No bake berry cheesecake
No bake berry cheesecake is the perfect make ahead dessert. Not overly sweet and with fresh fruit, it’s a great dessert for any dinner party or special occasion.
No bake berry cheesecake is the perfect dessert for any dinner party or special occasion. Delicious fresh berries make this simple cheesecake extra special.
I love no bake cheesecakes. They’re one of my favourite desserts. Once you’ve mastered the base and basic filling it’s really easy to adapt it to add different flavours. This one adds loads of fresh mixed berries so is the ideal summer dessert, although is delicious at any time of year.
The simple no bake dessert is really easy to make. And as you can do it ahead of time which makes it the perfect treat if you’re having friends round or for any special occasion, or even as an alternative Christmas dessert.
How can kids help to make the No Bake berry cheesecake?
Cheesecakes are a great dessert for kids to make as there are plenty of simple steps for them to get involved in.
My kids always enjoy making the base – they get to bash all the biscuits to a crumb or blitz them in a food processor. And once you have the biscuits and melted butter mixed together it’s a simple case of pressing them into the cake tin to form the base. Both, great jobs for young children.
The cheesecake filling is also pretty easy. For us, we were able to add a whole 250ml carton of mascarpone and a whole 300ml carton of cream so there’s no need to even measure anything out. But if you do need to measure them out, it’s a great way for kids to practice their number recognition skills.
Finally, kids can help prepare the fruit and if you’re using larger berries like strawberries, you can get them to chop them into small pieces which is a great way of practising their knife skills.
How long does a berry cheesecake keep?
The cheesecake will keep for a few days covered and in the fridge.
Can you use frozen berries?
We used fresh berries as I find frozen berries can be a bit wetter when they thaw and was worried as to how that would work in the filling. You could try with frozen, but use fresh fruit for the topping.
How long does it take to set?
A no bake cheesecake will take at least 6 hours to set. I prefer to make it the day ahead and leave it overnight.
If it’s not set after 6 hours or so and you can’t wait much longer, pop it in the freezer for around an hour before you serve it.
What berries should you use?
We used a mixture of raspberries, blueberries and strawberries as those are my kid’s favourite so we always tend to have them in the house. It would work equally well with 2 of the three berries or with additional berries like blackberries. Use whatever you can get your hands on or whatever your favourite berries are.
What can you use instead of Digestive biscuits in the base?
If you don’t have Digestive biscuits, Graham crackers are a great alternative. Or try Ginger Nuts instead for a lovely twist on this cheesecake base.
Other cheesecake recipes
If you liked this white chocolate cheesecake, you might like some of our other cheesecake recipes:
Baked chocolate ripple cheesecake
No bake lemon cheesecake
Double chocolate cheesecake
White chocolate and raspberry cheesecake
No bake orange cheesecake
Biscoff cheesecake
No bake chocolate cheesecake
Millionaire’s cheesecake
Strawberry cheesecake
Banoffee cheesecake
After Eight cheesecake
Maltesers cheesecake
No bake key lime pie
Useful equipment
You might need the following baking tools/gadgets to make this white chocolate and raspberry cheesecake
Digital scales
Freestanding mixer
Mixing bowl
Measuring cups
Mini blender
Sieve
Cake tins
Serving plate
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Ingredients
250g digestive biscuits (or Graham Crackers)
150g butter
For the filling
250g (1 1/8 cup) mascarpone cheese
300ml (1 1/3 cup) double/whipping cream
1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
100g icing sugar
300g (2 ½ cup) mixed berries
more berries to decorate
How to make a no bake berry cheesecake
Grease a 20cm (8 inch) spring form or loose bottomed cake tin and line the base with a circle of baking or parchment paper.
Make the base
Start by getting your kids to measure out the biscuits. There’s no need to be 100% accurate, just add them to the nearest biscuit.
Put the biscuits in a large unbreakable bowl or a zip lock freezer bag. Now give your kids a rolling pin, or something similar and get them to bash the biscuits until they’re crushed to a nice, fine crumb.
If you’re worried about making a lot of mess or are doing this with young children i’d recommend doing this in a freezer bag. Alternatively, if you have a food processor you can pulse the biscuits in there to crumb them.
