I am currently playing around with an unbaked cheesecake recipe and to this end I have been investigating the availability of dairy free biscuits for the base. While I like baking biscuits very much, I find I’m much less enthusiastic if I know I’m baking them simply in order to crush them up for crumbs. So… here you have a few finds from a trip to Waitrose. Some are suitable for cheesecakes, some are just good biscuits.
NOT OK
McVitie’s Digestive Biscuits
These used to be fine, but were adulterated with skimmed milk powder a year or so ago. Motto: always read the label!
OK
Waitrose Essentials
Morning Coffee
These taste good and are small and nibblish. They are completely useless in a cheesecake base. They just don’t hold together. You’re left with a cheesecake which you can’t get off the plate except in dollops: not very attractive.
Ginger Nut
Bog standard ginger biscuit. Good and firm. Can be used to make a very tasty base for a baked cheesecake, but they can be very difficult to beat into submission to make crumbs! Beware, if you put fresh ginger biscuits into a food processor to crumb them from scratch, you’ll blunt your blade! Bash them hard first is my advice.
Fruit Shortcake
These are a family favourite. They do fill the back of the car with crumbs like few other biscuits I’ve come across, but they also taste really good!
Almond Biscuits
Bourbon Creams
Another fave. One of the very few “cream” biscuits which is dairy-free. Very more-ish.
Nice Biscuits
Digestive Biscuits
These remain the number one choice for cheesecake bases, whether baked or unbaked. They crush up finely and evenly and they absorb the melted spread/Tomor well, so they stick together properly.
Rich Tea
These can make a successful cheesecake base, but they do tend to go into very fine crumbs and make a slightly softer base than digestives. They work better in a baked cheesecake than an unbaked one.
Shortcake Biscuits
As usual, I shall add these to our reviews page for easy reference.
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