No-bake Raspberry Lemonade cheesecake

This No-bake Raspberry Lemonade cheesecake consists of a silky, ultra-creamy lemony cream cheese filling, tangy raspberry compote in a crunchy, sweet crust that is enhanced with freezed dried raspberries for the ultimate luxurious taste. Imagine raspberry lemonade in a cheesecake format!

This No-bake Raspberry cheesecake recipe is very well balanced in sweetness and primarily focuses on lovely natural flavors like the taste of cream cheese, lemon, and raspberry, of course. The taste is like raspberry lemonade, an absolutely perfect fit for summer evenings and weekends. If you are looking for a popular cheesecake experience without all the hard work, try this recipe!

Jump to:

• Why this is the best Raspberry cheesecake recipe
• Ingredient notes
• 5 Expert tips
• Recipe FAQs
• Other Cheesecakes recipes
• RECIPE CARD
• No bake Raspberry Lemonade cheesecake

Why this is the best Raspberry cheesecake recipe

1. It is rather easy – As fancy as it looks, honestly, this is a super simple recipe that provides wonderful results. No-bake, no water bath, no-hassle, you will love it! The cheesecake crust is literally 2 ingredients + the freeezed dried raspberries that gives the lovely pinkish color. The cream cheese filling is also very easy using cream cheese and heavy whipping cream. The one part you need to pay attention to is assembling the cheesecake step-by-step, but I will teach you in this recipe how to do it
2. It is super delicious – I never compromise on taste! This Raspberry cheesecake cake is super luxurious, creamy, silky, with natural cream cheese, lemon and raspberry notes without artificial flavorings or colorings
3. It is super pretty - An easy yet tasteful decoration can really take your cheesecakes to the next level. I will teach you how to make it, keep reading
4. No special equipment is needed – All you need is a round cake tin to assemble the cake and a round poping nozzle tip for the decoration

Ingredient notes

For the Graham cracker crust (or Digestive crust)

1. Butter: Use always unsalted as you want to be in control of the quantity of the salt. I am using European-style 82% fat content butter in all my recipes. The butter needs to be melted. See my notes about the “technique” below
2. Biscuit: All you need is biscuit crumbs eg. Graham cracker crumbs or Digestive biscuits crumbs, you can even bake your own biscuit if fancy making it totally from scratch
3. Sugar: No need extra sugar for the crust given the biscuit already contains enough sugar and it will be crunchy anyway
4. Salt: An essential ingredient in most of the dessert recipes. Balances flavor and enhances other ingredients. This is a lovely sweet crust and I just love that extra very mild salty kick at the end
5. Freezed dried raspberry: Now this is totally optional but really takes this No bake cheesecake crust to the next level both in terms of color, also in flavor. If you can´t access freezed dried raspberries, replace it with equal amount of biscuit crumbs

Please make sure you read my tutorial about the perfect cheesecake crust!

For the cream cheese filling

1. Gelatin: It´s an odorless, tasteless, and colorless thickening agent, very often used in pastries particularly in mousse cakes. Powder or sheet versions are available, in my recipes I always use sheet (1,7 g / sheet), which I found easier to handle. Simple soak the gelatin sheet into cold water for a few minutes before you need them and use it according to the recipe. Powder gelatin can be used 1:1 so when I state 1 gelatin sheet that means 1,7 g gelatin powder. Please note that gelatin is not suitable for vegetarians. Agar-agar can be a good substitution for vegetarians however replacing gelatin with agar-agar is not 1:1. If you prefer to use agar agar, check my agar agar article for further details.
2. Heavy whipping cream: Also known as heavy cream, has a fat content between 36% and 40%, I usually use double cream that contains 36% fat. Use it very cold and do not substitute with vegetable-based “whipping cream”. Heavy cream will make the Strawberry cheesecake filling extra smooth and creamy, effectively a mousse-like consistency
3. Granulated sugar: I use simple, white granulated sugar, nothing fancy. I do not use a lot of sugar in this cheesecake so feel free to adjust the quantity if desired. While heating it up with cream make sure the sugar granulates fully dissolve. If you want to learn about the different types of sugar and how to use them in baking, please read my article in here.
4. Cream cheese: I always use a full-fat Philadelphia tub when I state cream cheese in my recipes. I find it easy to cream (need to bring it to room temperature first) and very pleasant in taste, perfect for this Strawberry cheesecake. I usually beat it with a hand mixer for less than a minute, just until it becomes fluffy and increases a bit in volume to avoid over whipping
5. Vanilla: Please please avoid using artificial vanilla. There are several great brands for fine, pure vanilla, I use Nielsen massey which I love and really recommend. I use vanilla bean paste instead of vanilla extract which has lovely vanilla bits in there too
6. Lemon juice: Use it freshly squeezed. It can be left out but I made this No-bake Raspberry cheesecake recipe sort of in a Raspberry lemonade style and the lemon goes super well with raspberries

