Easy No Bake Strawberry Cheesecake

With the temperature hotting up, and peak strawberry season, I thought I’d publish a simple cold cheesecake recipe with strawberries. This simple cheesecake is creamy and delicious, packed with fruits and a mild vanilla flavour. I make it quite often during the summer. I made mine with mascarpone cheese, but if you want something light, you can try specially made cheesecake cheese, which is less fatty. I highly recommend this!

Easy No Bake Strawberry Cheesecake

Ingredients

• 6 level tsp of gelatine

• 1/2 cup of water

• around 80g sponge cookies, e.g. ladyfingers

Soaking mixture:

• around 1/3 cup of water

• 2 tbsp lemon juice

• 1–2 tsp icing sugar

Cheese frosting:

• 500g extra thick double cream

• 5–7 tbsp icing sugar (sweeten the cake to taste)

• 2 tsp vanilla extract

• 500g mascarpone cheese

• 500g washed, peeled, chopped strawberries

Topping:

• Approximately 200ml extra thick double cream

• 2–3 tbsp icing sugar

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Decoration:

• strawberries

• meringue

Method

Mixture preparation:

1. Pour 1/2 cup of water over the gelatine, stir and leave to swell for about 15 minutes.

2. Heat the gelatine, stirring until it dissolves (do not boil!).

3. Remove from the heat and let it cool for about 5–10 minutes. The gelatine should be warm, but not hot.

4. Place sponge cookies on a 23cm cake tin lined with baking paper on the bottom.

5. Mix the soaking ingredients and pour over the sponge cakes.

6. Whip the heavy cream with icing sugar and vanilla extract, until stiff. Add the mascarpone cheese and mix. Then, stirring continuously with an electric mixer, pour in the warm gelatine. Divide the mixture into 3–4 portions. Add the strawberries and stir briefly with a spatula. Take care not to stir for too long, as the mixture may curdle.

7. Pour the cheese mixture on the sponge cookies in the tin, then smooth. Pop the cheesecake in the fridge for a couple of hours.

The top:

8. Take the cheesecake out of the cake tin and place it on a platter (use a knife to separate the edges of cake from the tin).

9. Whip the heavy cream with icing sugar and vanilla extract until stiff. Place it on the top of the cheesecake. Decorate the cheesecake with strawberries and meringue.

Enjoy! :)