No bake Lemon Cheesecake

This is a no bake cheesecake. It is very lemony which is why I like it.You whip the cream and whip the cream cheese and fold them together along with a bit of gelatin and you get this smooth creamy cheesecake. It cuts beautifully and serves a crowd. I have done this with other fruit like mixed berries and it is also great!

You will Need:

Crust

• 2 cups/150 grams of crushed lemon cookies -Ideally you should use a true cookie instead of a wafer cookie and  if you find one that has 2 cookies with lemon filling they are perfect.
• or you can use ginger cookies or graham cracker crumbs.
• 1-2 tbsp melted butter

Filling

• 2 large packages of cream cheese (mine are 250 grams each)- room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 small carton of whipping cream (1 cup)
• zest of 2 lemons
• 1/2 cup of lemon juice (fresh only- do not even think about buying that bottle!) 5-6 lemons
• 1 pkg of unflavoured gelatin

Glaze

• 2 egg yolks
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup lemon juice 
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp cream

You will also need a springform pan (the kind with the removable bottom and a lock on the side) and some parchment paper (not waxed paper)

Step 1: zest and juice lemons. Zest 2 lemons for the filling and then you need to juice 1/2 cup for the filling and 1/4 cup for the topping.

Step 2: make the glaze. In a small saucepan add egg yolks, sugar, lemon juice and heat on medium to boil and simmer 3 minutes. Strain into a small bowl and remove any bits.

Step 3:  add butter and cream, stir while hot to melt butter and incorporate.

Step 4: put into a Ziploc bag and put in fridge to firm up slightly.

Step 5: line the bottom of a springform pan with parchment paper. Just unlock the pan, put the paper on the bottom and lock the sides on (you can just rip off the excess paper or leave it so that it is easier to lift onto a plate later)

Step 6: make crust. In a food processor add cookies (I used 45 for this crust) I used these wafer cookies because they had no artificial ingredients in them and they were very lemony however, the cookies that are more like a cookie vs a wafer are a better texture. I couldn't find the other kind in my grocery store without artificial ingredients.

Step 7: add 1 tbsp of melted butter(20 seconds in the microwave), stir and make sure when you squeeze together in your fingers it sticks together and feels like wet sand.

Step 7: press into bottom of pan, you can use a spoon or measuring cup to easily press into corners and level out crumbs.

Bake 350 for 4 minutes. You are just looking to melt the butter and the filling from the cookies to make the crust hold together. If you bake it too long it will be too hard (especially when you use the wafer cookies)

Step 8: make the filling. Cream the cream cheese with sugar until smooth approx 3 minutes. You can do this in a stand mixer or use a hand mixer. Make sure to scrape down the blade and the sides at least once to make sure you have no lumps.

Step 9: add lemon zest.

Step 10: remove 1/4 cup of the lemon juice from your 1/2 cup and sprinkle a package of gelatin on top. Leave 5 minutes. After 5 minutes you need to microwave for 15-20 seconds until bubbling.

Step 11: add gelatin to cream cheese and mix. Add remaining 1/4 cup lemon juice and whip 30 seconds.

Step 12: in a separate bowl whip 1 cup of whipping cream. I like to use a large measuring cup because it's deep and reduces the amount of cream that sometimes whips out.

Step 13: by hand fold in the whipped cream into the cream cheese mix.

Step 14: put into cooled pan with crust. Smooth top with a spatula or the back of a spoon.

Step 15: take the lemon glaze from fridge and cut a whole in one corner of the bag and create a pattern. Like my lame attempt? You can make lines and then take a chop stick and run it across or make a big circle of glaze and then use the chop stick to make swirls.The easiest is to take the glaze and pour it entirely on top and let it run to the edges and totally coat the cake. This is also the  neatest. If you make lines you will have leftover glaze you can use for the plate. If you just pour the entire amount on the cake you will use it all. They are both nice. Let set in the fridge for at least 3 hours.

Slice with a knife that you run under hot water and then dry. The hot knife makes clean perfect slices. Do this every slice. You can also lift up the entire cake from the base with the parchment paper (that is why I leave the excess paper attached) and move to a serving platter or move to a container that you can cover and return to the fridge if you have leftovers.

Eat it!