The 19th century Ashbourne pub, which is also a Bib Gourmand holder, has been on the Top 50 Gastropub's List since 2021 and currently sits at number 48.
Below, head chef Scott Law shares a recipe for the Duncombe Arms lemon and garden mint cheesecake.
Law said: "Our kitchen garden is home to a thriving mint patch, with an array of varieties which we pick fresh for bar cocktails, or soothing mint teas to round off a meal.
"I was really keen to try something new that challenged mint’s traditional culinary role. Normally, mint shines in a sauce for lamb or a flavouring in winter soups - so I wanted to use it in a dessert where its delicate flavour could be properly showcased - and a set cheesecake is perfect year-round, and always a crowd pleaser".
The Top 50 Gastropub recommended serving the "delicious" cheesecake with a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream topped with a teaspoon of lemon curd, but added some Chantilly cream or lemon sorbet would also work.
Lemon and garden mint cheesecake:
Ingredients:
Lemon and mint insert
- 3 lemons
- 5 segmented lemons, cut into teardrops
- 10g freshly picked mint
- 60g caster sugar
Biscuit base
- 180g digestive biscuits
- 75g unsalted butter
Cheese filling
- 800g cream cheese
- 160g caster sugar
- 200g double cream
- 3 ½ leaves of gelatine
- 2.5g vanilla extract
- Glaze (optional)
- 106g glucose
- 106g water
- 59g caster sugar
- 9g gelatine
- 73g double cream
- 106g white chocolate
- Yellow food colouring
To serve
- Vanilla ice cream
- Lemon gel
- Lemon curd
- Fresh mint tips and lemon balm
Method:
For the insert
- Begin by cutting five lemons in half, remove all the seeds and boil in water for 45 minutes
- Blend the mixture with sugar until smooth then add the freshly picked mint and three fresh lemons
- Place the finished mixture into the insert silicone mould and leave to freeze
- For the biscuit base:
- Use a food processor to blend the biscuits until fine then transfer to a mixing bowl and mix with the melted butter
- Once fully combined, put the mixture on a piece of grease-proof paper and flatten out until of even thickness
- Use a 60 cm cutter to cut out 12 individual biscuit bases and leave in the fridge to chill
For the Cheesecake filling
- Place cream cheese, sugar, vanilla and half of the cream in a mixer with paddle attachments and mix till smooth and set aside
- Soak your gelatine leaves in cold water for 5-10 minutes, or until soft, then remove from the bowl and gently squeeze out the excess liquid
- Warm up the remaining 100g of cream and dissolve the soaked gelatine in
- Add this mixture into the cheese mix, stirring gently to make sure it is fully combined
- Finally, carefully add all the filling into a piping bag and evenly pipe into the white entremet moulds.
- Remove the lemon inserts from the freezer and press into the mixture so that each mould contains one lemon insert
- Smooth the top and freeze again
For the glaze
- Place glucose, water and caster sugar in a pot and carefully heat the mixture up to 103℃, then remove from the heat
- In a separate bowl soak your gelatine as before and, when ready, dissolve into a bowl of warm cream
- Once all the gelatine has dissolved, add the mixture into the sugar syrup and stir
- Pour this over the chocolate, making sure all of it has dissolved before carefully adding the food colouring drop-by-drop until it reaches your desired shade of yellow
To assemble
- The glaze must be at 30℃ and the cheesecakes must be frozen solid, and out of their moulds
- Stick a toothpick into the middle of a frozen cheesecake filling, dip carefully into the glaze and hold it above the glaze to allow any excess to drip off
- Scrape the bottom of the glazed filling on the edge of a container and place straight onto a biscuit base disc
- Remove the toothpick to ensure that any hole is covered by the glaze
- When you’re ready to serve, dot a small amount of lemon gel on a plate and carefully place the glazed cheesecakes on top
- Dot another bit of lemon gel on the top and garnish with the lemon balm and mint tips
- To take part in The Morning Advertiser's Dish Deconstructed series please contact rebecca.weller@wrbm.com. See the previous Dish Deconstructed here.
