No Bake Cheesecake

 

 

No Bake Cheesecake with Herb Infused Balsamic Vinegar Reduction

This no-bake cheesecake is somewhat tricky to make but if you have all the ingredients at room temperature before  you start, assembly should be easy.   If you are making this recipe for vegans, substitute the gelatin with agar.  Start this recipe by making the herb-infused balsamic vinegar reduction because this needs to be cool for serving.  One of the best things about this cheesecake recipe is that it sets quickly.  This cheesecake serves four to six people.

Herb Infused Balsamic Vinegar Reduction

Allow for a minimum of thirty to forty-five minutes to reduce this sauce for optimal flavor.  You can do it in fifteen minutes and get a good flavor profile but it is very important to allow the final reduction to cool completely before refrigerating.

16 ounces of  frozen raspberries in sugar

1 sprig of fresh rosemary
2 to 3 sprigs of fresh thyme
1 ounce of lemon grass (comes in a tube at grocery store)
Juice of one whole lemon
Lemon wedges (from the squeezed lemon)
½ cup of really good balsamic vinegar
Pinch of salt

In a really good saucepan, put all of the above ingredients.  After you squeeze the lemon juice out of the lemon, throw the lemons in the saucepan (not the seeds).  You can put the herbs in cheesecloth or just throw them in the saucepan and strain out the reduction later.  Cover the saucepan.  On medium heat, allow the mixture to come to a soft boil.  Reduce the heat to lowest simmer and cook for anywhere from fifteen to forty-five minutes.  Taste the reduction after fifteen minutes and adjust seasonings accordingly (if anything, you may need to add agave or sugar---whichever you prefer).  Remove from heat but keep the cover on.  Allow to cool thoroughly and then strain the mixture into a blender using a fine sieve.  Discard the herbs and lemon wedges but hold the sieve because you will need to strain this out again.  Using your blender on a low setting, simply pulse until you get a sauce.  Strain out the sauce over a deep bowl to remove the seeds from the raspberries.  If you like the consistency of the sauce, the sauce is done.  If you want to blend it further, throw it back in the blender (after wiping the sides of the blender for stray seeds).  Put the sauce in a plastic container and refrigerate until serving time.

Easy Cheesecake

My regular cheesecake takes three days from start to finish because each process must be refrigerated.  This recipe has a flavor profile similar to the complicated cheesecake dish but can be made by anybody with little effort.  Have all ingredients at room temperature.  I use Nilla wafers because I’m not a big chocolate person and my regular cheesecake starts with Nilla wafers.  If you like, you can use any prepared pie crust (graham cracker, chocolate, etc.) and make the recipe in a pie plate instead of a seven inch springform pan.  It will taste equally good but the shape will be different.  If using a springform pan, generously butter the bottom of the cheesecake pan and the sides.  Before buttering, I take the base of the springform pan out and trace a parchment circle which I cut out with scissors.  Put the springform pan together and after I butter, I place the parchment circle on top of the  bottom of the pan.  This will help keep your cheesecake from sticking.

Cheesecake Ingredients:

Crust:

Half a box of Nilla wafers, crushed
1 stick of butter at room temperature

Crush the Nilla wafers.  Mix the butter with the crumbs.  Press the crumb mixture onto the parchment paper in the springform pan.  The residual heat from your hands will help make this process smoothly.  Place the pan in the refrigerator while you make the filling.

Filling:

1 gelatin sheet, dissolved (vegans use agar)
16 ounces of marscapone cheese
4 ounces of cream cheese
Juice of one lemon (squeezed with seeds removed)
8 ounces of white chocolate, melted with 1 tablespoon of butter
Zest of one lemon, grated
1 cup of marshmallow Fluff (this eliminates the need for sugar) (vegans use ½ cup of superfine sugar instead of the Fluff)
2 ounces of lemon cello or lemon flavored vodka
1 teaspoon of good vanilla

Cut the gelatin sheet in half and put in a bowl of cold water to dissolve the gelatin sheets.  Strain out the gelatin sheets in a good strainer (gelatin sheets will soften after about ten minutes.)  Warm either the vodka or the lemon juice (room temperature or a tad warmer).  Put the softened gelatin in the warm liquid and using a whisk, blend until the gelatin totally dissolves.  (You must use this liquid right away to avoid gelatin lumps.)   Put all the ingredients in the mixing bowl and using a hand mixer, blend until there are no lumps and filling is smooth.

Take pie crust out of the refrigerator.  Put in the filling.  Tamp the springform pan gently to get a smooth texture.  Refrigerate the whole thing.    This cheesecake sets very quickly because of the combination of gelatin and marshmallow but the marshmallow can easily be eliminated.  If you eliminate the marshmallow, taste the filling and adjust with superfine sugar.  You can also allow for more lemon zest if you like the flavor profile to taste more lemony.  I prefer the combination of lemon and vanilla but this is a personal choice so feel free to experiment.  Refrigerate the cheesecake until you are ready to frost and decorate it.

Frosting

8 ounces of white chocolate
2 tbl. of butter
8 ounces of marscapone
Juice of half a lemon
Lemon cello to taste 
Pinch of salt

Melt the white chocolate with butter until it is smooth and has no lumps.  Place the mixture in a mixing bowl and add remaining ingredients.  Blend well with a hand mixer until the frosting is creamy and smooth.  Refrigerate until time to frost the cheesecake.

Assembly

 This works best if you can complete the entire operation quickly.  Have your serving plate ready and on hand.  Remove the frosting from the refrigerator to warm up a little bit while you plate the cheesecake.

Take a beautiful platter and put one tablespoon of the frosting mixture in the center of the plate.  This will hold the cheesecake on the platter and keep it from sliding all over the place while you frost the cheesecake.

Using another plate, put the plate on top of the cheesecake.  Open the springform pan and remove the bottom and the parchment paper.  Take the cake platter with the frosting dab on it and put it on the bottom of the cheesecake (crumb filling side).  Turn the plate over and it should have unmolded perfectly.

Take a good spatula and after giving the frosting a mix or two with a wooden spoon, frost the sides and the top of the cheesecake.  Decorate with fresh raspberries and drizzle the balsamic reduction around the edge of the cake.  Serve the cheesecake with the remainder of the balsamic reduction, fresh raspberries and whipped cream.