Honeycomb-shaped Pineapple Coconut Cheesecakes

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These super cute cheesecakes are a fun way to reinvent cheesecakes. They taste exotic with their coconut cream cheese and pineapple juice jelly. Both layers are alternated and topped with a honeycomb-shaped layer made of lemon jelly. Accompanied by some fondant bees, they’re the perfect dessert to impress your guests!

“What’s a dessert that is appealing, creative AND also tasty?” This was the question I asked myself over and over for a week! I definitely don’t consider myself a creative person, working in finance with Excel sheets the entire day, I have a rather “square” mind. It was probably the very first time I challenged myself to design a creative recipe.

The reason is I was participating in my very first cooking & photography contest. This was a contest organized by a popular chain selling kitchens in Belgium (Ixina) and in a few other countries in Europe. For the purpose of this contest, participants had to create a recipe that was inventive, include “Ixina” within the scene and submit the recipe along with photos of the end product and process.

The first 50 participants were winning a prize but the first three were the biggest prizes.

Since we will move out from our current place soon, we may need a new kitchen in the coming future. So I thought to myself “ok let’s do this, that should be fun! worst case I’d win some cooking tools”.

Participants were numerous and seeing all those amazing photos of dishes submitted on Facebook by others, I’d never thought I would end up the first winner.

This was a HUGE SURPRISE the day I found out I’d won the FIRST PRIZE! Particularly knowing that two Belgian chefs were part of the jury.

And now I’m left with a 7500€ voucher to spend on a new kitchen! Can’t wait to find a place to buy and build the kitchen of my dreams! : )

I love the collage they made of the top 3 winners and of my recipe “in the making” (sorry, this is in French).

What are honeycomb-shaped pineapple coconut cheesecakes?

These cheesecakes are a little different from traditional cheesecakes. The cream cheese is a little less compact so that it is more easily pourable in small containers and aligns as a perfectly flat layer.

The base is made with speculoos and brings some crunch when you reach the bottom of the pot. The cream cheese is flavored with coconut water and desiccated coconut, then topped with some pineapple juice jelly layer.

The top layer of this cheesecake is purely for the aesthetic. It’s made of lemon-flavored jelly and contains one drop of orange food coloring to give it this dark yellow tint.

OK, you’re right! This recipe takes hours to make! So I’d advise you to make it when you have a full afternoon for yourself.

I usually don’t make long meals and recipes that demand hours and hours. But I had to come up with a well-designed recipe for the purpose of this contest. I believe complexity is always a criterion taken into account when it comes to a cooking contest.

Which type of containers to use?

I used some yogurt glass containers bought from the supermarket : ) They looked like a honey pot and fitted perfectly the concept I had in mind. They contain 125 ml / 4.4 oz each. This recipe is designed for 4 x 125 ml (4.4 oz). If using bigger containers, make sure to adjust the quantities.

Can I substitue speculoos?

Just like regular cheesecake, you can substitute speculoos with Graham crackers or any dry biscuits. I love speculoos for their specific taste and they’re everywhere here in Belgium since they are made in Belgium!

How to prepare these pineapple coconut cheesecakes?

Biscuit (layer 1):

1. Place speculoos in a zip plastic bag, seal it then crush the biscuit by using a rolling pin to crush the biscuit into powder.
2. Melt butter, and combine it with the speculoos. Place speculoos into your 4 pots. Fill up each pot up to +- ½ cm / ⅕ inch high.
3. Let them rest in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.

Coconut cream cheese filling (layer 2):

4. In a bowl, loosen the cream cheese by whisking it until you obtain a smooth consistency.
5. Add in sugar, coconut milk and coconut powder. Combine all ingredients together.
6. Whip the whipping cream up to 50%.
7. Add whipping cream into the bowl and combine with the rest.
8. Pour some cream cheese filling into your 4 pots, and fill up each pot to 1/6th of your pot (there are a total of 5 layers + 1 thinner bottom layer + 1 thinner top layer)
9. Place your pots in the freezer for 20 minutes

Pineapple jelly (layer 3):

10. Pour 100ml / ⅓ cup + 1.5 tbsp pineapple juice into a pot. Add 1 tsp sugar. Add 1g agar agar.
11. On medium heat, warm up for 5 minutes or until sugar and agar agar have completely dissolved.
12. Let it cool for 5 minutes.
13. Pour the pineapple jelly into your 4 pots. Fill in each pot up to another 1/6th of your pot.
14. Place in the freezer for 15 minutes.

Assemble the rest of the layers (layer 4 to 7)

15. Layer 4: pour a second layer of coconut cream cheese filling on top of the pineapple jelly. Fill in each pot up to another 1/6th of your pot. Place in the freezer for 20 minutes.
16. Layer 5: repeat the same step as described in the pineapple jelly instructions. Pour a second layer of pineapple jelly on top of the cream cheese filling. Fill in each pot up to 1/6th of your pot. Place in the freezer for 15 minutes.
17. Layer 6: pour a third layer of coconut cream cheese filling on top of the pineapple jelly. Fill in each pot up to another 1/6th of your pot. Cut some bubble wrap the same size as the top of your pots. Place some bubble wrap on top of this last cream cheese layer. Gently pat the bubbles into the cream cheese. Place in the freezer for 30 minutes. Remove the bubble wrap.
18. Layer 7: Pour 125ml / ½ cup water into a pot. Add lemon juice, orange coloring, sugar and agar agar.
19. On medium heat, warm up for 5 minutes or until sugar and agar agar have completely dissolved. Let it cool for 5 minutes. Pour this last layer on top of the cream cheese filling. Fill in each pot up to +- ½ cm / ⅕ inch high or up to the top of your pot. Place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Make bees

20. Shape the body of the bees by rolling 4 x 3g of fondant into a ball. Elongate each ball a little to form a chubby cylinder.
21. Roll the back fondant as thin as you can. Cut some thin strips. Apply water to one side of the strip then place the wet side onto the bee. Water will help both parts stick together. Do the same for the second strip.
22. Shape 4 x 2 wings with the white fondant. Apply water to one side of the wing. Stick the wing onto the bee.
23. Let them rest for 30 minutes. They will harden.