For the raspberry topping

1. Raspberry: Fresh or frozen raspberries both work well here
2. Sugar: Simple granulated sugar is fine to make the topping
3. Lemon juice: Use a small amount freshly squeezed. Lemon juice is needed to balance the sweetness
4. Gelatin: See notes above

5 Expert tips

Making this No-bake Raspberry Lemon cheesecake is really so easy! Absolutely hassle-free, no need to worry about issues like water bath, cracking, collapsing, etc. Yet, I have some important tips for you below so your cheesecake will turn out exactly like mine!

1. How to prepare the perfect pink cheesecake crust

Please make sure you read my tutorial about the perfect cheesecake crust!

You can use this crust for making any other kind of cheesecake or can even replace some part of the biscuit with another ingredient eg. nut. This cheesecake crust is super easy however I still have some important tips for you to make sure that your crust will turn out neat and stable to hold the filling:

• Make the biscuit crumbs either using your food processor, or with the old fashioned zip bag rolling pin method. Place the freezed dried raspberries into zip bag too, as it get crashed, it will color the biscuit crumb into pink
• Mix butter and biscuit crumb while butter is runny (melted). Butter will act as a binding agent in the recipe. Once it is cooled in the fridge, it will set creating a crunchy, but firm crust to hold the filling. You might have a bad experience from the past with cheesecake crust being too crumbly and not holding its shape, it’s probably due to not enough butter in the recipe
• When butter is melted the mixture might be runny depending on the temperature of the butter but do not add more biscuit crumbs. If you feel that mixture is too runny, pop it into the fridge for 5 minutes, it will set very quickly into a consistency you can use making the crust with
• The one and only secret of making a firm, neat crust is to press crumbs firmly and evenly into the side and the bottom of your cake ring. Start with the side and work your way up then when it looks neat and even, continue with the bottom. Find some equipment in your kitchen eg. bend a spoon and use it to really press the crust. I spent probably a good 10-15 minutes just focusing on the crust making sure that it is even on the side and really neat. Place your crust into the freezer and let it set while you are preparing the filling

2. How to prepare the cream cheese filling

Preparing the filling of this Raspberry cheesecake could not be simpler, one thing that can go wrong is over mixing instead of gently folding which would result in runny consistency. Do not attempt to cut corners and reduce the number of steps, there is a reason why we whip the ingredients separately then fold them together in a particular order.

• Step 1: Prepare the gelatin mixture; heat together cream and sugar just until simmering, mix in lemon juice, then mix gelatin sheets in too. Once everything is mixed, the key here is to bring the mixture down to lukewarm temperature before step 2. Too warm? It will melt cream cheese in Step 2. Too cold? Gelatin will set and will be impossible to mix with the rest of the ingredients. Do not place the mixture into the fridge to speed up the chilling process as gelatin can start to form lumps
• Step 2: Beat cream cheese until fluffy, for about a minute. Cream cheese is an interesting ingredient, it won´t get more fluffy or harder if you beat it longer, in fact, it will break and become runny. I suggest using an Electric hand mixer  to avoid overbeating. Fold whipped cream cheese mixture into the gelatin mixture
• Step 3: Whip heavy cream until soft peaks. Make sure heavy cream is very cold or it might be difficult to whip up. While whipping heavy cream, remember that it will go through the following stages: runny, soft peak, stiff peak then it will break and a few minutes later buttermilk separates and you can make butter. For this recipe make sure you stop at a soft peak so it will be easy to fold the mixture together and keep the mixture fluffy without breaking it. Fold whipped cream into the rest of the ingredients

Use cream cheese filling immediately. The filling must be fluffy, airy although it won´t be stiff at this point. Don´t worry, it will set in a few hours due to the gelatin added at step 1

That´s it! Remember, making this cream cheese filling in fact very easy but a step-by-step process. Feel free to flavor it with vanilla, a small amount of lemon juice, etc.

