Friday, August 31, 2012

No Bake Triple Chocolate Layer Cheesecake

I recently did a short poll on Lick The Spoon's facebook fan page about cheesecake. I don't know anyone who doesn't like cheesecake, but the question is, baked or refrigerated? The votes were pretty even but refrigerated came out on top, to my surprise. I had always thought a baked cheesecake would win hands down. The image that came to my mind of a refrigerated cheesecake was one of those cheap supermarket cheesecakes that you can buy for about $4.00. Which, mind you, is probably okay for one of those quick desserts but now I know its nothing like the real deal! I am fully converted to refrigerated cheesecakes. Wholeheartedly converted.
This means I never have to go through that stress of pulling the cheesecake from the oven, testing the wobbly centre and thinking "is it cooked or isn't it?"
I couldn't believe the smooth and silky texture of the refrigerated cheesecake also, and how quick and easy it was to put together, without the use of eggs. Trust me, when you've grown up watching chooks lay eggs, it can put you off using eggs. At one stage I swore never to eat another egg...but then I discovered baking. Anyway, this recipe requires no eggs and loads of chocolate, with a decadent chocolate ripple biscuit base. It is three layers of cheesecake--white, milk and dark chocolate, sprinkled with crushed biscuit and piled high with chocolate dipped strawberries. It's the ultimate cheesecake. By far the best cheesecake I have ever tasted. Stress free.



 

NO BAKE TRIPLE CHOCOLATE LAYER CHEESECAKE (Adapted from Taste)

350g Chocolate Ripple Biscuits (or plain chocolate biscuits)
125g butter
1/4 cup boiling water
3 tsp unflavoured gelatine
3x 250g packets cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup caster sugar
300ml thickened cream
200g white cooking chocolate
200g milk cooking chocolate
200g dark cooking chocolate
250g strawberries, washed and dried
100g extra chocolate to garnish strawberries if desired

Break up 300g of biscuits into a food processor. (Reserve the remaining 50g to garnish the top of the cheesecake at a later point.)
Process the biscuits until they resemble fine crumbs. Melt the butter in a large microwave proof bowl, then add the biscuit crumbs and stir until well combined. Tip the contents of the bowl into a 23cm round springform tin. Using a straigh sided glass, press this mixture into the base and up the sides of the tin until even and compact. Place in the refrigerator to harden.


In a small bowl, place the hot water and shower the gelatine evenly over the surface. Stir with a fork until the gelatine has dissolved completely. Set aside.
In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and sugar together until smooth and well incorporated. Add the Cream and beat until smooth. Add the gelatine mixture and stir until well combined.
Melt the white chocolate gently in the microwave. Remove from heat and set aside.
Divide the cream cheese mixture into three. In one third, stir through the melted white chocolate. Spoon this third onto the base of the cheesecake and smooth. Place in the freezer to harden.
Meanwhile, melt the milk chocolate gently in the microwave.
Stir the melted milk chocolate through the next portion of the cream cheese until thoroughly combined. Remove the pan from the freezer, and smooth the milk chocolate layer over the white chocolate layer.
Return to freezer.
Melt the dark chocolate gently in the microwave. Stir the dark chocolate through the remaining cream cheese mixture until well combined. Remove the pan from the freezer and spread with the final cheesecake layer. Cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 3 hours until firm.
To add the garnishes, process the remaining 50g of biscuit in the food processor. Place a 20cm round bowl face down in the centre of  the cheesecake and sprinkle the biscuit crumbs around the edges. Remove the bowl. Dip the strawberries in chocolate if desired and pile in the centre of the cake.

Serves 10-12




38 comments:

  1. That cheesecake looks amazing! I've made plenty of baked cheesecakes but none of the refrigerated ones. Looks like I'lll have to make one soon!

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  2. I love no bakes cakes - you can get to the eating so much quicker. This looks glorious.

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  3. This looks so yummy. I have to pin this for my next girls' party. They would love it!

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  4. Hi, i made this today.. But could you tell me what the thickened cream is for?? ;) by the way you are right it is SUPER easy to make.. Thanx

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    1. holy moley! I am so sorry about this, and thanks for bringing it to my attention. I am sorry you made this without the correct directions--glad it still worked, but I am sure the texture was compromised because of my omitting one direction, which I have rectified. please accept my apology! the cream was meant to be mixed in with the cream cheese before the addition of gelatin!

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  5. Hi, I came across you delicious looking recipe while searching for something else. I can't wait to try it! The problem is that I'm in the U.S. I'm pretty sure I can figure out substitutes for the biscuits and castor sugar but I'm completely lost when it comes to the thickened cream. Can you explain what it is exactly? I don't suppose you'd be familiar enough with American products to be able to help me figure out what I can use in its place?
    Thank you

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    1. Hi there LAFredrick. Thanks so much for your comment and being so nice about it--I am more than happy to help clarify the ingredients with you. Wouldnt it be nice if everything in teh cooking world was somewhat universal? Caster sugar is just superfine sugar. You can even make your own by placing regular granulated sugar in the blender for a while until it is broken down to smaller peices. I think caster sugar will be readily available in the US though, under a different name. The fineness of the sugar just aids in the sugar dissolving faster. You could probably get away with granulated sugar if you absolutely have to. Thickened cream is the standard cream you find in the supermarket, Its full cream milk based and can be whipped into firm peeks. I found a blog with some good pictures of someone using it so you can see the consistency etc, I hope this helps you http://www.busogsarap.com/2011/03/vanilla-whipped-cream.html
      I am sure that this is the standard type of cream found in just about every country, so you should be able to pick it up at your general store. Enjoy the cheesecake, and thanks for stopping by and taking the time to comment. I hope you successfully find the ingredients for this delicious cake...its so worth it!

