This no-bake cheesecake is made with a buttery biscuit crust and an unbelievably smooth and creamy white chocolate filling made with heavy cream, cream cheese, and mascarpone. And did we mention no oven required?
This stunning no-bake cheesecake is a serious overachiever. It’s not often that we come across a no-bake recipe that surpasses our expectations, but this one does thanks to its velvety smooth and creamy filling and not-too-sweet biscuit crust. A no-fuss, no-cracks (!) cheesecake at its most impressive.–Jenny Howard
No-Bake Cheesecake
Ingredients
For the crust
- 12 ounces digestive biscuits (sweet wholemeal biscuits) or graham crackers
- 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter melted
For the no-bake cheesecake filling
- 18 ounces good-quality white chocolate roughly chopped
- 2/3 cup heavy cream
- 12 ounces full-fat cream cheese at room temperature
- 8 ounces mascarpone cheese at room temperature
Instructions
Make the crust
- In a small bowl, use the back of a large spoon or a meat mallet to crush the biscuits or graham crackers into fine crumbs. (Alternatively, use a food processor fitted with the steel blade, or simply place the biscuits in a resealable plastic bag, squeeze out any air, seal the bag, and crush the biscuits with the bottom of a heavy skillet, a rolling pin, or even a wine bottle. Pour the crumbs into a small bowl.)
- Stir the melted butter into the crumbs until thoroughly moistened.
- Dump the crumb mixture into a deep 10 inch (25 cm) round springform pan and press evenly across the bottom of the pan. Chill the crust while you prepare the filling.
Make the no-bake cheesecake filling
- Place the chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer.
- In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, warm the cream just until it comes to a gentle simmer. Immediately pour the cream over the chocolate and let stand for 1 to 2 minutes.
- Gently stir until the chocolate melts to form a smooth ganache. Let the ganache cool completely at room temperature or place in the refrigerator until no longer warm, about 10 minutes.
- When the ganache is cool, use a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or a hand-held electric beater to beat the ganache until light and starting to hold its shape.
- Add the cream cheese and mascarpone and beat until the mixture becomes thick, smooth, and shiny, about 2 minutes.
Assemble the no-bake cheesecake
- Remove the crust from the refrigerator. Spread the filling mixture over the crust and smooth the surface. Refrigerate the cheesecake until set, about 3 hours.
- Remove the cheesecake from the refrigerator. Run a small knife along the edge of the cheesecake and release and remove the sides of the springform pan.
- Slice and serve, passing any topping* (see * below) on the side.
Notes
Shop The Look
Love the look? Click to bring the LC Lifestyle into your home. Hemisphere Porcelain Dessert Plate by JL Coquet 3 1/10-Quart Multi Bowl by Le Creuset
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Recipe Testers’ Reviews
This white chocolate cheesecake is the bomb! I’m not even a fan of white chocolate but this is amazing. So light and creamy. You can really take this basic white chocolate cheesecake recipe and do anything you like with it. It’s super easy and will really make your guests think you worked all day on it.
For the syrup I used WL Weller brand bourbon whiskey. This is the stuff that’s not quite good enough to be labeled Pappy Van Winkle so they bottle it under a different name and boy, is it good!
If you aren’t a fan of bourbon, this would be great with a fruit compote such as cherries or strawberries and if you can’t find digestive biscuits, the standard graham cracker crust would definitely work.
This no-bake cheesecake is amazing! It’s unbelievable to me that a cheesecake is this creamy and velvety and is a no-bake dessert! No fussing with water baths and no frustrating crack down the center. The crust was delicious and the flavor combined well with the white chocolate and maple. I love white chocolate and its flavor is subtle in the cheesecake. The flavors meld together refreshingly well; the not-very-sweet crust with the sweet filling and the hint of maple syrup.
This is a large, towering cheesecake. The ganache came together easily and I ended up throwing it in the refrigerator for 11 minutes to cool completely while I got the rest of the ingredients ready. Perhaps next time I could make the ganache, then the crust while the ganache cools, and then on with the rest of the recipe. Once the ganache was cool, the addition of the other ingredients took just minutes. A velvety, smooth, delectable cheesecake developed and this spread effortlessly over the cookie crust.
The cheesecake was easy to cut and held its form well. I served the cheesecake with maple syrup that was cold, right from the refrigerator. I don’t know why maple syrup doesn’t accompany more of my desserts as a sauce.
This is a great recipe; I will try it again and again. I may even try this with milk chocolate and see if the easy method would have such good results with other types of chocolates. Already looking forward to making this again!
This no-baked cheesecake was absolutely spectacular. It was incredibly dense, more so than any other cheesecake I’ve tried. The crust was delicious and the syrup was the perfect complement to the decadent filling.
We opted to reduce the syrup (we used Knob Creek bourbon) for 10 minutes to create a more subtle, denser topping.
This recipe is a stunner.
As soon as I saw this no-bake cheesecake recipe, I knew I had to try it. The fact that it was topped with a maple bourbon glaze was just the “icing on the cake,” so to speak. This recipe was worth the very small effort to make it. Easy enough for beginners, it looks and tastes like a masterful recipe. The smooth creaminess of the white chocolate, mascarpone, and cream cheese is one of the most delicious “mouthfeel” recipes I’ve ever enjoyed.
The cookie crust and the bourbon maple sauce cut the sweetness of the white chocolate a bit. It’s a recipe that will become a staple at our family gatherings forever.
I upped the cream cheese to 14 ounces and used an 8-ounce container of Bel Gioioso Mascarpone. I used Ghirardelli White Chocolate.
I chopped the chocolate and placed it in the bottom of my KitchenAid stand mixer. I heated the heavy cream in a small saucepan until simmering and then transferred the chocolate to my KitchenAid. I let the cream sit over the chocolate for a minute and then stirred it for about 5 minutes until it cooled down. With my air-conditioned house and the metal bowl, it only took about 10 minutes to cool. I whipped it until the peak stood for about 8 seconds before melting back down. I added the cream cheese and mascarpone in about 2-inch chunks, beating it consistently without stopping the mixture. It blended up beautifully.
The recipe called for a 10-inch springform pan. I only had a 9-inch so it filled the pan to the top. The mixture was a good 3 inches thick. I also chilled the sauce instead of warming it or serving at room temperature.
We left for the afternoon for a party, so it chilled for about 6 hours before we tried a piece of it. It was heaven.
Originally published December 16, 2019
