Cheesecake is a dessert with a crust made of graham crackers and a cream cheese, egg, and sugar filling. No-bake cheesecake replaces eggs with binding ingredients and uses cold temperatures to set. The crust and filling are chilled separately, and lemon juice or gelatin can be used as binding ingredients. Cheesecake can be served plain or with toppings.
Cheesecake is a dessert that typically consists of a crust made up of crushed graham crackers that is topped with a cream cheese, egg, and sugar filling. As the cheesecake bakes, the heat helps the eggs serve as a medium for the other filling ingredients to come together. A no-bake cheesecake tends to refer to a variation of the basic cheesecake recipe that replaces the eggs in the filling with another type of binding ingredient that is capable of stabilizing and firming the filling without the use of heat. This variation may be preferred for those with egg allergies, but it can also be less time-consuming and prone to cracking that often occurs with baked cheesecake.
The crust of a traditional baked cheesecake is usually made by combining crushed graham cracker crumbs with butter and then pressing the mixture into the bottom of a pan and cooking until the mixture hardens into a firm crust. No-bake cheesecake crust tends to contain the same ingredients, but mostly uses refrigerator refrigeration rather than baking to make the crust firm. The preformed graham cracker crusts can also be substituted in no-bake recipes.
No-bake cheesecake recipes may vary on the ingredients recommended for the filling. Although the cream cheese, sugar, and other flavoring ingredients tend to stay the same, the binding ingredient can vary depending on the specific recipe used. A commonly recommended binding ingredient that’s called for in no-bake versions of cheesecake is lemon juice, which contains acids that are believed to help stabilize other ingredients and give a firmer texture to the filling. Other recipes may call for gelatin, which has a gel-like consistency when combined with liquid. Unflavored gelatin can be used, as can fruit-flavored gelatin for a flavor variation on the standard cheesecake recipe.
To get the crust and filling to set without the use of heat, no-bake cheesecake typically uses cold temperatures to cool and firm the ingredients. The crust is typically chilled separately while the cheesecake filling is being prepared because if the crust is not completely firm before the filling is added, the crumbs may occur to be mixed with the filling, rather than being a separate layer. After the filling is added to the crust, it usually takes at least an hour of cooling time for the cheesecake to set. Cheesecake can be served plain or topped with fruit, chocolate, caramel, or any of your favorite sauces or frostings.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
