No Bake Raspberry Cheesecake with Amaretti Crust

No Bake Raspberry Cheesecake with Amaretti Crust // The Sugar Hit

 

Hey can I tell you a secret? I just started a degree. It feels super weird to say that. I’m 25 and I just started. I’ve dabbled here and there in various Uni courses over the years, but even though I found high school easy and did pretty well, I just hated doing uni courses. Plus I was busy doing all this The Sugar Hit, you know? I’ve been writing a book, shooting photos, writing posts, styling, learning about business – all on my own. And it’s been a challenge but so damn worth it and so damn fun. But I figured I should get back on the horse, and finally get that piece of paper. So here we are, and here I am studying and with full determination to complete (this time) a Bachelor’s of Design.

 

I am incredibly, intensely stoked about it, and even though it’s week one and I’m already behind (the first task was due TWO DAYS IN, WTF?) I think I’m going to do well. I just went and dropped a cool couple of hundred bucks on art supplies (paper and charcoal and whatnot), so I’d better. I was in something of a rush to grab those supplies because of the tight schedule mentioned above, so I raced out of the house when I had a spare moment and didn’t think about what I had on.

 

Then as I was walking briskly back to my car (having paid for only the smallest possible parking window and not wanting to get a ticket) I caught a glimpse of myself reflected in a shop window. Black jeans with busted knees, white cons, a white tee, black leather jacket and black wayfarers – I almost laughed out loud at just how much I looked like an art student. And then I realised I AM an art student! And then I really did laugh. The point of all this is just to say, this is a new chapter of my life and I’m happy about it.

 

But back to this food filled, delicious, ongoing chapter of my life – entirely spontaneously I seem to have fallen into a Christmas in July theme. I just couldn’t help it! First I made this ridiculously Christmassy Dutch Baby, and now this! I think it might have something to do with the fact that I watched nothing but hours of Nigella Christmas Specials over the weekend, while cramming handfuls of Hipster Crackerjack into my mouth.  However it happened, this No Bake Raspberry Cheesecake with Amaretti Crust popped into my head, and as soon as I dreamed it, I had to have it. The amaretti cookie crust, the creamy, no-bake filling, the quick, bright rudolph’s-nose-red raspberry topping, it’s a straight up delight, this cheesecake. And it’s Christmassy not just in appearance and insomuch as I always think of amaretti cookies as a Christmas food, it’s also incredibly easy and incredibly crowd-pleasing.

 

And being those two things – easy and delightful to all – is what Christmas desserts are all about. Of course there are always those things which take time, the Christmas puddings and cakes and cut-out cookies, but those things are activities in and of themselves. Rituals of the Christmas season, if you will. All the other desserts exist merely to bring pleasure and joy to the dark months (or miserably hot months, if you’re in Australia) of the year. This cheesecake is no different and I will happily eat it while I binge watch all the Christmas-themed Charlie Brown I can get my hands on.

 

What’s your week shaping up to look like? And tell me about your Uni experience, I’m dying to know!

 

xx Sarah.

 

No Bake Raspberry Cheesecake with Amaretti Crust // The Sugar Hit

 

No Bake Raspberry Cheesecake with Amaretti Crust // The Sugar Hit

 

 

No Bake Raspberry Cheesecake with Amaretti Crust // The Sugar Hit

 

 

No Bake Raspberry Cheesecake with Amaretti Crust // The Sugar Hit

 

