No bake cheesecake.

For this months foodblogswap I got to cook from Simones blog foodquotes.nl, all about good food. Simone is a qualified nutritionist and on her blog you can find healthy recipes, reviews, hotspots and personal articles.

since I had never made a cheesecake before, I decided for her no bake cheesecake recipe, a smooth and creamy dessert that sets up beautifully in the refrigerator. Although I added a bit of gelatin just to be sure.

No-bake cheesecake is exactly what the name suggests. This cheesecake never sees the inside of the oven, so it’s a fantastic dessert when the weather’s warm or when your oven is malfunctioning, as mine is for the past 6 months.

I replaced the cookie crust with a nutty crust, because I simply do not like those digestive biscuits. And since I had no fresh fruit in the house except for apples and kiwis, I used frozen berries to top this cake.

Ingredients:

For the crust:

• 100 g almonds
• 3 tbsp maple syrup
• zest of 1 lemon

For the cream cheese filling:

• 300 g cream cheese (Philedelphia)
• 200 ml heavy cream
• 2 sheets of gelatin
• juice of 1 lemon
• 2 tbsp water
• 75g powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Method:

• For the crust, finely chop the almonds and mix together with the other ingredients.
• Press the crumb mixture into a 22cm springform pan and press flat. (or you can use several smaller springforms like I did)
• Chill the crust in the freezer for at least 10 minutes.
• Soak the gelatin sheets in a bowl of water for 10 minutes.
• Once soft, lift sheets from the cold water.
• Wring gently to remove excess water.
• Put he lemon juice and 2 tbsp. of water in a small saucepan and add the sheets. Heat the mixture, stirring until the gelatin is dissolved.
• Remove from the heat and let cool down a bit.
• Using an electric mixer set at medium-high speed, beat the cream cheese and the sugar in a large bowl until smooth.
• Beat in the gelatin mixture and vanilla.
• Beat in the heavy cream,scraping the sides of the bowl, as necessary.
• Pour the filling into the crust and smooth the top with a rubber spatula.
• Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Preferably overnight.

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