm not a fan of cheesecake... I love cheese but cheese and cake are like the strangest combination I've ever tasted! Perhaps I dont have a sweet tooth and I dont like cake so that's why...

However, when I tried the strawberry hearts during the Aug09 bubs gathering, my opinion of cheesecake changed abit. It's not those mousse type of cheesecake (I hate mousse stuff too!) and the biscuit base is not really a cake. We ordered the strawberry hearts from Eds Jelly Hearts

For the longest of time, I had wanted to make the Jelly Hearts. The non-bake method looks simple enough for anyone, even a novice like me. I got the receipe from happyhomebaking and made some changes to suit the container that I had. She has some very important advices on WHEN to add in the strawberries, so do read carefully before your attempt.

Serving size: 18cm X 12cm, can cut into at least 8 pieces

Making the Base
This is my first attempt in making any cake at home and I don't have any baking tins or anything close to that. I just make do with whatever I have at home and I found this 18cm X 12cm (1L) LocknLock plastic container. The most difficult part about making this is to adjust the recipe to suit the container.

The method requires the ingredients to be placed in the refrigerator for a long period of time and I'm super particular about placing food uncovered inside the fridge, so LocknLock with the airtight cover works well for me!

Ingredients

• 7 pieces of digestive biscuits
• 40g melted butter

  
Method

1. Place the biscuit into a plastic bag and hammer into crumbs. Kids can help too. I borrowed Kiiron's little toy hammer and it did the job perfectly!
2. Add melted butter into the plastic bag of crumbs and mix well by pressing from outside the plastic bag. This is good as my hands will not get dirty. The crumbs should fuse together with the butter into a moist loose lump.
3. Line the base of the container with plastic bag or aluminum foil. Make sure that the sides of the bag or foil is overhanging out of the container. This will make the process of removing the strawberry hearts from the container easier.  
4. Pour the moist crumbs into the container and press firmly with the help of the plastic hammer or a spoon. Make sure the thickness is even. 
5. Close the cover and chill for at least 30 minutes.

      

Making the cheese layer

Ingredients

• 125g Philadelphia cream cheese, soften at room temperature
• 25g sugar
• 1 tablespoon gelatin powder dissolved in 40ml of hot water

  
Method

1. Beat the cream cheese and sugar into a smooth and creamy texture. I don't have an electric mixer, so I use a fork and bowl. Takes about 5-10 minutes to get the creamy texture. 
2. Pour in the gelatin solution and mix well.
3. Pour the cheese mixture onto the base and put aside for 10-15 minutes. The cheese layer should not be fully set but not as liquid as before.
4. Half the strawberries. You can cut into heart shapes if you have the cutter. I don't, so I just use the half as it is. I dont like wastage and actually I find using the whole half taste better as there is more fruit in each bite.
5. Space the strawberries apart and press lightly into the cheese mixture. Chill for at least 3 to 4 hours.

Making the Jelly layer
I try to make the Jelly layer to be about the same thickness as the cheese layer and not too sweet. So I cut down the Jelly-O crytals and replace with gelatin powder.

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoon of Jelly-O crystal (Raspberry flavour)
• 1 tablespoon of gelatin powder
• 100ml of hot water
• 50ml of cold water

  
Method

1. Dissolve the Jelly-O crystal and gelatin powder in the hot water, then add in the cold water.
2. Pour the liquid Jelly on the cheese mixture SLOWLY. Chill until jelly is set. Make sure that you place the container in a flat level area in the fridge.
3. Make sure the jelly is set before removing from the container by pulling the sides of the plastic or foil

  
   
The Presentation    
The pretty red see-through jelly layer and the strawberries details are already so lovely that there is really no need to decorate this anymore. What's left is to trim away the sides and cut it into sizes. The trick to get nice neat edges to use a long knife and cut each side in 1 move.

The Reviews

My family are not really into cakes or pasteries so I won't say that these are snapped up immediately, but they did finished eating all including the ugly sides.  Someone commented that I can make some for our future parties, coming for a family who don't give out praises readily... I would say YES!!! they love it. Ha! Ha!

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