DIY: No Bake Cheesecake
After my chocolate crinkle baking escapade last weekend, I was inspired to look into making one of Jorge's favorite desserts, cheesecakes, but since I am no baker, I googled some no bake cheesecake recipes and I was surprised to see a whole bunch of easy and quick ones!
Yesterday, Jorge and I planned to stop by Superstore after work to buy some veggies for supper because I had no kangkong and string beans for my Sinigang. We left the store with cheesecake ingredients and dundundun, no veggies! Such a complete failure on my part haha! I got distracted by my NOBAKECHEESECAKE ingredients! I only remembered about the veggies when we were at the bus stop already! Well, we still had a very delicious dinner though. I fried two pieces of pork chops, Jorge made his cilantro rice and specialty beans!
But going back to the cheesecake, I found a 2-step cheesecake recipe online and I really enjoyed making it! The recipe kind of lied to me though because it wasn't completely bake-free because I had to make my own crust! It's also not exactly a 2-step recipe because it took me quite a while to make this. It wasn't that hard though but still, it lied to me! If you don't have a ready-made graham cracker crust, you can follow the recipe here!
Since the house where Jorge and I are staying at right now has complete baking tools, I took it as an *opportunity* to act as if I'm a kitchen buddy. Hence, all the cooking and ~*baking*~ I've been doing.
HERE'S WHAT YOU'LL NEED:
- 1 (8ounce) package cream cheese, softened
- 1/3 cup white sugar
- 1 (12 ounce) container frozen whipped cream, thawed
- 1 (9 inch) prepared graham cracker crust [this tricked me!! or I just read it wrong haha I assumed it was JUST graham crackers for the crust]
- fresh strawberries
OPTIONAL Strawberry sauce:
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- cut up strawberries
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with equal parts water
- zest (we used orange zest)
LET THE 'NO BAKING' BEGIN!
Make sure your graham crust is ready before doing the following steps.
- Beat the cream cheese and white sugar in a large mixing bowl using an electric mixer because trust me, it will make your life so much easier! Mix until it's smooth and creamy!
2. Fold in whipped cream. Jorge had to google what 'fold in" in baking means. I just used a metal whisk and mixed by hand gently until it's nice and smooth.
3. Put your cream cheese batter on top of your graham crust using a spoon and make sure it's even. You don't want a crooked cheesecake now, do you? Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or until the cheesecake has set.
4. Once your cheesecake is ready, cut up some fresh strawberries for garnish and then serve.
HOW TO MAKE THE STRAWBERRY SAUCE:
In a pan, just mix in all the sauce ingredients (not including the cornstarch mixture) and bring to a boil while mixing often. This takes quite a while. When you notice your strawberries have broken down already but your mixture is still a little too watery, add the cornstarch mixture to thicken the sauce.
So there you have it! This was how I made my (almost) NO BAKE Cheesecake! Jorge and I had a few slices and it was really good! I'm proud of myself for making this! HAHA.
You can always customize the recipe depending on what kind of cheesecake you want. There are a bunch of recipes online! I'm sure you'll find your favorite cheesecake flavor there!
What's your favorite cheesecake flavor! Let me know in the comments! -CS