3. How to make the raspberry topping

You can make cheesecake with almost any topping, this one is made with a few ingredients super easy and quick raspberry compote. I like to have a thick layer of fruit on top of the creamy cream cheese filling but feel free to adjust the quantity according to your preference.

• Run the raspberry through a sieve to get rid of most of the seeds (it is fine to leave some in), then measure it with a scale
• Cook raspberries, sugar, and lemon juice until the mixture slightly thickens about 10-15 minutes. Monitor the consistency as the cooking time can vary depending on the saucepan, stove and whether you are using frozen or fresh fruit. The mixture should not fully thicken, we are not aiming to make jam, but the majority of the water should evaporate
• Soak gelatin sheets into cold water
• Squeeze excess water from the gelatin and stir into the raspberry mixture
• Then wait. You will have to find the perfect moment to pour / pipe the raspberry mixture onto the cheesecake. If too hot, it will melt the cheese cream. If too cold, the gelatin will already set and you won´t be able to pour the mixture. Aim to pour the compote over when it is neither hot nor cold, somewhere in between at room temperature

Please note that the quantity of the gelatin sheet will depend on how thick you cook the mixture so you might need slightly more or less.

4. How to assemble this the cheesecake

Patience is key when making mousse-type cakes, like this Raspberry cheesecake. You just can’t rush certain steps or it will make a mess. It is a super simple recipe, but you have to respect time, concretely leaving enough time in between the steps until each phase sets.

• Freeze the crust for 30 minutes while preparing the cream cheese mousse filling
• Make the cream cheese filling and pipe or pour it into the cold crust
• Move cheesecake into the fridge and let it set for a minimum of 1-2 hours. Do not attempt to proceed with the raspberry topping before the cheesecake top is properly set or they will melt together
• Make the raspberry topping and let it cool to about room temp. You want it to be warm enough to be able to pour before it sets but not hot that would melt the cheesecake
• Once compote is on top of the cheesecake again put it back to the fridge for min 4 hours to set. Do not attempt to open the cake ring before that.
• Don´t forget to leave some cream and compote for later to decorate the cake, cover it with plastic wrap and refrigerate
• After 4 hours carefully remove the cake ring, move the remaining cream and topping into a piping bag and decorate your cheesecake

If you love lemon raspberry desserts, try also this Lemon Raspberry Pie from Jennifer.

5. How to prepare the decoration

As usual, decoration is totally optional but I think it really takes this Raspberry Lemon cheesecake recipe to the next level and so easy!

Gently whip the leftover cream cheese filling a few times (literally a few times, do not overmix it) then move it into a piping bag fitted with a round nozzle tip. In the meantime, take the raspberry compote also out of the fridge and wash and prepare a few raspberries.

Pipe cream cheese filling on top of the cheesecake then place some raspberries in between the pipings randomly. After, fill the raspberries with the compote, and lastly, decorate with some greens (eg. mint), lemon zest, and dust with freezed dried raspberries.

6. What equipment is needed to make this No bake cheesecake

You will be pleased to hear that making this No-bake Raspberry cheesecake recipe does not require too much equipment!

For assembling the cheesecake I am using a Mousse cake ring (adjustable in size) set to 16cm / 6 inches. I really like the neat tall design of it, however, it does not have a bottom so I make one using a spring form bottom and kitchen foil. Alternatively, use a springform pan but please note that it does not have such a neat side.

For pressing the crumb together I suggest using a spoon that you can bend, it´s that simple!

Use an Electric hand mixer to whip the cream cheese and heavy cream, and a Rubber spatula is absolutely crucial to fold the cream without breaking it.

Last but least, for the decoration use a Piping bag with a simple 1A Round nozzle tip.

Recipe FAQs

Other Cheesecakes recipes

Pistachio cheesecake recipe: If you are a cheesecake and pistachio lover and like to make delicious desserts without a lot of fuss, this will be a recipe you will love!

Oreo cheesecake recipe: Crunchy, decorative Oreo crust filled with extra smooth vanilla cream cheese mousse with hidden Oreo pieces!

Strawberry cheesecake recipe: Strawberry cheesecake is one of the most popular desserts all around the world and no wonder why! It is phenomenal as the silky ultra cream cheese filling meets the fruity strawberry compote in the crunchy, sweet crust.

Try also this Lemon Blueberry cheesecake from Louisa.

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