Our oven is temperamental. You can bake an apple crumble in it, but you can’t properly thaw meatballs. A thin crust pizza is alright, but baking anything deep dish remains an issue. With an oven like ours, cheesecake would be wishing for disaster. I want to be brave, but the thought of setting up a water bath in this oven and then ending up with a cheesecake that doesn’t set feels so heartbreaking that I haven’t even managed to bring myself to try.
As luck would have it, a couple of weeks ago I had an intense craving for lemon cheesecake. I was unwell, feeling rather blue, and became quickly convinced that cheesecake, and only cheesecake, could make everything better. The quick way would have been to go to a café and order myself a slice. The more satisfying way was, of course, to whip up no-bake lemon cheesecake in our very own kitchen.
This cheesecake is very low on fuss—prepare the crust, top with filling and refrigerate. Simple! Ours was divided into four small glass tumblers, and in hindsight I would have divided the filling into five and made more crust. The tumblers were sort of tall and narrow and it was hard work to dig to the bottom for some crust in every bite. Actually, now that I think about it, I think I’d go for more crust next time anyway. After all, it is the contrast in the texture of the crust and filling that makes cheesecakes special, especially to me.
No-bake Lemon Cheesecake
(makes four small glasses)
Made with cues from Foodie with Family and How Sweet Eats
For the crust,
50 gm digestive biscuits
Zest of a lemon
1 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
For the filling
350 gm cream cheese, softened 4 tbsp sweetened condensed milk
1 tbsp lemon juice
3-4 tbsp powdered sugar (adjust based on how sweet you like your cheesecake to be)
1. Place the digestive biscuits inside a muslin cloth and wrap around. Crush them using a rolling pin till you have crumbs. Use a food processor or blender to do this, if you have one.
2. Mix the crumbs, melted butter, lemon zest and sugar.
3. Evenly distribute this mixture in four small glasses and press with the back of a spoon to flatten.
4. Cover with cling wrap and refrigerate for about 40 mins.
5. In a large bowl whisk together the softened cream cheese and condensed milk.
6. Now add the sugar and lemon. Taste to see if the flavour is to your liking and adjust accordingly.
7. Take the crust-filled glasses out of the refrigerator. Divide the filling between them.
8. Cover and refrigerate again, this time for about 3-4 hours.
9. Serve garnished with lemon zest.
