Easy no bake cheesecake

Easy no bake cheesecake
Prepare
over 2 hours
Cook
less than 10 mins
Serve
Serves 10-12

When you just don't have the energy to mess about with baking, an easy cheesecake is a make-ahead wonder. You can swap in all kinds of toppings for this cheesecake – fresh berries, chocolate biscuits, a shop-bought fruit compôte, or other chopped up chocolate bars. Alternatively, spread the top lightly with lemon curd and sprinkle with roughly chopped readymade meringues.

By Emily Angle

Shopping list

Ingredients

Recipe tips

Method

  1. Place the digestive biscuits into a sealable freezer bag. Push all the air out and seal the bag. Crush the biscuits with a rolling pin, being careful not to break any holes in the bag.

  2. Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Tip the biscuit crumbs into the butter and mix well until thoroughly combined. Press the buttery crumbs into the bottom of a 23cm/9in springform or loose-bottomed tin. Chill in the refrigerator while you make the topping.

  3. Combine the cream cheese and mascarpone in a large mixing bowl. Using an electric handheld mixer, blend the cheeses together until light and fluffy. Add the icing sugar a little at a time and blend to incorporate. Finally, mix in the vanilla. The mixture should be very light and fluffy.

  4. Place the malted milk balls in the sealable freezer bag and close. Knock the malted milk balls with a rolling pin to just break them apart. Fold half of the crushed malted milk balls into the cream cheese mixture until thoroughly combined.

  5. Spread the cream cheese mixture over the biscuit base and smooth the top with a palette knife or spatula. Cover with cling film and chill in the fridge for at least four hours.

  6. When ready to serve, sprinkle the remaining crushed malted milk balls over the top of the cheesecake. Release the catch of the springform tin carefully, then slice and serve.

Recipe tips

You can make the cheesecake up to 2 days in advance, if you cover the tin in 2–3 layers of plastic film or foil and keep in the fridge.

You can find full-fat cheese suitable for making cheesecakes in tubs in the chiller aisle of the supermarket. It often has a little salt added and is suitable for savoury and sweet dishes. In the UK it’s labelled as full-fat soft cheese and has a fat content of around 22 percent. Mascarpone cheese is even richer, with a fat content of around 40 percent and also contains cream and milk. The high fat content helps the cheesecake set when it is chilled.

If you don’t fancy plain digestive biscuits for your base, you can use any other similar crunchy biscuit instead; oaty biscuits, chocolate covered digestives and ginger biscuits work well. Avoid wafer biscuits and sandwich-style biscuits such as custard creams as the base won’t set in the same way.

If you don’t have a springform tin available for your cheesecake, you can make in ceramic quiche dish, or any shallow serving dish, although you won’t be able to remove it before serving. Just remember to keep the dimensions roughly the same. You can also make individual cheesecakes, by adding the crumbs into the base of ramekins or sturdy tumblers and spooning the cheesecake mixture on top. Don’t press the crumbs too firmly or they will become too solid on chilling and the cheesecake will be tricky to eat.

Instead of using a rolling pin to crush the biscuits, you can use the base of a saucepan. You can also blitz the biscuits in a food processor after breaking into chunky pieces. Blend on the pulse setting so the crumbs don’t become too fine, they should have the texture of rough breadcrumbs.

To help remove the cheesecake from the tin, run a round-bladed knife round the outside of the cheesecake, taking care not to scratch the non-stick surface of the tin. Slice the cheesecake using a knife dipped in a jug of hot water for the best results. Wipe with kitchen paper between slices.