As we gear up for the heat of summer, this strawberry cheesecake is absolute perfection. The fresh sweet berries and creamy cheesecake are layered on top of a rich graham cracker crust and none of it has to be baked. Just because it is fast and easy to make doesn’t mean it shouldn’t also be gorgeous. It’s pretty enough for a wedding shower, but simple enough for a picnic in the backyard.
No-Bake Strawberry Cheesecake
Makes one 8 or 9-inch cheesecake
Prep Time: 40 minutes
Refrigerator Time: 2 ½ hours
Level: multiple steps, but all of them are easy
Ingredients
Crust:
7 whole graham crackers
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoons nutella
2 tablespoons brown sugar
Pinch salt
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
Strawberry topping:
1 pound fresh or frozen strawberries, washed and stemmed
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 vanilla bean
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
Cheesecake:
1 pound cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups strawberry topping (see above)
1/2 cup heavy cream
Fresh strawberries for garnish
Directions
Prepare the crust:
In a food processor grind the graham crackers until they are broken into a fine powder. Add the butter, nutella, brown sugar, salt and cocoa powder and process until it is all well incorporated. You may have to scrape down the sides of the bowl a few times.
Press the crust evenly into the bottom of an 8 or 9-inch spring form pan. It should come up the sides slightly.
Prepare the Strawberry topping:
In a saucepot add the strawberries, sugar, and 2 tablespoons of water. Cook over medium heat until the strawberries are quite soft. Use an immersion blender to puree the fruit. (You can also do this by pouring the strawberries into a regular blender, then return to the pot to finish cooking.)
Sprinkle the gelatin over 2 tablespoons of cold water in a small bowl. Allow it to sit for about 1 to 2 minutes.
Transfer the gelatin to the strawberries and gently cook over low heat.
Whisking just until the gelatin is completely dissolved. Remove from heat. Reserve ¾ cup of the strawberry mixture for the top layer of the cake.
To make the cheesecake:
In a stand mixer beat the cream cheese and sugar on medium-low speed, using the paddle attachment, until smooth. Add the vanilla extract. Add the strawberry topping, except the ¾ cup you have reserved for the top layer.
In a separate bowl whip the heavy cream until medium peaks. Fold the whipped cream into the strawberry cheesecake batter. Gently folding just until it is all combined.
Pour the cheesecake into the prepared pan. Tap the pan gently on the counter to bring any air bubbles to the surface. Let it sit, uncovered, in the refrigerator for about 2 hours or until it is set to the touch.
Once the cheesecake is set, pour the remaining ¾ cup strawberry topping over it. If the topping has set up in the pot, gently heat it for a minute, just until it is pourable.
Place the cheesecake back into the refrigerator and allow to set, uncovered, for another 30 minutes, or until the topping is set. At this point it is ready to serve or you can cover the cheesecake with plastic and it can sit in the refrigerator for 24 hours.
Before unlocking the spring form pan, run a knife around the edge of the cheesecake to loosen it. Top with the fresh strawberries.
For step-by-step photos, check out the No-Bake Strawberry Cheesecake How-To.
More Baked Goods From Zoe:
- Carrot Cupcakes
- Linzer Cookies
- Sweet, Cakey Banana Bread
- Chocolate Chunk-Peanut Butter Cookies
- Flourless Chocolate Torte
- Spring Cupcakes
- Lemon Meringue Cake
Zoë François, author of Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day and Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day, studied at the Culinary Institute of America in New York. She now calls Minneapolis her home, where she has worked with some of the top talent in the culinary world — Steven Brown, Andrew Zimmern and many chefs at the D’Amico company. In addition to writing, Zoë teaches baking classes and consults at restaurants, and she maintains her baking blog, zoebakes.com. Her third book comes out in October, Artisan Pizza and Flatbreads in Five Minutes a Day.
Vanilla Bean!
Hi everyone,
The vanilla bean should be cooked with the strawberries and then removed before your puree them for the recipe. Sorry for the omission, I will have it added to the recipe ASAP!
Thank you, Zoë
This web site won’t show up appropriately on my i phone – you might want to try and fix that
Sorry for my language, I’m not too good in it – but I found it very interesting to read your opinion here
If you found the time add the google translate plug in to your blog, would help the ones that want to read your blog but in different language 
I like the valuable information you provide in your articles. I will bookmark your weblog and check again here frequently. I’m quite certain I’ll learn many new stuff right here! Good luck for the next!
Just highlight what you want, hit ctrl c to copy, then open a new page in your microsoft office program or whatever your word document program is, then hit ctrl v to place it on the page. You print from there and get only what you want.
Worked for me every time. Hope this helps
This looks like a great idea! Thanks so much for the useful information!
Thanks Again,
James
For those with copying problems: you simply highlight the portions you want,k right click, select print.
You print window should give you the option of printing only the selection. Alternatively copy it and place it in word and delete what you don't want.
Hi Zoe, just a kind reminder .. this has not been added to the recipe yet. Thank you.