No Bake Chocolate Strawberry Cheesecake

When tasked with what to make my sweetheart for Valentine's Day, three things immediately came to mind: Chocolate, strawberries and cheesecake.

These are their three favorite things, and I promise they'll be yours, too, after you make this cheesecake.

Why, you ask?

It could be because it has the fluffiest cheesecake filling you've ever met (thanks to a not-so-secret combination of cream cheese and heavy whipping cream), or the full pound of fresh strawberries, or maybe the crisp chocolate cookie crust, or the melt-in-your-mouth chocolate ganache on top.

Or it could be all of the above.

Whatever it is, you're sure to find one (or five) things to love about this cheesecake.

Here's how to make this cheesecake

First, make your cookie crust.

Line the bottom of a 9" round springform cake pan with parchment paper.

In a food processor, blend chocolate cookies, like Oreos, to make two cups worth of fine crumbs. If you use thin Oreos like I did, you'll need about ½ of a package (about 25 Oreos).

Recipe Note
Finer cookie crumbs will be easier to press into your cake pan so try to get your crumbs as fine as possible.

In a bowl, combine the crumbs and melted butter, stirring until the butter is evenly distributed and the mixture starts to clump.

Pour the crust into your prepared cake pan and press into the bottom and about one inch up the sides. The bottom of a greased measuring cup works well for packing the crust firmly into the pan.

Chill while you prepare the cheesecake filling.

Second, prepare your strawberry cheesecake filling.

Wash, hull and puree one pound of fresh strawberries. In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the strawberries and sugar. Simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until the mixture has thickened and reduced.

In a small bowl, combine the gelatin and water.

In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese on high until it's smooth and free of lumps.

Add the heavy whipping cream, vanilla extract and strawberry emulsion. Continue beating on high until the mixture is light and fluffy (about 3-5 minutes).

Microwave the gelatin until it becomes liquified, then stir it into the warm strawberry puree.

Fold the gelatin/strawberry mixture into your cheesecake batter. Add a few drops of pink food coloring if you'd like a pinker cheesecake.

Pour the filling into chilled crust and return to the refrigerator. Allow the cake to chill until it's become firm (about 2-3 hours).

Finally, prepare the ganache.

In a microwave safe bowl, heat the heavy cream using 20 second increments until hot to the touch.

Pour over the semisweet chocolate (I like to use chocolate chips but any coarsely chopped semisweet chocolate works) and allow to sit for 2-3 minutes. This will give the hot cream time to melt the chocolate.

Stir the ganache smooth. If still has little chunks of chocolate, microwave it using 15 second increments until you can stir it smooth.

Pour the ganache over the set cheesecake. Return to the fridge and allow to chill until the ganache has set (about 30 minutes to an hour).

Run a knife around the sides and remove your cake from its pan. Garnish with strawberries and serve.

Expert tips

• Estimating cookie crumbs: For this cookie crust, I used thin Oreos and didn't remove the filling. It took about ½ of a package (about 25 Oreos), to make 2 cups of crumbs.
• Making cookie crumbs without a food processor: If you don’t have a food processor, you can make the crumbs for the crust by putting your cookies in a ziploc bag and rolling over them with a rolling pin.
• Softening cream cheese: If you didn’t take your cream cheese out far enough in advance to soften on the counter, you can cut it into cubes and microwave it in 15 second increments to bring it up to an approximate room temperature.
• Leftovers and storage: The finished, uncut cake can be kept in your refrigerator for 3-4 days. Once the cake is cut, you’ll want to store the pieces in an airtight container in the refrigerator.