Ditch the artificial flavourings and gelatine and make this easy no-bake strawberry cheesecake. Bursting with natural colour and flavour, this is the best strawberry cheesecake you’ll ever make at home. Make sure you use full fat cream cheese and double cream in this recipe! Heavy cream may not have a high enough fat conent for the cheesecake to set for those in the US. See noteds for variation using gelatine.
Prep Time15 minutesmins
Chilling time8 hourshrs20 minutesmins
Total Time15 minutesmins
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: No bake strawberry cheesecake, Strawberry Cheesecake
200g(7oz) Biscoff cookiesor Digestives / Golden Oreos
100g(3 ½ oz / scant 1 stick) unsalted butter
For the filling
560g(20 oz) full fat cream cheeseor mascarpone cheese
150g( 1 ¼ cup) icing sugar
200g(1 cup) fresh strawberrieshulled
1tspvanilla paste or extract
3tbspfreeze-dried strawberry powder
250ml(1 cup) heavy creamOVER 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.
USING POWDERED GELATINE Sprinkle 2 1/2 teaspoons powdered gelatine over 4 tablespoons just boiled water. Leave for 5 minutes then stir well to dissolve.Pour 1/3 cup (80ml) of the cream in a saucepan and heat gently over very low heat. Stir in the dissolved gelatine - do not allow this to come to the boil as it will affect the setting of the cheesecake. Leave to cool slightly but don't allow it to set.Add the cream/gelatine to the cream cheese and icing sugar and beat together until it is incorporated. Continue with the recipe as in main method.