No-Bake Chocolate Cheesecake

Last week was my manager's birthday, so a caked needed to be baked (or made). I do like cheesecakes and have made many before, but never a chocolate flavoured one. What intrigued me was that there was no need of gelatin for this particular recipe I found, as the chocolate naturally sets the cheesecake. It was well-received at work, so this one is definitely a keeper!

Usually I would make cheesecakes in a spring-form baking tin, but for the ease of portioning (and less cleaning up) I had an idea and found these little paper sundae cups (also comes with icecream spoons!).

Firstly 30min before you start, rest cream cheese in room temperature to soften. Then blend the biscuits with the cocoa powder in a blender. (Crushing is fine if no blender). Then melt the butter in the microwave and combine well with the biscuit crumbs.

Portion the biscuit crumb mixture into individual cups and lightly flatten to even it out. (Don't pack too tightly as it will be too hard after it is chilled)

Beat thickened cream in a bowl until soft peak forms, then put back into fridge to chill.

To know when the soft peak stage is reached, dip the hand mixer into the cream, then pull out. The cream should be firm enough to form a peak, but it should also drape down with gravity. Watch the cream carefully, you would much rather the cream slightly under-beaten then over-beaten. 

Beat cream cheese in mixer for a few minutes until soft and smooth. Then mix in the sugar and vanilla essence.

Melt the first batch of chocolate. I prefer to use the microwave as it takes less effort than the double boiler and I do not feel that there are any noticeable differences as long as you are careful. Microwave the chocolate in 10 second increments until the chocolate starts to melt. As soon as the bottom chocolate starts to melt, use a spoon to stir in between to help melt the unmelted chocolate. The less microwaving to dissolve the chocolate the better. Add the melted chocolate into the cream cheese mixture and keep stirring to combine.  

I was taking photos, so was a little slow to mix. As you can see little chocolate flakes had formed due to the chocolate cooling too quickly if not mixed quick enough. (If it happens, just say it is intentional, no one will know!)

Melt the second batch of chocolate and stir in quickly. The mixture should grow darker and firmer as the chocolate starts to set.

Now to mix in the whipped cream. Firstly combine 1/3 of the cream into the mixture first and mix well with a spatula. Then fold in the rest of the cream until there are no white streaks. Try not to mix too much or the airiness of the cream will flatten.

Portion the cheesecake mixture into the cups and flatten out carefully with the back of a spoon.

Finally dust with cocoa powder and its finished! Chill in the fridge for at least 8 hours before serving. You can also eat it straight away for a mousse style cheesecake. This cheesecake is quite rich, and the serving sizes are a little too much. Next time I would use smaller cups and make around 20 portions. Alternatively you can make a whole cheesecake in a spring-form pan. Also if you prefer more of a cream cheese taste, you can decrease the chocolate to 200gm in total.

The big mess... lot of cleaning up to do!

No-Bake Chocolate Cheesecake
(Adapted from Crunchy Creamy Sweet)
(Print Friendly Version Here)

Ingredients (Makes 20 individual servings)

For Base

• 250g biscuits (Eg. Nice)
• 100g butter, melted
• 4 tbsp cocoa powder

For Filling

• 500g cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup icing sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla essence
• 150g dark chocolate (or 100g)
• 150g dark chocolate 70% cocoa (or 100g)
• 300g thickened cream

Cooking Directions

1. Blend or crush biscuits with cocoa powder, then mix well with melted butter
2. Press base mixture lightly to even. (or firmly if making whole cake in spring form tin)
3. Beat in thickened cream until soft peaks form, refrigerate
4. Mix cream cheese in mixer for a few minutes until smooth, then mix in sugar and vanilla
5. Melt first batch of chocolate with microwave in 10s increments and mix in between until just melted, rest to cool slightly
6. Mix melted chocolate into cream cheese mixture until combined. Repeat with 2nd batch of chocolate.
7. Mix in 1/3 of beaten cream into mixture. Add the remaining cream and fold until no white streaks remain.
8. Place filling over the base and even out, dust with cocoa powder.
9. Refrigerate for at least 8 hours before serving.