No-Bake Red, White and Blue Lemon Cheesecake Mousse

Recipe courtesy of Chef Oonagh Williams of Royal Temptations Catering

This is not a baked custard cheesecake. It is a gelatin-set cheesecake that I first made in England and continue to make. There is no baking (apart from the crust, which some prefer cooked but it is not necessary), no worrying if you’ve overcooked the custard, no cracking of cheesecake, no overnight cooling, etc. It is very popular with my students and clients and you can vary the flavors with different chocolates and liqueurs. It is stiff when you remove it from the fridge but softens to more of a mousse consistency when it’s been out of the fridge for half an hour. Gelatin stops it from melting in the heat. “Lite” cream cheese makes a softer-set cheesecake than 100% cream cheese, but I’ve used lite cream cheese for years.

I added my homemade, microwave-cooked lemon curd to cream cheese mix. Homemade lemon curd (made of butter, sugar, lemon, and eggs and can be used to top scones, cakes, bagels, etc) is delicious. Yes, you could substitute store-bought lemon curd, but the brands I’ve seen use lemon oil, pectin to thicken, palm oil, lemon concentrate, cornflour, citric acid, acetic acid, sodium citrate, color, egg powder, water and then call it authentic. Not in my book!

I’ve made variations of this cheesecake for years, from when I lived in London, including versions with Kahlúa coffee, chocolate peanut butter, white chocolate raspberry, dark chocolate orange, margarita, and white chocolate hazelnut praline. Play with flavor variations using these quantities as a guide.

Gluten-Free No-Bake Cheesecake Mousse

Ingredients:

• Crushed crumbs of gluten-free graham cracker, cookies, or shortbread crust. Schar gluten-free shortbread cookies, 7 oz bag, makes a generous crust
• 6 tbsp butter
• 1 packet of powdered gelatin. An orange box of Knox gelatin in the grocery store is 2 and 1/4 tsp (11g)
• 2 tbsp cold water
• 1 lb room temperature cream cheese
• ¾ cup powdered sugar
• 1 cup, roughly 8 oz lemon curd
• 1 cup of liquid heavy or whipping cream
• ½ cup cream with 2 tbsp sugar (whip these together to make whipped cream for decorating)
• More lemon curd, if you like your cheesecake tangy
• Fresh blueberries and/or fresh strawberries

Directions:

1. Melt butter in the microwave in 15 second intervals and then add to cookie crumbs when liquid.
2. Press the butter and crumb mixture evenly into a 9” pie plate or springform pan and either bake for 10 minutes or just refrigerate. With current temps being 100°F, I microwave cookie crumbs and butter in a microwave-safe bowl for about a minute or two, then press into the pan and refrigerate.
3. Sprinkle gelatin over cold water, stir in and leave to stand for 2–3 minutes. The gelatin will set in a rubbery lump but will dissolve with microwaving.
4. Mix cream cheese, powdered sugar and lemon curd. Beat for a few minutes, until light and fluffy.
5. Melt gelatin mix in the microwave for about 15 seconds. It will stay the same light brown color but should have melted, no granules left. It is important to melt it thoroughly otherwise it will set into little nuggets of gelatin.
6. Beat gelatin mix into the cream cheese mix.
7. Beat 1 cup of cream until stiff and gently beat into the cream cheese mix.
8. Pour mix into pan, over the crust, and refrigerate for several hours.
9. Once chilled, run a thin plastic spatula or knife around edge between cheesecake and pan, release springform and remove. Leave in pie plate or brownie pan.
10. Cut a tiny sliver of set cheesecake and taste it to see if it’s lemony enough. You can hide the absent sliver with whipped cream before serving. I often spread more lemon curd on top of the cheesecake to make it really tangy. Whipping cream and adding 50% lemon curd folded in is also delicious for a topping or on it’s own with fresh fruit.
11. Pipe whipped cream rosettes around top edge of cheesecake, and top with fresh blueberries and strawberries.

You can also make this in 8×8 brownie pan, then arrange blueberries and strawberries in flag pattern.

About Chef Oonagh Williams

I have written a monthly recipe column for Beyond Celiac since January 2011. I have a Culinary Arts degree as well as celiac disease and other food allergies, so I know food and live this way daily. Remember that most real food is naturally gluten-free until manufacturers mess around with it, and only baking really needs changing. Real food is now being called clean eating.

Talks and appearances are currently canceled, but you can connect with me on Facebook at Gluten-Free Cooking with Oonagh or on LinkedIn. I’ve just filmed recipes at home for New Hampshire’s ABC WMUR’s Cooks Corner and they are being aired. I am also being included in the nationwide library database of online presenters.

For new recipes and lots of advice, my e-cookbook Delicious Gluten-Free Cooking is only $20 and available to download on my website. It has tips, full-color photos, and recipes like grandma’s comfort soup, shrimp and crab bisque, English trifle, buffalo chicken, tiramisu, dinner party fare, and more. Follow the link to see the table of contents and thumbnail photos of the full-size photos in the e-book.