This Lemon No Bake Cheesecake is lusciously light, sweet and tangy, and might quickly become your new favourite dessert.
If life is giving you lemons, forget the lemonade and make this brilliant lemon cheesecake instead. It’s easy to make with no baking involved. It presents beautifully on the plate and you can even freeze the leftovers for much later. Keep in mind that it requires plenty of setting time so is best made the day before.
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The recipe
The original recipe is from a community recipe book. Remember when school, church and other communities came together to raise funds by compiling a recipe book? Ahh, the good ol’ days. And there are so many wonderful recipes waiting to be re-discovered. I have modified the recipe slightly, so keep scrolling for the recipe card at the end of this post.
Ingredients
The ingredients are fairly standard for a cheesecake – a biscuit and butter base, cream cheese and thickened cream add the creaminess and both a lemon and lemon jelly to add the zest. Plus a few other things you may already have in the pantry.
See the recipe card at the end of the post for all ingredient quantities.
How to make Lemon No Bake Cheesecake
Start by making sure you’ve taken the cream cheese out of the fridge (it needs to be at room temperature) and making up the lemon mixture. Dissolve the lemon jelly crystals in the hot water and add the lemon juice (see image 1). It needs to cool, which is why this step comes first. Place in the fridge for ¾ hour.
TIP: Once you’ve juiced the lemon, retain the skins as you can decorate the cheesecake with the zest, as pictured.
Next, prepare a 19-20cm round springform cake tin by greasing with butter and lining base with baking paper.
Crush the biscuits using a food processor or chopper to a fine crumb (or a rolling pin if you want to go old school). Combine the biscuit crumbs and melted butter in a mixing bowl (see images 2 and 3). Press this biscuit mixture firmly into the base of the greased cake tin (see image 4) and place into fridge to chill.
Now it’s time to make the filling! Place the thickened cream, sugar and vanilla extract in a mixing bowl (see image 5) and beat for 2-3 minutes or until the mixture becomes thick and fluffy. Cut the (room temperature) cream cheese into cubes (see image 6) and beat into the thickened cream mixture until completely combined (see image 7). Add the lemon jelly mixture (making sure to do this only when it has been in fridge for ¾ hour) and beat until combined (see image 8).
Pour the mixture over the biscuit base (see image 9) and then place back into the fridge. Allow to set in the fridge for at least 6 hours, ideally overnight.
Once set, release the sides of springform tin and remove the cheesecake from the cake tin (see image 10). Decorate with lemon zest and whipped cream. To add lemon zest to a portion of the cake, cover with baking paper (see image 11) and use fine grater or zester directly over the cheesecake.
Storage
Your no bake lemon cheesecake should keep for a few days, covered, in the fridge. You can also wrap well and store in the freezer for up to 3 months.
More lovely lemon recipes
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
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Lemon No Bake Cheesecake
A deliciously light, sweet and zesty Lemon Cheesecake.
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Instructions
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Dissolve the lemon jelly crystals in the hot water. Add lemon juice and then place in fridge for ¾ hour.
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Prepare round cake tin by greasing with butter and lining base with baking paper.
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Crush biscuits using a food processor or chopper to a fine crumb (or a rolling pin if you want to go old school).
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Combine biscuit crumbs and melted butter in a mixing bowl.
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Press biscuit mixture firmly into the base of the greased cake tin and place into fridge to chill.
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Place thickened cream, sugar and vanilla extract in a mixing bowl and beat for 2-3 minutes or until mixture becomes thick and fluffy.
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Cut room temperature cream cheese into cubes and beat into the thickened cream mixture until completely combined.
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Add the lemon jelly mixture (which has been in fridge for ¾ hour) and beat until combined.
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Pour mixture over the biscuit base and then place back into the fridge.
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Allow to set in the fridge for at least 6 hours, ideally overnight.
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Once set, release sides of springform tin and remove the cheesecake from the cake tin. Decorate cheesecake with lemon zest and whipped cream.
Notes
Freezing: Wrap well and store in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Nutrition: The nutrition information is an automatically generated estimate and is not guaranteed to be accurate.
Nutrition
Calories: 271kcalCarbohydrates: 28gProtein: 3gFat: 17gSaturated Fat: 10gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0.2gCholesterol: 47mgSodium: 177mgPotassium: 61mgFiber: 0.4gSugar: 21gVitamin A: 598IUVitamin C: 2mgCalcium: 37mgIron: 0.5mg
