Strawberry cheesecake
This easy, no bake strawberry cheesecake is a great summer dessert for kids to help make. They’ll enjoy helping to make the biscuit base as well as the light, creamy strawberry cheesecake filling.
This strawberry cheesecake, is the perfect summer dessert for kids to help make. It’s so easy, and with a beautiful strawberry flavour is a great dessert for any dinner party.
I’ve always loved eating no bake cheesecakes, but now I’ve discovered how easy they are to make I also love making them with my kids. Our lemon cheesecake used to be our go to cheesecake, but once we’d figured out the basic recipe, we’ve been able to mix it up with different flavours.
This strawberry cheesecake is a great dessert for the summer when strawberries are in abundance. It’s got a delicious biscuity base to add a bit of crunch with a soft, creamy, but not too rich topping filled with fresh strawberries.
It’s perfect for when you have guests round, but is so easy, you could just rustle it up for pudding after a family meal or BBQ (as long as you have long enough for it to set!)
How can kids help make this strawberry cheesecake?
Cheesecakes, particularly no bake cheesecakes are great desserts for kids to help make because they are so easy
There are lots of really simple steps for kids to get involved in. Older children can probably take over and do the whole thing themselves, while younger children may want to dip in and out and help with parts of it.
Making the cheesecake base is a really easy job for children, in fact it was one of the first things my kids ever helped with. Kids can help to measure out the biscuits before bashing them (or blitzing them in a food processor). If your children are taking charge of this, I’d recommend doing it in a freezer bag rather than a bowl to save a bit of mess.
Once the biscuits have been crumbed and the butter melted and mixed in, you can get your kids to help press them into the cake tin to form the base. It’s not a tricky job, but you do want to make sure it’s done thoroughly so that it doesn’t fall apart later.
The strawberry cheesecake filling itself is also very easy to make. Our cream and mascarpone come in the perfect sized cartons so my kids can just pour them straight into the bowl before whisking them together.
Children can also help to prepare the strawberries. Strawberries are a great fruit for kids to help prepare. Even if they are too young to help hull the strawberries (although a strawberry huller can make this job a little easier), they can use a blunt knife to help cut them into small pieces.
Once you’ve made the filling and the base, your kids can help assemble the cheesecake, starting with adding and levelling the filling, before making the strawberry sauce and add the strawberries on top.
How do you store a strawberry cheesecake?
This cheesecake will keep covered and refrigerated for a day or two. As is it is full of cream, mascarpone and fresh strawberries it won’t keep at room temperature so must be kept in the fridge.
Can I use cream cheese instead of mascarpone?
Yes, if you don’t have any mascarpone you can swap it for the same amount of cream cheese. We use cream cheese in some of our other cheesecakes and find it a little stronger in flavour and tangier than mascarpone so you might like to add a little extra icing sugar to balance the flavours.
What biscuits can you use to make the base?
Digestive biscuit work well and are what we tend to use when we make cheesecakes. If you don’t have any Digestives, you can try a different plain or even a chocolate biscuit. Graham crackers, chocolate Digestives or Oreos would all work well as an alternative.
Can I use frozen strawberries
I think fresh strawberries work better in this cheescake but that’s not to say you couldn’t swap fresh for frozen if that’s all you have. Frozen strawberries would certainly be a more economical fruit to use in the strawberry sauce.
How do you stop cheesecakes from sticking to the bottom of the tin?
To stop the base of the cheesecake from sticking to the tin, make sure you grease the base and sides of your cake tin well with butter. We also like to line the bottom of the tin with a circle of baking, greaseproof or parchment paper.
If you use a loose bottomed tin, when you want to remove the cheesecake from the tin, set it on top of a glass and carefully push down. The cheesecake should just pop out. Once you’ve done that, carefully remove the circle of baking parchment from the base.
How long does it take to set?
No bake cheesecakes take at least 6 hours to set properly. If you have time, it’s best to make the cheesecake itself the day ahead and leave it overnight to set. Remove it from the fridge about half an hour before you want to decorate and serve it.
If it’s not set after 6 hours or you don’t have 6 hours to wait you can pop it in the freezer for around an hour to firm it up.
