Green Tea Cheesecake Bites

I am firmly of the belief that cheesecake is the answer to a bad Monday. Or at least that's what I'd like to believe, so that I have an excuse to eat more cheesecake. The only problem about a bad Monday is that it usually takes all the energy out of you and makes you less likely to turn the oven on when you get home. But for these Matcha Cheesecake Bites that is totally fine, because there is no baking involved. No baking + you get to eat cheesecake at the end of it? Score!

Matcha powder is not the easiest thing to get your hands on in Sydney, I usually have to go to a Japanese supermarket or buy it online. But my brother recently bought me a big tub of it and it seemed like the perfect flavour for these chilled cheesecake bites I wanted to make. I was tempted to make the cheesecake crust out of Ginger Nut biscuits, but decided to go with plain biscuits instead, to let the subtle green tea flavour shine.

I'm not entirely happy with how the photos turned out for these Cheesecake Bites, which is usually the case when I am rushing around first thing in the morning, getting ready for work and trying to choose props while half asleep. But I still wanted to share this recipe with you because it was so easy and delicious and something that I am sure to make again. The cheesecake filling is so light and not too sweet, and goes perfectly with crunchy biscuit crust. And it all comes in perfect bite sized portions.

It's very obvious from my photos that I suck at cutting things into equal portions. But not everything needs to be perfect right? And these tasted so good that I didn't care if they were super ugly. Fresh blueberries are super cheap at the moment, so they were the perfect topping for these. The very light bitter flavour of the Japanese green tea was offset by the sweet blueberries. A sploge of extra whipped cream doesn't hurt either ;)

No Bake Green Tea Cheesecake Bites
(adapted from this Green Tea Cheesecake by Dessert First, makes approx 20 squares)
200g Arnotts Nice biscuits (or any other plain sweet biscuits)
100g unsalted butter, melted
150ml pure (whipping) cream
170g cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup caster sugar
100ml milk
1 1/2 tsp matcha powder (adjust to taste, I like mine a bit stronger)
1 1/2 tsp powdered gelatin
Optional: Fresh blueberries or strawberries and extra whipped cream for topping

*Note You can increase the proportion of filling to crust if you have a deeper/different sized pan. I'm planning to make this again with 1.5x the amount of filling.

Grease a 17x27cm slice/brownie tin and line with baking paper, ensuring that two ends of the paper hangs over the edges of the tin. Place biscuits in a food processor and process to a fine crumb (alternatively smash biscuits up in a ziploc bag). Stir in melted butter and process until combined. Press tightly into a thin single layer in prepared tin and chill for at least 30 minutes. Beat cream in a mixing bowl until it reaches soft peaks. Place cream cheese in a separate large mixing bowl and beat until smooth. Add sugar and beat until combined. Place gelatin in a small separate bowl with 2 tbsp cold water to soften it.

In a small saucepan, heat milk until it just comes to a boil, remove from heat then whisk in green tea powder to dissolve. Add softened gelatin and whisk again to combine. Ensure there are no lumps. Add warm milk mixture to cream cheese and beat until smooth. Fold in whipped cream and then pour mixture over crumb layer. Chill for at least 3 hours or overnight.

Remove from fridge and slice into equal sized squares. Top with fresh whipped cream and/or berries and serve chilled. Can be stored for two days in the refrigerator.