No Bake Lemon Cheesecake
When I made the No Bake Cheesecake Bites recently, I found them quite sweet and so I thought it would be a good idea to try a lighter version, using less sugar and adding a distictive lemon flavour. I then decided to use a recipe for a vintage favourite, ‘Lemon Slice’ as the base for my cheesecake. It was then that I realised I’d failed from the beginning making this dessert healthy & relatively fat free. The filling though ticks all the boxes, as I used greek yoghurt, ricotta & low fat philadelphia. (You can also substitute one of these with cottage cheese.) It isn’t very sweet, but I didn’t want a dessert that was sickly sweet. Next time I would change the base using almonds, and a dried fruit (which allows sweetness, but more importantly the ‘stickiness’ that keeps it compact) as a ‘healthier’ option.
No Bake Lemon Cheesecake
base
- 250g plain, sweet biscuits
- 150ml sweetened condensed milk (1/2 can)
- 100g butter
- 1 cup dessicated coconut
- lemon zest from one lemon
- Crush the biscuits, melt the butter and mix all ingredients together, until well combined.
- Press into the base of a spring-form tin, there is enough to also press around sides of the tin if you like more crust. (I actually think it’s a better idea as it makes removing the cheesecake from much easier).
filling
- 250g light philadelphia cheese
- 250g ricotta
- 250g greek yoghurt
- 2 tablespoons stevia
- 3 teaspoons gelatin powder
- 3 tablespoons boiling water
- lemon juice and zest from 2 lemons
- Sprinkle the gelatine over boiling water in a heatproof bowl. Whisk until gelatine has dissolved. Set aside to cool.
- In an electric mixer, add the philadelphia, ricotta, yoghurt and stevia. Add lemon juice, half at a time. Taste to ensure you’re happy with the flavour. You can add more lemon juice or more stevia if you prefer it sweeter. Mix all until well combined.
- Pour mixture into cake tin, sprinkle with lemon zest and refrigerate ofr 3 hours.
- Serve straight from refrigerator.
