by Natalie Paull

Truth be told, I have belittled no-bake cheesecakes. Maybe as I was reaching for the upper rungs of culinary cleverness, I left them behind. I forgot that they are as satisfyingly creamy as a baked cheesecake and that their simplicity is a power not a weakness.
Fat matters for the filling. You can replace the cream with extra mascarpone OR replace the mascarpone with all full-fat cream, but skimping on the fat percentage is NOT an option – I have made this with 35% fat cream and it was so unstable I needed to do the gelatine fix (see Top Trix 1).
I call this recipe an almost no-bake because I am hardwired to bake my own pale, buttery, salty and lemony crumb crust. Cardamom adds a bashful uplift of citrusy spice. You can happily use shop-bought cookies (see Adaptrix) and cross ‘almost’ out completely.

MAKES a 23 cm (9 inch) cake to serve 8–10 
TAKES approx. 1 hour to make from base to filling, then at least 3 hours to set before serving (but always best to set overnight)
 
CARDAMOM CRUST

cooking oil spray
8 cardamom pods
140 g (5 oz) unsalted butter, squidgy soft (22°C/72°F)
150 g (5½ oz) plain (all‑purpose) flour (10% protein)
50 g (1¾ oz) icing (confectioners’) sugar mixture
¼ teaspoon (2 g) fine sea salt
finely grated zest of 1 lemon

CHEESECAKE MIX

500 g (1 lb 2 oz) cream cheese (Philadelphia highly recommended), soft and squidgy (20–25°C/68–77°F)
200 g (7 oz) sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon (5 g) vanilla bean paste
⅛ teaspoon (1 g) fine sea salt
20 g/ml (¾ oz) fresh lemon juice
430 g (15¼ oz) mascarpone or thick (double/heavy) cream (45% fat), or a mixture of both

Make the crust

Preheat the oven to 140°C (275°F) and spray a shallow tray lightly with cooking oil and line with baking paper.
Crush/split the cardamom pods and place them with the butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Melt the butter, then stand for 10 minutes to infuse. Strain the pods out and mix the butter with the remaining ingredients to make a moist paste.
Tip the crumb into the tray and bake for 40–45 minutes until aromatic with the palest golden honey hue – stir halfway through to achieve an even crumb colour.
Set aside to cool to warm, then whiz to a coarse crumb by pulsing in a food processor, just until the crumb starts to clump. (Whiz this super buttery mix with care. It can turn into a paste if you over‑process.)
Spray a 20 cm (8 inch) deep fluted tart tin or pie dish with a light spritz of cooking oil and tip the crumb onto the base. Press to even out and compact the crumb lightly – too firm and the base will be hard to cut through when cold.

Make the cheesecake mix

Beat the cream cheese, condensed milk, vanilla and salt in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment on low speed for 8 minutes until smooth and very lump free. Stop and scrape the side of the bowl every 2 minutes – clear off any cream cheese that has clung to the paddle. Stream the lemon juice in and beat for another minute. Scrape the cream cheese into a wide mixing bowl and give it a thorough hand-whisk.
Place the mascarpone into the scraped-out (no need to clean) stand mixer bowl and switch to the whisk attachment. Whip on medium speed until the pattern of the whisk holds strong in the mascarpone. Take care – don’t overwhip (see Top Trix 2).
Gently fold all the cream into the cheesecake base using a wire whisk – giving the final folds with a flexible plastic spatula.
Assemble Scrape the mix into the crumb base in the tin/dish and run a cake comb around the top or smooth evenly with an offset spatula.
Chill uncovered for at least 3 hours to set, then cover to chill overnight.
Keep and store Refrigerate for up to 4 days, wrapped well.
Freezes (whole or in slices) and thaws without an ounce  of creamy textured love lost.

TOP TRIX

1 How to fix with gelatine

If, after chilling the cheesecake, I can see the cheesecake part hasn’t set, I gently scoop/scrape the top layer off, trying not to dislodge any of the base. Stir 10 g (¼ oz) powdered gelatine with 30 g/ml (1 oz) cold water and set aside to bloom. Heat 120 g (4¼ oz) of the unset mix over a double boiler in a wide bowl. When hot, hand-whisk in the gelatine. Cool for 5 minutes, then slowly add the unset cheesecake mix to the ‘gelatined’ cheesecake mix.

2 If you overwhip the mascarpone, add some extra cold unwhipped cream and stir, not whip, it in. Adjust the weight you add to the cream-cheese base.

ADAPTRIX
Shop-bought cookie base Whiz 160 g (5¾ oz) plain digestive (sweet wholemeal) or plain chocolate cookies – or a motley crew of leftover cookies – until blitzed to a fine crumb. Add 50 g (1¾ oz) warm melted butter and mix together. Check for correct crumbliness by squeezing a clump in your fist. The crumb should hold together but easily become crumb again when poked.

Images and text from Sweet Heart by Natalie Paull, photography by Rochelle Eagle. Murdoch Books RRP $49.99.