Passionfruit Cheesecake (no bake)
Easy summer dessert: a lemon no-bake cheesecake with swirls of passion fruit curd. Wonderfully fresh and festive, it's a fantastic recipe that can be made year-round with frozen fruit. You can make it with or without gelatin; both variations are explained below.
Servings 12 servings
Ingredients
For the passion fruit curd:
- 2 egg yolks
- ¾ cup passionfruit pulp or puree
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- 3 ½ ounces unsalted butter
- ¼ cup sugar
For the no-bake lemon cheesecake:
- 2 cups graham crackers or vanilla wafers crumbs
- ½ cup unsalted butter browned and cooled (find step-by-step instructions here)
- 21 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
- 2 cups whipping heavy or heavy cream at room temperature
- 1 can sweetened condensed milk 14oz or 397g
- 2 teaspoons lemon zest
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup passionfruit curd
Instructions
For the curd:
- In a bowl, whisk together egg yolks and sugar for 1 minute.
- Add the passion fruit pulp or puree and lemon juice, mix well and reserve.
- In a heavy-bottomed medium saucepan, melt the butter without letting it boil.
- Remove from the heat and add the yolk mixture, stirring constantly with a whisk, and return the pan to the stove.
- Cook over low/medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens, 3-5 minutes, depending on the saucepan material and temperature. Don’t let it boil. If needed, lower the temperature or remove from the stove, mix and then return until it thickens.
- Transfer to a bowl, cover with plastic (I use freezer sheets or plastic wrap) that touches the whole surface and let cool down. This will prevent the top layer of drying as it cools down.
- Pour into a glass container with a lid and keep refrigerated.
- Makes about 1 ¼ cups.
For the lemon cheesecake:
- Prepare a crumb base mixing crumbs with the brown butter until it resembles wet sand.
- Line a 9x13-inch (23x33cm) pan with 2-inch sides with aluminum foil, letting it hang over the two long sides (the short sides won’t have foil). Pat the crumb mixture evenly over the bottom. Refrigerate while making the filling.
- Beat the cold cream in a medium bowl until medium peaks form when the beaters are lifted. The tip will fall slightly and the cream will have some consistency but not be completely firm.
- Beat cream cheese until smooth in a large bowl.
- Add the half whipped cream and beat until beginning to thicken about 1-2 minutes. The peaks when you lift the beaters should be quite firm but with a slight drop.
- Stir in the condensed milk, lemon zest, and vanilla, and mix well.
- Pour the cheesecake mixture over the prepared base.
- Add dollops of passionfruit curd all over the batter, using about 1 ½ cups of the curd mixture. With a smooth-bladed knife, swirl it lightly.
- Refrigerate for 2 hours, or until it's firm enough to cut. Or freeze it, well covered in plastic wrap first, and then aluminum foil.
- Serve cold. Take out of the freeze about 15 minutes before serving. Cut into squares and serve.
Notes
How to use gelatin: if you want to add gelatin, use 1 teaspoon of unflavored powder dissolved in 5 teaspoons of cold water. Melt it over a stove, the bowl barely touching the flame, or in a skillet with an inch of simmering water. Let it cool to lukewarm, and add it to the cream cheese mixture before pouring it into the mold.
Passion fruit curd: you can double the recipe using 5 egg yolks and doubling the rest of the ingredients. It will take a few more minutes to reach the right consistency.
Passion fruit pulp or puree: if using fresh fruit, mash the pulp with a fork as much as you can. It ends with some chunkier parts. If you want a very smooth pulp, strain it to extract as much juice as you can, separate the seeds, and process the pulp. Add it to the juice with the seeds.
Gelatin: if not using it (I don't), freeze the cheesecake and take it out when ready to serve. If you add gelatin, you can keep it in the fridge.
Pan: you can use a square 8 or 9-inch pan and make half the recipe.
Variations: instead of passionfruit curd, use lemon curd to make a double lemon cheesecake or a good berry jam or sauce (like our blueberry topping) for a non-citrus option.
Cookie base: you can use a regular graham cracker crust base that doesn't use brown butter, it will save you time. Or go outside the box with a chocolate crumb crust. It pairs very well with lemon and passion fruit.
