No-bake strawberry cheesecake
- Prepare
- overnight
- Cook
- less than 10 mins
- Serve
- Serves 6-8
This strawberry cheesecake is the summer dessert dreams are made of. Made with plenty of white chocolate, strawberries and cream.
Based on eight servings, each portion provides 523 kcal, 6g protein, 29g carbohydrate (of which 18g sugars), 42g fat (of which 25g saturates), 3g fibre and 0.7g salt.
By Annie Rigg
Ingredients
- 2 tsp sunflower oil
- 200g/7oz digestive biscuits
- 100g/3½oz unsalted butter
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- 100g/3½oz white chocolate, roughly chopped
- 400g/14oz strawberries, trimmed, plus extra to decorate
- 300g/10½oz full-fat cream cheese
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ unwaxed lemon, finely grated zest only
- 1 tbsp runny honey or maple syrup
- 200ml/7fl oz double cream
Method
Brush the inside of a 20cm/8in springform tin with sunflower oil. Line the base with a circle of baking paper.
Put the digestive biscuits into a sealable freezer bag. Push all the air out and seal the bag. Crush the biscuits using a rolling pin (or any heavy utensil), until they form sand-like crumbs.
Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Stir in the biscuit crumbs and cinnamon. Press the crumbs into the bottom of the tin. Chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
Chop 150g/5oz of the strawberries in half from top to bottom and arrange around the edge of the prepared tin, cut side-up. Chop the remaining berries into small pieces.
Gently melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl, either in a microwave or over a pan of simmering water, making sure the bowl doesn’t touch the water. Set aside to cool a little.
Beat together the cream cheese, vanilla, lemon zest and honey in a mixing bowl. Stir in the chopped strawberries.
In another bowl, whisk the double cream until it holds a floppy peak.
Fold the melted chocolate into the cream cheese mixture, followed by the double cream. Taste and add more honey if needed.
Spoon the filling into the tin, being careful not to move the strawberries on the edge. Spread level with a palette knife or the back of a spoon, cover with cling film and chill overnight, until firm.
Carefully remove the cheesecake from the tin and put on a serving plate. Slice or quarter extra strawberries to arrange on top.
Recipe tips
This cheesecake can easily be made gluten-free by swapping the digestives for a gluten-free alternative.
To make the recipe easier, in step 3 you can chop up all the strawberries and mix into the cheesecake, rather than lining the tin with strawberry halves.
It's important to use full-fat cream cheese as reduced fat versions don't set.
The white chocolate helps the cheesecake set as well as adding delicious vanilla flavour. When melting the chocolate do it over the lowest possible heat and don't over do it. White chocolate has a tendency to seize when overheated (form a grainy solid sat in a greasy liquid).
Although no-bake cheesecakes are great to make ahead, fresh strawberries will only last so long so this is one to make the night before rather than a few days ahead.
