Baking can often be a complicated task, but there’s no need for it when it comes to cheesecakes, especially no-bake recipes.
This particular no-bake cheesecake is rich, creamy, and irresistible – the hardest part is waiting for the dessert to set.
Taking just 15 minutes to put together, this recipe consists of a simple press-in digestive biscuit crust topped with a rich cream cheese filling, which is flavoured with lemon.
The specific recipe I chose was an “easy no-bake lemon cheesecake” from Charlotte Oates’s food blog Charlotte’s Lively Kitchen.
Describing the tasty treat, Charlotte said: “A delicious lemon cheesecake with a crunchy biscuit base that’s absolutely packed full of flavour from the fresh lemon zest and juice. It’s unbelievably moreish.”
I started by weighing out all of my ingredients and zesting and juicing the lemons.
Ingredients
200g digestive biscuits
80g butter
250g cream cheese
280ml/300g double cream
100g caster sugar
Zest of two and a half lemons
Five teaspoons lemon juice, the juice of just under two lemons
To decorate
Four slices of lemon (halved)
Method
Once the ingredients were prepped, I made a start on lining the base of my nine-inch round loose-bottomed tin with greaseproof paper.
Next, I melted the butter in the microwave for 15 seconds. You don’t want to leave it in there too long or you’ll risk burning it.
With the butter melted, I then added the digestives to a bowl and crushed them with the end of a rolling pin.
Once crushed, I added the butter and gave it a mix before putting the biscuit mix into the prepared tin.
Make sure to level out the biscuit mix properly so there are no gaps. I used the back of a spoon to push it flat. After, I just left the tin in the fridge to chill while I got cracking with the topping.
For the topping, I whipped the double cream until it formed a soft peak, then added in the cream cheese, caster sugar, lemon zest and lemon juice. I whisked this all together until combined and thick.
I then took the tin out of the fridge and added the cream cheese lemon mixture.
I found it easiest to add a little at a time so I could easily push the mixture down with the back of a spoon so there were no gaps.
Once all the topping was added, I smoothed the top with a palette knife. Then it was time to put the cheesecake into the fridge. I left it for three hours, but two hours will suffice.
When the cheesecake was ready to serve, I carefully removed it from the tin but found that the edges had become a little smudged.
If this happens to you too, simply run a small palette knife around the edge of the cheesecake to smooth it out again.
To decorate the cheesecake, the original recipe recommends topping it with whipped cream, however, I decided to keep it simple and opted for lemon slices.
The cheesecake tasted incredible – it was so fresh and had just the right amount of sweetness. I definitely agree with Charlotte when she said it’s “unbelievably moreish”.
Looking to try out another cheesecake recipe? Nigella Lawson’s Nutella cheesecake is incredibly easy too and tastes amazing.
