Last week I was craving cheesecake. I had seen a picture of
something called strawberry banana fantasy cheesecake that I knew I had to
make. I went out and bought all of the ingredients, including bananas and
strawberries, and then I took a look at the recipe. The recipe and the picture
were completely unrelated. I did a search to see if I could find a recipe that
matched the picture, and there was none to be found. This led me to the
conclusion that the picture I was looking at was AI. I hate it when food blogs
do this sort of thing because it’s misleading, and, in my opinion, deceit of
the highest form. After this little secret was unveiled, I was kind of put off
by that banana strawberry cheesecake. It must’ve been fate, because the next day a
no-bake lemon cheesecake caught my eye. I’ve never made a no-bake cheesecake
before so I thought I would give it a try. The late Mr. O-P was a purist
(you can read about our cheesecake wars here
and here), and no doubt would have balked at something like
this; too bad, because he would have really missed out. In my mind, this was going to be
so easy. It wasn’t.
I suppose I probably shouldn’t have made this when I was frantically involved in a variety of things, and the Roomba
was circling my feet. I had the entire kitchen covered with pots, pans, ingredients, and a freshly squeezed 1/2 cup of lemon
juice (from three zested lemons) into which I had dissolved gelatin. In my
zeal to clean a space to continue on, I hit that cup with my elbow and sent it
sailing down to the floor. Not only did I have to clean up the mess that I had
made, but I also had to squeeze three more lemons! Fortunately, I had them.
Was it worth it? Oh, yeah! This is so refreshingly delicious, light as a
feather, and satisfied both my lemon and cheesecake cravings. It is the perfect
dessert for summer, can be prettily garnished with fresh summer fruit, like
strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, or anything
else that happens to be in season, and is certainly company worthy.
The original recipe called for a graham cracker crust, I wanted something a bit
zingier, so I made a gingersnap crust. You can do what you like. I also added
a few drops of yellow food coloring to make the filling look less white, and
swapped out the vanilla flavoring in the whipped cream used for the garnish
with lemon flavoring because I really wanted to take it over the top. Did I
ever.
No Bake Lemon CheesecakeAdapted from lifeloveandsugar.com
Crust:
2¼ c. gingersnap
crumbs
2 T. sugar
10 T. butter, melted
Cheesecake Filling:
½ c. fresh squeezed lemon juice (3-4 lemons)
1 0.25 oz. pkg. unflavored
gelatin (2½ t.)
¼ c. sweetened
condensed milk
24 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
½ c. sugar
2-3 drops yellow
food coloring
2 T. sour cream
2½ T. lemon zest
1¼ c. heavy whipping cream
¾ c. powdered sugar
Whipped Cream:
1 c. heavy whipping cream
½ c. powdered sugar
1 t. lemon extract
To make the crust:
In a medium bowl combine the crust. Press the mixture into
the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch
springform pan. Set in the fridge to chill.
To make the filling:
Place lemon juice into a medium-sized bowl, and sprinkle the
powdered gelatin evenly over it; let stand for 4-5 minutes.
Heat the lemon juice and gelatin mixture in the microwave for
10-20 seconds, until just warm and smooth. Stir the sweetened condensed milk
into the lemon juice mixture, then set the mixture aside to cool to room
temperature.
In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese,
sugar, and food coloring together, adjusting to achieve the desired color,
until smooth. Add the sour cream and lemon zest and mix to combine. Add the
cooled lemon juice mixture and mix until well combined and smooth; set mixture
aside.
In another large mixing bowl, add the heavy whipping cream and
powdered sugar. Whip on high speed until stiff peaks form. Carefully fold the
whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture in two parts until well combined.
Pour the filling into the prepared crust and spread into an even layer using an offset
spatula. Refrigerate cheesecake until firm, 5-6 hours or overnight.
Remove it from the springform pan and set on a plate or serving
platter.
To garnish:
Place heavy cream, powdered sugar, and lemon
extract into a medium mixing bowl. Whip on high speed until stiff peaks
form. Pipe swirls of around the edge of the cheesecake, and garnish as you
see fit.
Refrigerate until ready to serve. Cheesecake is best for 4-5
days.
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