Preheat the oven to 100ºc/90°c fan and line two large baking trays with parchment paper
Add the egg whites into a clean bowl and whisk to stiff peaks
Add the caster sugar, whilst whisking on a high speed, 1tsp at a time
Whisk for a further few minutes to make sure it's all mixed in, and then add your mix to a large piping bag with a piping tip
Pipe the meringues onto the baking sheets – I use a 1cm round tip to make my little meringue shells
Bake in the oven for 90 minutes and then turn the oven off and leave them to cool completely in the oven. This is useful to do whilst your cheesecake is made and setting in the fridge.
Cheesecake Base
Blitz the biscuits in a food processor to a fine crumb, or mash them up in a bag
Add the melted butter and mix to a wet sand texture
Press into the base of an 8" springform cake tin
Add the cream cheese to a large bowl and add the icing sugar and vanilla
Whisk together, and then add the double cream and whisk until thick. Alternately, whisk the cream separately and fold into the cream cheese mix.
Once its thick, fold through the chopped up strawberries.
Add onto the base, and make sure to spread the cheesecake until even. Set in the fridge for a minimum of 5-6 hours, but preferably overnight.
Carefully remove the cheesecake from the tin, and decorate with some double cream whipped with icing sugar, some strawberries, freeze dried strawberries and the mini meringues you made.
You can use shop bought meringues if you don't want to make your own
Recipe updated March 2024 - only change is not adding colour to the homemade meringues
I always set my cheesecakes in the fridge overnight otherwise they risk being a little sloppy still – you’re more likely to get a better result for the longer you leave it
This Cheesecake will last covered in the fridge for 3 days