Ditch artificial flavourings and gelatine and make this delicious Strawberry Cheesecake. Bursting with natural colour and flavour, this is the best no-bake strawberry cheesecake you’ll ever make at home.
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Cheesecakes do not often appear on this blog for a very simple reason: I find them very hard to resist and end up eating way too many slices. So I don’t make cheesecake very frequently, unless I can be sure I have people coming over to help me make it disappear.
I used to, if truth be told, be slightly afraid of them. I am not keen on water baths for baked cheesecakes, but luckily my Instant Pot has eliminated the need for those.
Pressure cooker cheesecakes are AMAZING, so good they are almost worth the price of the gadget! You must make my peanut butter and salted caramel cheesecake if you don’t take my word for it.
I also used to be slightly apprehensive of no-bake cheesecakes… What if they don’t set right? I have had a couple of occasions where the promised dessert was a puddle instead of a wow! This no-bake strawberry cheesecake is so simple and so foolproof that I can say, hand to heart, that you have nothing to be afraid of when making it.
UPDATE: It has come to my attention that double (heavy) cream has a lower fat content in the US (36%) than in the UK (48%) where I am based.
This is likely going to affect the setting of the cheesecake! Check this article for a more in-depth look at the differences of dairy products around the world.
I am including a variation which includes powdered gelatine to stabilise the cheesecake filling – check out the recipe notes!
Here’s why it’s a must make!
- It requires no baking (clue is in the name)
- It’s gelatine-free and therefore vegetarian friendly.
- It’s free of artificial colour or flavourings (that pink colour is all natural baby!)
- It is bursting with strawberry flavour
- It tastes truly amazing and has a very light mousse texture
- It so easy – just take a look at the video in the recipe card below
How to make strawberry cheesecake
Take a look at this step by step tutorial – please note you will find the full recipe, including ingredients in the recipe card at the end of this post.
For this cheesecake to set successfully YOU MUST use full-fat cream cheese and double cream (48% fat content).
Step 1. Make your cookie crust base: mix the crushed cookie with melted butter and pack into a springform or a cake tin with a loose base. Chill while you make your filling.
Step 2. Use a hand mixer to briefly beat full fat cream cheese and icing sugar to combine. Don’t mix for too long!
Step 3. Add strawberry purée, freeze-dried strawberry powder and vanilla paste and mix again.
Step 4. Add double cream and whisk until your cheesecake filling holds peaks. Use a spatula to mix again, scraping the bottom and sides of the bowl.
Step 5. Pack your filling over the chilled base and level. Chill for 8 hours or ideally overnight.
Step 6. Carefully remove the cheesecake from the tin, smoothing the sides with a palette knife if necessary. Decorate with fresh sliced strawberries and mint leaves and serve.
Recipe notes and troubleshooting
TOP TIP Use full fat cream cheese and double cream to help set the cheesecake. If you use low-fat cream cheese the cheesecake might not set – in this case you might want to add some gelatine to help it set. Double cream in the UK has a fat content of 48% which is 12% more than heavy cream in the US.
- I used Biscoff speculoos cookies which have a lovely caramel flavour, but you can also use graham crackers, digestive biscuit or Oreos.
- Freeze-dried strawberry powder* gives intense colour and flavour to this cheesecake. There are also other freeze-dried fruit powders available if you want to experiment.
- If you can’t get hold of the freeze-dried strawberry powder you can simply leave it out of the recipe. The cheesecake will have a subtler strawberry flavour and will only be a pale pink.
- I used a 18cm (7in) loose bottomed cake tin*, sprayed it with cake release and lined the bottom and sides with baking paper. Don’t use butter to grease the tin as it hardens in the fridge and will make the cheesecake removal from tin very difficult. You can use a springform cake tin if you prefer.
Cheesecake recipes from archives
- Instant Pot peanut butter caramel cheesecake
- Malteser Cheesecake
- No Bake Blueberry Cheesecake Bars
- White Chocolate Cheesecake
- Mirror glaze white chocolate cheesecake
- No-Bake Blueberry Lime Cheesecake
No-bake strawberry cheesecake
Ingredients
For the cookie crust
- 200 g (7oz) Biscoff cookies or Digestives / Golden Oreos
- 100 g (3 ½ oz / scant 1 stick) unsalted butter
For the filling
- 560 g (20 oz) full fat cream cheese or mascarpone cheese
- 150 g ( 1 ¼ cup) icing sugar
- 200 g (1 cup) fresh strawberries hulled
- 1 tsp vanilla paste or extract
- 3 tbsp freeze-dried strawberry powder
- 250 ml (1 cup) heavy cream OVER 40% FAT CONTENT
- Handful fresh strawberries to decorate
Instructions
Make the cookie crust
- Spray a 18cm (7in) loose bottomed cake tin with cake release. Line the bottom and sides with baking paper. You can also use an 18cm (7in) springform cake tin if you prefer.