Other cheesecake recipes you’ll love
If you liked this strawberry 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
Banoffee cheesecake
After Eight cheesecake
Maltesers cheesecake
Mini Egg cheesecake
No bake key lime pie
Lemon meringue cheesecake
Other strawberry recipes
Or if you have a glut of strawberries why not try one of these strawberry filled recipes:
Strawberry fudge
Strawberry cookies
Strawberry muffins
Homemade strawberry jam
Strawberry cake
Strawberry cupcakes
Strawberry crumble
Strawberry shortcake
Useful equipment
You might need the following baking tools/gadgets to make this strawberry cheesecake
Digital scales
Freestanding mixer
Mixing bowl
Measuring cups
Cake tins
Serving plate
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Ingredients
For the base
250g Digestive biscuits ( or plain biscuits)
125g (½ cup) butter
For the filling
250g (1 cup) Mascarpone cheese
300ml (1 ¼ cup) double / whipping or heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
50g icing (confectioners sugar)
200g strawberries
To decorate
300g strawberries
50g (¼ cup) caster sugar
1 teaspoon cornflour
How to make a strawberry cheesecake
Get your kids to grease the side and base of a round 8 inch (20cm) spring-form or loose bottomed cake tin and then line the base with a circle of baking or parchment paper.
Make the biscuit base
Get your kids to measure the biscuits out then put them in a large mixing bowl or a large zip lock / freezer bag. Using a rolling pin, or something similar, get your kids to bash them until are nicely and finely crumbed.
Crushing the biscuits in a bag can save a lot of mess and is a bit quicker so it can be a good option if your kids are in charge of this step (or even if they’re not!) As well as bashing the biscuits, try rolling your rolling pin over them to crush them finely.
Another, even quicker alternative, is to use a food processor if you have one. It will blitz the biscuits into a fine crumb in seconds for you.
While your kids are crushing the biscuits, measure the butter and put it in a saucepan or microwavable bowl. Heat it gently on the hob or blast it in the microwave until it has fully melted.
Once the butter has melted, add the biscuit crumbs to your saucepan or microwavable bowl. Or if you crushed the biscuits in a a bowl simply pour the melted butter into the bowl instead.
Get your kids to stir the biscuits and butter together until all the crumbs are well coated.
Form the cheesecake base
The last step in making the base is to tip or spoon the crushed biscuits into your prepared baking tin. Then, using a spatula or the the back of a metal spoon, press the base down firmly into the tin until it is all nice and level.
Keep pressing it down in the middle and at the sides until it is nice and flat and really firmly pressed in so that your base holds together and doesn’t crumble apart later.
Put the base in the fridge to chill for at least 20 minutes while you make the filling.
Make the strawberry cheesecake filling
Start by measuring out mascarpone cheese and double cream and add them both to a large mixing bowl or a free-standing mixer. Our cartons of cream and mascarpone are exactly the right size so it’s quite an easy job for kids as they just tip the whole thing in. If you need to measure yours out, the best and easiest way of doing it accurately is to use the ml setting on your digital scales if you have them, or measuring cups.
Using the whisk attachment of your free-standing mixer, or a hand held whisk, whip the mascarpone and double cream together until your mixture is nice and smooth and has formed soft peaks.
What are soft peaks? If you’re unsure what you’re looking for, you want the mixture to be thick enough to hold very briefly if you lift the whisk up, before the cream then flops back down on itself again.
Prepare the strawberries
Get your kids to help you hull the strawberries and cut them into small pieces. To minimise how much fruit you loose, run your knife at an angle around the top of the hull to remove it rather than slicing the top off your strawberry, or use a strawberry huller.
Cutting the strawberries is a great job for little kids as they can do it with a blunt knife (like a butter knife) and it doesn’t matter too much if they end up the same size or not.
Add the icing sugar, vanilla and strawberries
Get your kids to measure out the icing sugar and vanilla and add it to your mixing bowl along with the prepared strawberries. If your kids are quite young, you may need to hold the measuring spoon while your kids pour in the vanilla or vice versa.
Using a spatula, stir everything into your mixture one last time so it is well combined and has thickened up. Make sure you stop mixing it when it’s well combined so it doesn’t end up over-mixed.
Make the strawberry cheesecake
Spoon or pour the strawberry cheesecake mixture onto your prepared biscuit base. Spread it out and level the top with a spatula, the back of a spoon or a small palette knife.
