Easy summer dessert: Passion fruit Lemon no-bake Cheesecake. Wonderfully fresh and festive, you can use purchased curd and save yourself a step.

Passion Fruit Lemon No-Bake Cheesecake with Brown Butter Crust

This was an experiment I made for a family gathering and it was such a success that I’m posting it as is.

When you are in charge of dessert for a relatively large celebration the flavors should be kept among the usual suspects: lemon, chocolate, strawberry, dulce de leche (this is Buenos Aires after all), seasonal fruits and not many more.

I always chose dessert recipes that can be multiplied so I don’t have to worry if they eat more than usual. Fruit crumbles are always at the top, followed by something with dulce de leche and cream or a chocolate recipe.

But then, I decided to improvise and use a jar of homemade passion fruit curd I had and make a no-bake cheesecake for the first time.

What is no-bake cheesecake?

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Just in case you’re only familiar with the traditional baked cheesecake, the no-bake variation is what the name implies: it’s never baked so it’s perfect for summer or when you don’t want to turn on the oven.

I made a Complete Guide to No-Bake Cheesecake that you absolutely must read if you like this type of dessert.

Ingredients in a no-bake cheesecake include cream cheese and sugar or condensed milk (as I did with this recipe), whipped cream, maybe sour cream and flavorings. What it doesn’t include is egg because we should not eat raw eggs and all that. This is why some use gelatin, to give it structure, something that happens when you add eggs and bake a cheesecake.

I marbled the top of mine with the passion fruit curd (image above) and flavored it with lemon because these two flavors bring out the best in each other.

Making curd at home.

The most common citrus curd is lemon, but I made mine with fresh passion fruit pulp and seeds (image above). The process is similar to making pastry cream, sort of.

It is an extra step, but you can easily make this no-bake cheesecake with purchased curd or even a good raspberry jam. It pairs wonderfully with the lemon in the cheesecake.

Remember to marble the top of the cheese filling but not overdo it. You want to bite into pools of curd separated from the cheese.

I didn’t think it would be so well received, my dad’s girlfriend calling the next day saying that everyone had raved so much about the cheesecake but she hadn’t been able to taste it, being a hostess and all, not knowing that a few slices had been stashed by me in the freezer, but then forgot about them, so they never got served. I could hear her happy dance through the phone.

Tips & tricks for this recipe:

Cookie base: you can use a regular graham cracker base and it will save you time (not browning the butter and all that).
Curd: you can use purchased curd (lemon is easily available) or use a good raspberry jam.
Freezing: you have to freeze and then take it out when you’re ready to serve. You can also add gelatin so you can keep it in the fridge. Instructions are in the recipe below.
Pan: you can use a regular 9-inch cake pan with a removable bottom and make half the recipe.

Other recipes you might like:

Coconut Cupcakes with Passion Fruit Filling
Strawberry Passion Fruit Caipirinha (a cocktail)
Sweet Blackberry Cheesecake Ice Cream
Margarita Lime Pie
Orange Ricotta Cheesecake

Let me know if you make this recipe! I’d love to hear what you think about it.
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