Simple No-Bake Cheesecake with a Cookie Base

Cooking method

1. Step 1:

   

   The base. For the base, you'll need: sponge cookies (you can use chocolate ones or ones with any add-ins, such as lemon) and butter.

2. Step 2:

   

   Melt the butter and let it cool to room temperature.

3. Step 3:

   

   Chop the cookies into coarse crumbs with a knife. You can also grind them into fine crumbs in a blender — I usually do that, but this time I wanted the cookies in the base to have a more noticeable texture.

4. Step 4:

   

   Pour the butter over the cookie crumbs and mix thoroughly with a spoon.

5. Step 5:

   

   Set the baking pan (16–20 cm in diameter) on a serving plate. It's a good idea to line the inside edge of the pan with an acetate strip — then the cheesecake's edges will be perfectly smooth, tried and true. Tip the buttered cookie crumbs into the pan and smooth them out. Put the pan in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

6. Step 6:

   

   The filling. For the filling, you'll need: plain cream cheese with no add-ins; cream (20% fat); powdered gelatin; boiled condensed milk; powdered sugar; lemon zest.

7. Step 7:

   

   Pour 50 ml of cold cream over the gelatin and leave it for 20 minutes.

8. Step 8:

   

   Melt the bloomed gelatin over low heat until completely dissolved, but don't let it boil.

9. Step 9:

   

   Separately, beat the room-temperature cream cheese, the rest of the cream, the finely grated lemon zest, and the boiled condensed milk.

10. Step 10:

    

    Beat the mixture until fluffy and smooth.

11. Step 11:

    

    Keep beating as you pour the warm gelatin-cream mixture into the filling. Beat at high speed, since the filling starts to thicken almost immediately. And to keep the gelatin from setting into lumps as it cools, you need to mix it into the filling quickly.

12. Step 12:

    

    Transfer the cheese filling onto the chilled base and smooth it out. Do it all quickly. It's a good idea to give the pan a gentle shake without lifting it off the table, so the filling settles evenly.

13. Step 13:

    

    Cover the top of the pan with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

14. Step 14:

    

    Release the springform pan from the finished cheesecake. Using a pastry bag, decorate the cheesecake with rosettes of chilled boiled condensed milk and fresh mint. Enjoy!