A Snap - No bake - Cheesecake

The other day I was strolling through the supermarket with my friend, I saw a packet of gelatin.

I was intrigued when I read the recipe on the back and it sounded very simple...No baking...and a Cheesecake out of it...

I have never made a cheesecake before but have eaten one lots of time. I went ahead and bought the gelatin packet and cream cheese.

I don't have any sophisticated baking tools with me....I used just the hand whisk to beat the cream cheese...and my wooden spoon to mix everything together.


I started beating the cream cheese right after taking out from the fridge..Bad idea... and it beat the hell out of me....So I waited patiently till it reached the room temperature.  I prepared the crust meanwhile ... Once the cream cheese came to room temperature it was fairly easy....I used my whisk to do the job...So it was a good workout for my right hand..LOL!!!


Okay the crust (bottom portion of the cheesecake) is usually made with crackers and butter...but to my bad ... the butter I had in my fridge was salted and I finished off the crackers way before preparing this (typical me :-p)...So I had to find some alternative. I ended up with Cheerios (my breakfast cereal) in place of crackers and chocolate bars instead of butter...and it worked out fine without giving me any trouble....After all making improvisation is the fun part ....:)  

Recipe:

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I used 15 cm round dish to make this.

I lined the whole dish with grease proof sheet. It will be easier to lift the cheesecake at the end without breaking. 

**A springform pan works best for cheesecakes...:)

For the crust: {The way I made it...}

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1. Cheerios                 -  1 cup
2. Melted Chocolate      -  1/2 cup or enough to mix all the cheerios.

1. In a food processor grind the cheerios into a fine powder.
2. Melt the chocolate in microwave.
3. Mix the powdered cheerios and chocolate together.
4. Using hands or presser, press the cheerios-chocolate mix to the bottom of the dish firmly.
5. Refrigerate it till it hardens.(1/2 hr)

For Cheesecake:

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Source : Knox Gelatin cover

1. Boiling water          -  1 cup
2. Sugar                   -   3/4 cup
3. Cream cheese        -  2 (8 ounce), at room temperature.
4. Unflavored gelatin  -   1 envelope
5. Vanilla extract        -  1 tsp

1. Mix gelatin and sugar in a bowl.
2. Add boiling water and stir until gelatin completely dissolves. It takes about 5 min.
3. Beat the cream cheese and vanilla extract until smooth.
4. Slowly beat in gelatin mixture.
5. Take the tin having the crust from the refrigerator
6. Pour in slowly over the crust.
7. Refrigerate until firm, about 3 hrs.
8. Before serving slowly lift the cheesecake from the tin by holding the sheet and transfer to a plate.
9. Garnish as desired.
10. Cut a small piece and enjoy...:)

Update : I forgot to mention.... other than the fact that my cheesecake had 2-3 air bubbles (which I really don't care)....the cheesecake tasted(which I really care) really good...It felt like the store bought plain cheesecake...