Simple No-Bake Cheesecake Recipe

Happy Easter! It’s a weird one this year, isn’t it? We’re in the middle of a pandemic thanks to Coronavirus, locked indoors, stopping us from seeing friends and family this long bank holiday weekend.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve been doing everything I can to keep busy, which has included gardening, arts and crafts, and most frequently baking – but with a twist. Seeing as we’re not allowed out to shop for anything other than “essential items” (which sadly doesn’t include baking ingredients), I’ve set myself the quest of trialing recipes that don’t include items that I don’t have in my cupboards, such as flour, caster sugar and the like. I’m sure most people are doing the same, seeing as those items are hard to come by right now anyway!

If anyone has any tips for sourcing flour, let me know…

One of my fellow blogging friends Yossy, who blogs over at withloveyossy.com, posted a recipe the other day which inspired me, so here’s my version of her non-bake cheesecake recipe, which fills 6 ramekins.

You will need…

For the base:

6-7 biscuits of your choice (I used digestives)
Butter (4-5 knobs)

For the non-bake cheesecase filling:

Double cream (300g)
1 pack of soft cheese (200g) but it’s advisable to get 2 packs so you can add more to suit your own preference/taste
A spread of your choice (I used Marks and Spencer’s Milk and Cookies chocolate spread which I bought last year, but you can use Nutella or Lotus Biscoff)
Chocolate for added taste and decoration
Something to decorate with at the end if you’re feeling fancy!

Kitchen utensils:

A few small bowls
Spoons (teaspoons and tablespoons)
Whisk (a KitchenAid whisk is perfect for this, if you don’t have one of these, a hand-held whisk or a fork will do but warning, you may get a sore arm!)
Grater for adding chocolate sprinkles and decorating afterwards
Bowl or jug for mixing the cheesecake filling. I used a Pyrex measuring jug – my go-to for pretty much everything
A sealing bag (pictured) to help crush the biscuits for the case

How to make no-bake cheesecake ramekins in 10 steps:

1. Crush the biscuits until crumbled completely. If you’d prefer some crunch in your base, leave some chunks in. For this, I used a small seal bag. I added 3 biscuits in at a time and squished them with my hand before pouring into a bowl.

2. Melt the butter. I wasn’t too sure how much butter to use, so added 2 knobs to begin with and placed in the microwave for 30 seconds. I mixed until the butter had completely melted, before noticing that I didn’t have enough so I added a further 3 knobs. I carried on mixing until it formed a liquid with no lumps.

3. Mix the melted butter and crushed biscuit base together in a bowl. You’ll know if you’ve added enough butter if it creates a substance that sticks all of the biscuits together.

4. Fill the bottom of your ramekins with the biscuit base – this should be easy to do now that the butter has been added (if not, add another knob of butter). Place them in the fridge so the base can set whilst you begin making the cheesecake filling.

5. Pour the double cream into a bowl or jug. Whip it using a whisk/fork until the cream becomes thick. You will know if it is done when you tip the bowl and the mixture doesn’t move. When you think it is 100% done, a good tip is to hold the bowl upside down above your head – the mixture should not budge.

6. Add in the cream cheese to your preference and whisk the mixture together. I added one 200g pack, but you can add some more if you wish, which is why I advise to get 2 packs instead of one.

7. Next, add your spread to the mixture. You can add as little or as much as you like, to ensure it is to your taste. It’s best to add one tablespoon at a time and taste. I added two tablespoons of the M&S spread.

8. Now it’s time for the chocolate! I removed two small squares from the Lindt chocolate bar and grated them into the mixture for some extra chocolate-y taste. Be sure to put some aside for later for decoration.

9. Take your six ramekins out of the fridge and spoon in the mixture on top of the base. Once this is done, put them back in the fridge to set.

10. Once they are completely set, sprinkle the grated chocolate on top. You can do this before you place them in the fridge, but doing it this way ensures that if you add too much you can easily pick it off. You can add something else for decoration too – I’ve used Maltesers and Easter bunnies.