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    2. Thank you so much! It was soo good!

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    3. US call biscuits cookies!!!

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    4. yes, biscuits in Australia are the equivalent of US cookies! any plain chocolate flavoured ones will do. Oreos will also work (but take out the filling)

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  6. Hi, this recipe looks delish! I must try this out.

    (1) Any suggestions of good chococate biscuits (i dont have Ripple Biscuits in my country). Do you think Oreo biscuits (minus the vanilla cream in the middle) will work?

    (2) Is castor sugar similar to powdered or icing sugar?

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    1. Hi Sarah, thanks for your questions! yes, you could use oreos instead of choc ripple biscuits, you could probably even leave the cream in them if you wanted to. Any sort of plain chocolate biscuits should do the trick beautifully! also, caster sugar is not powdered icing sugar. It's granulated sugar, but its a bit finer than your regular granulated sugar. If you cant find it at your local store, you could make your own by placing regular granulated sugar in your blender and making it a bit finer (but not so far that it turns into icing sugar!)otherwise, you can use regular granulated sugar as a replacement. (caster sugar just dissolves better)

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    2. regular sugar is finer than the sugar we call granulated but not as fine as caster sugar

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    3. I meant in the US regular sugar is finer

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  7. Is it THREE 250g cream cheese packs or TWO? 3 tsp gelatine seems less to set THREE cheese packs?

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  8. I made the cake and it is DELICIOUS! Thank-you for the recipe, it's a keeper :)

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  9. I would like to start watching just what I eat.
    Please share with me the favorite low carb recipes!
    Thanks in advance!.
    Here is my homepage :: low sugar dessert recipe

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    1. sorry, low carb recipes are not my forte! lol

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  10. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  11. if i just wanted a straight forward chocolate? do i use 600g 'cause your recipe calls for 200g of each chocolate.. if soshould i use dark unsweetened or milk chocolate? im keen to do your recipe but at the moment i just want a quick and easy chocolate cheesecake prefrebly with no gelatin...
    Thanks Linda

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    1. Hi Linda, Yes if you just want plain chocolate cheesecake it is 600g of chocolate in total. You can use either dark or milk chocolate, it's up to you (I would personally use a sweetened chocolate). If you dont want to use gelatin however, I do recommend making a baked cheesecake instead of a refrigerated one--I'm pretty sure all refrigerated cheesecakes have gelatin in them to help them set. Good luck!

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  12. This cheesecake was actually easier to make than it looks & it was delicious! I topped it with blueberries as well. Thank you for sharing this recipe.

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  13. hey just wanted to say thankyou SOOO much for your recipies,i'm new to this whole google thing &cant wait to try theese they look scrumdiddlyumptious!!!!! especialy your triple chocolate cheese cake,yummy,!!thanks again!! L.A. Worthing,U.K

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  14. Thank you sooooo much! My friends, parents, aunties, uncles, well you get the idea, will never forget that cake! Oh and a tip for all the readers, add a bit of decoration just to make it look like it tastes!

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  15. you have mentioned nice recipes thanks for that

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  16. Do you whip the cream before adding it to the mixture or just add it un-whipped?

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    1. hi Dallass, thanks for your question. The cream goes unwhipped, in as is. hope this helps!

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  17. Do you know if there is anyway to convert this to US measurements??

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    1. i hope this link helps! its a great conversion tool. otherwise there is google. http://www.gourmettraveller.com.au/Recipe_Conversion_Tool.htm

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    2. Louise, I loved your recipe.
      I am so happy that you posted it.
      I love ``CHOCOLATE CAKE`` and your recipe called: Triple Chocolate Cheesecake is the BEST.
      I can`t wait to try it.
      Thanks

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    3. thank you Vera Lima, so pleased you enjoyed the recipe!

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  18. Wow this looks delicious! Must try! Just discovered your blog from Pinterest and I'm glad I did. And have to add you have a beautiful family :)

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    1. aw thank you so much, youre very kind! hope you enjoy the recipes!

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  19. Could you please post the recipe not in grams.......thank you

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    1. sorry, here in Australia we work in grams in general. It's quite easy to convert the measurements via google eg: "200g butter in cups" it will come up with the answer. cheers!

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  20. Hey after reading through the comments, I think they call our thickened cream , heavy cream also instead on gelatine you could try agave agave (I think thats the correct spelling) its found usually on the top shelf of the cake isle in woolies, you would have google to find out the quantity need to set approx a 1L of liquid. Soory I needed to throw my to bobs in :)

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  21. Oh my goodness this looks amazing! Thanks for sharing such a simple recipe :)

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