What the Heck Is a Soursop? & Soursop Cheesecake

Meet the soursop, a green-tipped oval fruit native to Mexico, Cuba, and parts of Central and South America. Its name may sound like a medieval insult, but the soursop is a sweet, luscious fruit, perfect in fruit salads or served chilled as a dessert on its own.

Also known as the custard apple, the soursop has a flavor described as a mix of strawberry and pineapple, but with the underlying creaminess of a banana or coconut.

The fruit is best eaten fresh, though the pulp freezes well, and can also be dried and mixed with other fruit to make ‘roll-ups.’ Unripe soursops can also be used as vegetables in soups.

While soursops aren’t native to the United States, you may be able to find the fruits in markets specializing in Caribbean or Latin foods. Soursop juice is also sold bottled or canned under the name guanabana, the Spanish name for the fruit.

                        Guanabana (soursop) Cheesecake

Base:

2                         cups sweet biscuits (graham crackers)
2                         tablespoons melted butter
                       **pinch of cinnamon or nutmeg**
Filling:
3                         teaspoons powdered gelatine
2                         4 ounces  cream cheese
1                         8 ounce can condensed milk
⅓                        cup fresh lemon juice
1                         cup pureed soursop, beaten well

TIP:
Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

Instructions:
Chilling time: 2 ½ hours

1 .        To make the base, preheat oven to 180˚C. Crumble the biscuits and mix well with the melted butter and spice. Press into a greased pie dish and refrigerate to chill for 30 minutes-1 hour before baking for 10 minutes until golden. Seet aside to cool to room temperature.
2.         To make the filling, sprinkle the gelatine over ¼ cup hot water, mixed in well and set aside. Beat the cream cheese with the condensed milk and lemon juice, then stir in the pureed soursop followed by the gelatine. Pour the mixture into the baked and cooled pastry shell and refrigerate for a couple of hours until set .

This cheesecake was made for me by one of my friend's from Mexico  this weekend  and I wants to share it with all my blogging friends and viewers .I will bring you more foods from the Road Show  soon .