Cover the cheesecake with cling film / glad wrap and chill it for at least two hours, but preferably over night.
Decorate the strawberry cheesecake
Start by carefully removing the cheesecake from the tin and put it on a serving plate. If you have a loose bottomed tin, set it on top of a cup and gently press down until the base comes away.
Set it on a serving plate, removing the circle of parchment paper from underneath.
Make the strawberry sauce
Hull all the strawberries, and cut 100g of them in half and set those aside. Cut the rest into small pieces and pop them into a saucepan with the caster sugar and cornflour. Heat the strawberries for five minutes or so until they have softened.
Remove the strawberries from the heat and mash them with a fork or masher, then strain the mixture through a sieve.
Arrange the halved strawberries on top of the cheesecake and drizzle the strawberry sauce on top.
Serve and enjoy.
Strawberry cheesecake
Equipment
- Digital scales
- Freestanding mixer
- Mixing bowl
- Measuring cups
- Cake tins
- Serving plate
Ingredients
For the base
- 250 g Digestive biscuits or plain biscuits
- 125 g (½ cup) butter
For the filling
- 250 g (1 cup) Mascarpone cheese
- 300 ml (1 ¼ cup) double / whipping or heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 50 g icing confectioners sugar
- 200 g strawberries
To decorate
- 300 g strawberries
- 50 g (¼ cup) caster sugar
- 1 teaspoon cornflour
Instructions
- Grease the side and base of a round 8 inch (20cm) spring-form or loose bottomed cake tin and then line the base with a circle of baking or parchment paper.
Make the biscuit base
- Measure the biscuits out then put them in a large mixing bowl or a large zip lock / freezer bag. Using a rolling pin, or something similar, bash them until are nicely and finely crumbed.Alternatively you can use a food processor if you have one. It will blitz the biscuits into a fine crumb in seconds for you.
- Measure the butter and put it in a saucepan or microwavable bowl. Heat it gently on the hob or blast it in the microwave until it has fully melted.Add the butter to the biscuits or the biscuits to the butter and stir them together until the crumbs are well coated.
Form the cheesecake base
- The last step in making the base is to tip or spoon the crushed biscuits into your prepared baking tin. Then, using a spatula or the the back of a metal spoon, press the base down firmly into the tin until it is all nice and level.Keep pressing it down in the middle and at the sides until it is nice and flat and really firmly pressed in so that your base holds together and doesn't crumble apart later.
- Put the base in the fridge to chill for at least 20 minutes while you make the filling.
Make the strawberry cheesecake filling
- Start by measuring out mascarpone cheese and double cream and add them both to a large mixing bowl or a free-standing mixer.
- Using the whisk attachment of your free-standing mixer, or a hand held whisk, whip the mascarpone and double cream together until your mixture is nice and smooth and has formed soft peaks.
Prepare the strawberries
- Hull the strawberries and cut them into small pieces. To minimise how much fruit you loose, run your knife at an angle around the top of the hull to remove it rather than slicing the top off your strawberry, or use a strawberry huller.
Add the icing sugar, vanilla and strawberries
- Measure out the icing sugar and vanilla and add it to your mixing bowl along with the prepared strawberries. Using a spatula, stir everything into your mixture one last time so it is well combined and has thickened up. Make sure you stop mixing it when it's well combined so it doesn't end up over-mixed.
Make the strawberry cheesecake
- Spoon or pour the strawberry cheesecake mixture onto your prepared biscuit base. Spread it out and level the top with a spatula, the back of a spoon or a small palette knife.
- Cover the cheesecake with cling film / glad wrap and chill it for at least two hours, but preferably over night.
Decorate the strawberry cheesecake
- Start by carefully removing the cheesecake from the tin and put it on a serving plate. If you have a loose bottomed tin, set it on top of a cup and gently press down until the base comes away.Set it on a serving plate, removing the circle of parchment paper from underneath.
Make the strawberry sauce
- Hull all the strawberries, and cut 100g of them in half and set those aside. Cut the rest into small pieces and pop them into a saucepan with the caster sugar and cornflour. Heat the strawberries for five minutes or so until they have softened.Remove the strawberries from the heat and mash them with a fork or masher, then strain the mixture through a sieve.
- Arrange the halved strawberries on top of the cheesecake and drizzle the strawberry sauce on top.
- Serve and enjoy.
Notes
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