No-bake Oreo Cheesecake

The first time I made this super easy no-bake cheesecake was about four years ago, when I had been asked to prepare a dessert for the church fellowship dinner.

After referring to recipes from different cookbooks and websites, I have tweaked and adjusted the recipe to fit the cake pan size as well as the preference (usually much less in sugar than the recipe had called for). It is not that I don't love sweet desserts, but the large portion of sugar in food could easily over-power or mask the natural flavour of other ingredients. Not to mention the health-related risks it brings.

Thanks to the encouragements from my friends and church members who constantly ask me for the recipe, I have put this recipe in the "keeper" recipe box. And so a few weeks ago, I took out this recipe and remake this cake to fix my sudden cheesecake craving.

One good trick that I include in the recipe is the fact that I used three dairy products to give the cake different layers of texture--cream cheese, yoghurt and whipping cream. The trio is a fantastic combination of flavours and it saves the cost by a slant.

Another reason this recipe has been so popular is the mere fact that this is one of those gelatine-set cheesecakes that does not require an oven at all. All you need is the few main ingredients, springform cake pan (the one that the base can be de-attached and some fridge space. Once you have mastered the basic of this no-bake cheesecake, you are on your way to experiment it with other flavours like vanilla strawberry, orange cranberry and banana chocolate, the possibilities are... endless.

This recipe yields 12 slices of cheesecake in a 9" or 23 cm round cake pan.

Ingredients
base:

200 g digestive biscuits crumbs (I used a rolling pin to crush the biscuits in a Ziploc bag into fine crumbs)

100 g melted butter

filling:
250 g cream cheese (I used Philadelphia), room temperature
300 g natural yoghurt (I used Nestle), fridge temperature
80 g icing sugar or all the sugary cream filling from the oreo cookies
2 tbsp vanilla essence or 1 pod of vanilla beans
16 oreo cookies (coarsly chopped)
8 oreo cookies (finely chopped)
200 ml whipping cream (I used Emborg), fridge temperature
2 tbsp gelatine powder
15 ml lemon juice (from half a lemon)
6 tbsp boiling water

method:
Mix biscuit crumbs & melted butter together and press firmly onto the base of springform cake tin with the back of a spoon. Let chill in fridge for 30 minutes.

Beat the whipping cream with electric beaters until 70% stiff or until mousse-like.  Set it aside.

Double-boil* gelatine, lemon juice & boiling water until totally dissolved, keep warm. (*to double-boil, heat a pot filled with water and place another bowl inside the pot & gelatine, lemon juice & boiling water into the bowl).

Beat cream cheese, icing sugar and vanilla until smooth & creamy, fold in the yoghurt in three portions until just combined, blend in cooled gelatine solution.

Blend in the whipping cream with cream cheese mixture.

Pour 1/2 the cheese mixture onto the base, let chill for another 15 minutes.

Stir in finely chopped cookies into the other 1/2 of the mixture, mix well.

Sprinkle coarsely chopped cookies on top of the first half of cheese mixture, then pour in the other half of the cheese mixture.

Chill for 4 to 5 hours before serving and decorate the cake as desired.

To serve the cake, dip a serrated knife in hot water before each cut. Serves 12 slices of scrumptious cheesecake.

The oreo cheesecake this good deserves to be savoured till the very last bite.