No Bake Raspberry Cheesecake with Amaretti Crust
 
Author:
Serves: Serves 6-8
Ingredients
For the crust:
  • 200g/7oz amaretti cookies (crunchy ones)
  • 3oz (75g) butter, soft
  • ¼ cup (35g) plain flour
  • ¼ cup (50g) caster sugar (or granulated sugar)
For the filling:
  • 375g (13oz) cream cheese, at room temp
  • ⅓ cup (40g) icing sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • juice of half a lemon
  • 1 cup (250ml) thickened cream
For the topping:
  • 2 cups raspberries (fresh or frozen)
  • 2 tbsp caster sugar
Instructions
  1. To make the crust, preheat the oven to 180C, and grease and line a 7in/18cm springform pan.
  2. Place all the ingredients for the crust into a food processor and blitz into a fine, sandy crumb. If you pick some up and squeeze it, it should stick together easily.
  3. Tip the mixture into the lined pan, and press it evenly over the base and up the sides. Place in the oven for 8-10 minutes, or until slightly darker in colour - it may feel a little soft, still, but it crisps up as it cools. Set aside to cool completely.
  4. To make the filling, beat the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla and lemon until smooth. Whip the cream to soft peaks and then fold into the cream cheese mixture (it's quite thick, so don't worry about losing too much air - just get it in there). Transfer the filling the cooled cheesecake base and smooth out the top. Place in the fridge to set for at least 30-40 minutes.
  5. To make the topping, place about a third of the raspberries, with the sugar in a small saucepan. Cook over a low heat, smushing the berries with the back of a spoon, until you have a quite liquidy raspberry sauce. Remove from the heat and transfer to a small bowl. Fold through the remaining berries, which should drop the temperature down to room temp (or cold, if they're frozen). Spread the cool mix on top of the cheesecake, and you're ready to serve!
 

27 Comments

  • yay, congrats! that sounds so exciting (albeit a lot of work, but isn’t college always that way?). and goodness i’ve been in a christmas in july mood too (for some reason, the office i’m working in this summer has a thing for christmas music at the moment).

  • Congratulations on the course Sarah, it sounds so much fun!

    I’m looking forward to reading about your adventures. I never did the whole uni thing, I took a business course and it led to a job and a career path so I didn’t need to go.

    Right to the cheesecake, which looks stunning, a no-bake version looks just up my street, well done on this one Sarah – a winner as always. xx

    • Hey Angela! I have huge respect for people who bypass the usual paths to success, so I think it’s awesome that you skipped the whole Uni thing. Thank you for your kind words and support, as always. <3

  • Congrats on your new adventure. Uni can be a hard slog sometimes but it’s made a million times easier when you do something you love. I’m so happy for you:-)

  • Same here with the Christmas music. My phone ringtones are all holiday jingles. Is thickened cream = whipping cream?

    • Haha, I love that! And yes, absolutely. Thickened cream is a little different, but I don’t think you guys get it in the USA, so whipping cream will do exactly the same job.

  • hi Sarah, I’m in the States, I’d there a substitute for thickened cream? I’ve never heard of that. Also, Congrats and good on you for going back to uni! Looking back, I wish I would have waited to go! Have fun and good luck!

  • Congratulations Sarah, that’s awesome! I know that feeling of being behind scarily well (like, why do we even need assignments?!) but it always (usually..) works out in the end haha! Great reason for an amazing cheesecake like this – I love how deep it is and that amaretti crust is so golden and gorgeous.

  • Good for you for going back to school! That must have been a bit of a daunting decision, such a big change, but you have such a great eye for punchy graphics and beautiful photographs, I’m sure you’ll be killing it!

  • Congrats! I loved waiting until I was a little bit older to go back to college. I just graduated with my bachelors at the age of 32! So it’s never too late :) I know you will rock this and I look forward to hearing how much you hate/love it!!!

  • Congrats on going back to school, it will be worth it! I am currently getting my bachelor’s as well in Business Management. It’s completely online, which is pretty cool considering I don’t have to put on real pants to go to class, ha.

    The cheesecake looks amazing by the way!

  • I am happy for you going back to art school! I went to art school and it was my favorite time.
    Thanks for the cheesecake recipe; I am trying it today!

  • hello! i am making this for my sister’s bday, it looks great. Could you tell me when you say thickened cream what percentage of fat you mean? we don’t have cream labeled as thickened where i’m from so i’m trying to find the equivalent product here and i thought fat percentage would be the way to get the closest thing to what you’re using, right?

  • ah i just saw you’e answered a couple of similar questions and it seems i’ll have to find what we use as whipping cream where i am.

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