24-year-old food writer Sam Stern is on a mission: to put the fun back into cooking for one. His latest book Too Good To Share does just that with 130 delicious lunch, dinner and dessert ideas designed for solo chefs. This quick and easy strawberry cheesecake recipe is one of our favourites for summer

‘This is simply a quick assembly job that can include your favourite soft fruit,’ says Sam.’ Just make sure you have enough of the fruit for a good topping, too. This is the kind of recipe that’s needed for those special times when you want to be really self-indulgent.’ Fancy giving this dessert a go? Here’s how it’s done…

Print Instant cheesecake Serves 1

Ingredients

2 digestive biscuits
15g cold, salted butter
25g strawberries (or any other soft fruit) plus extra, halved for topping
15g icing sugar
125g cold cream cheese (I use the light version), or cold mascarpone
Put the biscuits in a freezer bag, seal and then bash them with a rolling pin or similar to crush them into crumbs. Pour the crumbs into a bowl, add the butter and rub together to combine them roughly. Spoon them into a ramekin or glass and pat down and compress.
Using a hand blender (or just a fork), blitz together the strawberries and sugar. Combine with the cream cheese and spoon on top of the biscuit base in the ramekin. Cover the top with the extra, halved strawberries.
Eat immediately or allow to chill in the fridge or freezer for about 20 minutes for a slightly firmer texture.

By Sam Stern