Gluten-Free No-Bake Strawberry Cheesecake Recipe
Makes 12 slices
Takes 30 minutes + at least 5 hours chilling time
Ingredients:
For the base:
320g (11½oz) gluten-free digestive biscuits (graham crackers)
150g (⅔ cup) butter, melted
For the filling:
600g (2⅔ cups) mascarpone
100g (¾ cup minus ½ tbsp) icing (confectioners’) sugar, sifted
½ tsp vanilla extract
300ml (1¼ cups) double (heavy) cream
200g (7oz) strawberries, hulled and chopped
For the sauce:
150g (5oz) strawberries, hulled and quartered 60g (5 tbsp) caster (superfine) sugar
2 tbsp water
1½ tsp cornflour (cornstarch)
To decorate:
200g (7oz) strawberries, hulled and halved
Method:
Firstly, make your base. In a food processor, blitz the biscuits to a crumb-like texture – not into a fine dust! Alternatively, pop the biscuits into a zip-lock bag and bash them with a rolling pin. Place in a large bowl and pour in your melted butter. Mix well.
Spoon the mixture into a round 20cm (8in) loose-bottomed or springform tin (pan). Compact it into the base in an even layer, then chill in the fridge for 30 minutes and up to an hour, while you make your filling.
Use a stand mixer to make the filling, but you can easily do this using an electric hand whisk. Doing this process by hand is achievable, but in that case it’s vital that you whisk long enough (as you’re far more likely to undermix by hand).
Place your mascarpone, icing sugar and vanilla extract into the bowl of the stand mixer. Mix on a low to medium speed for 10–20 seconds, then add your cream. At a medium speed, mix for 2 more minutes, or until it begins to firm up. Definitely don’t overmix as the mixture can split. It should end up as a nice, thick, spoonable consistency, not a pourable one. Gently fold in your chopped strawberries until evenly dispersed.
Spread your filling evenly on top of the chilled biscuit base and place into the fridge to chill for at least 5 hours, but ideally overnight.
For the sauce, place a medium saucepan over a low heat and add the quartered strawberries, sugar and water. Simmer for 10 minutes, or until the sugar has dissolved and the strawberries have softened, then break them down with the back of a wooden spoon. Sieve the mixture into a small bowl and pour the liquid back into the saucepan. Stir in the cornflour and continue to simmer and stir until the mixture thickens, then allow to cool briefly.
Arrange your halved strawberries for decorating on top of the cheesecake, flat-side down. Pour over the strawberry sauce, carefully remove from the tin and serve.
Store in the fridge (ideally covered or in an airtight container) or slice and freeze for up to 3 months.
Smart Tip:
Want to make it dairy-free? Or vegan? Use a (hard) dairy-free butter alternative, dairy-free cream cheese (minimum 23% fat) and dairy-free cream (minimum 30% fat).
This is an edited extract from How To Bake Anything Gluten Free by Becky Excell published by Quadrille Books. RRP $39.99 in AU and $45 in NZ.
