Tuesday, August 12, 2014

No-Bake Pastel Rainbow Cheesecake

I love no-bake cheesecake for the summer! Plus, it's so easy to make for a quick cheesecake craving :)





For the Crust:
*1 cup of vanilla Oreos (about 20 cookies) OR just buy graham cracker crumbs and you can skip the whole process of crushing Oreos :)
*2 tbs of unsalted melted butter

To make the crust:
1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 6-inch springform pan
2. Crush Oreos in a food processor and mix with melted butter.
3. Press the mixture into the pan and bake for about 10 minutes.
4. Refrigerate or freeze to cool while you make the filling.


The recipe for the cheesecake itself can be found on the back of Knox Gelatin, but I doubled it as follows:

*2 envelopes of gelatin
*1 cup sugar
*2 cups of boiling water
*4 packages of 8 oz full fat cream cheese (softened)
*2 tsp vanilla


1. Mix gelatin and sugar in a small bowl and add about 2 cups of boiling water. Stir for about 5 minutes or until the gelatin is dissolved.
2. Beat cream cheese and vanilla in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed. Add the gelatin mixture slowly and beat until well combined.
3. Get three bowls and add the cheesecake mixture to each bowl as evenly distributed as you can. You can then add food coloring to each; whatever color you desire. I added blue (bottom), yellow (middle layer), pink (top layer)
4. Pour the first color on top of the crust and freeze immediately. Also at this time, you will want to refrigerate the other two bowls of cheesecake filling. The reason for freezing the first layer is because you want it to set before you add the second color on top and you want it to be fairly quick so your other two bowls of cheesecake don't start to set! If you add all layers on top of each other right away, it will blend through and be more like a rainbow swirl rather than distinct layers (which would be a great look too)! After freezing for about 30 minutes, you can add the second layer. Freeze again for 30 minutes, and then add the last and third layer on top. You can then place normally in the fridge at that point.

It should be completely done in about 6-8 hours (to be completely safe though, I usually let set overnight). Thereafter, you can remove from the springform pan and top with sprinkles, whipped topping, or whatever you like!