- Crush the cookies in a food processor or place in a bag and crush with a rolling pin. Melt the butter.
- Gradually add the melted butter and mix together until the cookie crust holds together. You might not need to add all the butter.
- Pack the cookie crust into the prepared tin and chill for 20 minutes or until needed.
Make the cheesecake filling
- Liquidise the strawberries in a blender and set aside.
- Use a hand mixer to briefly beat cream cheese and icing sugar to combine. Do not overmix.
- Add strawberry purée, freeze-dried strawberry powder and vanilla paste and mix again. If using the gelatine add this now (see recipe notes)
- Add double (heavy) cream and whisk until your cheesecake filling holds peaks. Use a spatula to mix again, scraping the bottom and sides of the bowl. Alternatively beat the double cream until it holds peaks and gently fold this into the cream cheese until the filling is smooth and streak free.
- Pack your filling over the chilled base and level. Chill for 8 hours or overnight.
Decorate and serve
- Carefully remove the cheesecake from the tin. If you have use a loose-bottomed cake tin, place over a small jar or tin and push down so that the cheesecake is released. Keep the base on.
- Remove the paper lining the sides and smooth with a palette knife if needed.
- Decorate with a handful of sliced strawberries and sprinkling of freeze-dried strawberry powder. You can also add some pretty edible flowers if you like.
Video
Notes
- The cheesecake will keep for a couple of days in the fridge but it is best eaten once sliced.
- I used Biscoff speculoos cookies which have a lovely caramel flavour, but you can also use graham crackers, digestive biscuit or Oreos.
- If you can’t get hold of the freeze-dried strawberry powder you can simply leave it out of the recipe. The cheesecake will have a subtler strawberry flavour and will only be a pale pink.
- I used a 18cm (7in) loose bottomed cake tin, sprayed it with cake release and lined the bottom and sides with baking paper. Don’t use butter to grease the tin as it hardens in the fridge and will make the cheesecake removal from tin very difficult. You can use a springform cake tin if you prefer.
Nutritional Info
Kay says
Has anyone found a work around using gelatin in the US?
Lucy Parissi says
Hi Kay, take a look at this recipe which uses gelatine you can use it in same way for this cheesecake https://www.supergoldenbakes.com/no-bake-cheesecake-bars/
You can use some of the cream used in the recipe to stir the gelatine into until dissolved (dont let it boil) and then mix it in with remaining ingredients
Jessica says
Was excited to try this for Father’s Day. Unfortunately, I’ve been mixing fur a loooooong time and it’s not thickening. Forget peaks. I used full fat cream cheese and whipping cream. I’m afraid mine will be served as pudding like the previous commenter.
Lucy Parissi says
Hi Jessica – whipping cream is likely not high enough fat content. I have realised this is very likely because double cream in the uk has a fat content of 48% whereas heavy cream in the US is only 36%. I will have to retest the recipe with lower fat cream and add gelatine to offset the setting issue. Bear with me I will try to post an update soon as possible! Lucy
Kat Kenyon says
Your Strawberry Cheesecake looks amazing and delicious.. I might be drooling a little..
Where can I find freeze-dried strawberry powder? Never heard of it before.
Also, do you have any idea of the calorie count?
Looking forward,
Kat
Lucy Parissi says
Hi Kat you can buy freeze dried strawberry powder on Amazon. Will update the recipe with a link and nutrition info ❤️
Maryann says
I refrigerated it overnight (actually for 24 hours) and when I took the springform pan off, it slopped everywhere 🙁 It didn’t hold its shape. I did use low fat cream cheese as that was all the store had at the time and I made more filling than the recipe but I didn’t think it would affect it so drastically. I served it in bowls and most people didn’t want any lol. It was like soup.
Lucy Parissi says
Hi Maryann, I am truly sorry this happened I can imagine how frustrating! I actually do I specify to use full-fat cream cheese and heavy cream in the recipe – this is verbatim from the post
“Use full fat cream cheese and heavy cream to help set the cheesecake. If you use low-fat cream cheese the cheesecake might not set – in this case you might want to add some gelatine to help it set”
Sammie says
I have fallen in love with the colour of your cheesecake. It looks so tempting and inviting, just as all food should look. Brilliant post – Pinned! X