Meanwhile, measure the butter out and put it in a small pan or microwaveable bowl. Heat the butter gently until it has melted. If you have very young children you could do this step while they are bashing the biscuits.
Once the butter has melted, if the biscuits aren’t already in a bowl, put them in one and pour the butter in. Get your kids to stir it all together so all the biscuit crumbs are coated in melted butter.
Tip the biscuit crumbs into your prepared tin. Using the back of a spoon get your kids to press the crumbs down into the tin. Make sure they press well into the sides as well as the middle so that the base all sticks together nicely and doesn’t crumble apart later.
Chill the base for about 20 minutes in the fridge while you make the filling.
Make the filling
Whip the cream and mascarpone
Start by getting your kids to whip the mascarpone and cream. Add them to a large mixing bowl or free-standing mixer. This was easy for us as they came in exactly the right sized cartons but if you need to measure them out, the easiest way to do it accurately is to use the ml setting on some digital scales if you have them.
Whip them together using the whisk attachment of your free-standing mixer or a hand held whisk, until the mixture is smooth and has formed ‘soft peaks’. Soft peaks is when the mixture is thick enough to hold very briefly when you lift the whisk out before flopping down again.
Add the icing sugar and vanilla
Get your kids to measure out the sugar and vanilla and add them to your mixing bowl. You may need to hold the measuring spoon while your kids pour in the vanilla or vice versa.
Stir the vanilla and icing sugar through with a spatula or spoon.
Add the fruit
Finally, get your kids to measure out the berries, chopping any large ones like strawberries into small pieces. Add them to your whipped cream/mascarpone mixture. Get your kids to stir them through until they are well mixed in.
Make the cheesecake
Get your kids to spoon or pour the cheesecake mixture onto the base, and level it with a spatula. Cover it with cling film/ glad wrap and put it in the fridge to chill for at least six to eight hours or overnight if you can.
To serve, very carefully remove the cheesecake from the tin and put it on a serving plate. Top the cheesecake with some more berries, serve and enjoy.
No bake berry cheesecake
Equipment
- Digital scales
- Freestanding mixer
- Mixing bowl
- Measuring cups
- Mini blender
- Sieve
- Cake tins
- Serving plate
Ingredients
- 250 g digestive biscuits or Graham Crackers
- 150 g butter
For the filling
- 250 g (1 ⅛ cup) mascarpone cheese
- 300 ml (1 ⅓ cup) double/whipping cream
- 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 100 g icing sugar
- 300 g (2 ½ cup) mixed berries
- more berries to decorate
Instructions
- Grease a 20cm (8 inch) spring form or loose bottomed cake tin and line the base with a circle of baking or parchment paper.
Make the base
- Measure out the biscuits. Put the biscuits in a large unbreakable bowl or a zip lock freezer bag. Bash the biscuits with something like a rolling pin until they're crushed to a nice, fine crumb.
- Meanwhile, measure the butter out and put it in a small pan or microwaveable bowl. Heat the butter gently until it has melted.
- Pop the biscuits and butter into a bowl and stir it all together so all the biscuit crumbs are coated in melted butter.
- Tip the biscuit crumbs into your prepared tin. Using the back of a spoon press the crumbs down into the tin. Make sure you press well into the sides as well as the middle so that the base all sticks together nicely and doesn't crumble apart later.
- Chill the base for about 20 minutes in the fridge while you make the filling.
Make the filling
Whip the cream and mascarpone
- In a large mixing bowl or freestanding mixer, whip the mascarpone and cream together until the mixture is smooth and has formed soft peaks.
Add the icing sugar and vanilla
- Measure out the sugar and vanilla and add them to your mixing bowl. Stir the vanilla and icing sugar through with a spatula or spoon.
Add the fruit
- Finally, measure out the berries, chopping any large ones like strawberries into small pieces. Add them to your whipped cream/mascarpone mixture. Stir them through until they are well mixed in.
Make the cheesecake
- Spoon or pour the cheesecake mixture onto the base, and level it with a spatula. Cover it with cling film/ glad wrap and put it in the fridge to chill for at least six to eight hours or overnight if you can.
- To serve, very carefully remove the cheesecake from the tin and put it on a serving plate. Top the cheesecake with some more berries, serve and enjoy.
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