No-Bake Spiderweb Cheesecake



Cheesecakes are pretty temperamental.  I've made a few cheesecakes that have cracked and caved slightly *Gasp*  I know, pretty awful!  These testy cakes need lots of special TLC.

When I saw this recipe for a no-bake cheesecake I immediately jotted down the entire recipe!

Wait??  You can make a cheesecake without pacing back and forth, worrying over the grand canyon cracks??


Yes, you can!  How great is that?


A few helpful tips for baked cheesecakes: Baked cheesecakes need a water bath to keep the moisture high and the heat gentle, do not over-beat and do not over-bake.  The cheesecake continues to bake after being removed from the oven.  This was the mistake I would often make.

Although, with a no-bake cheesecake, you have nothing to fret over.  No, cracking, breaking, caving or throw aways!


Halloween is right around the corner (where is the time going??), and this is a perfect and easy cake to take along to your next Halloween party!

Did I mention how easy this is!  Don't be intimidated by the web.  Most real spiderwebs are not perfectly symmetrical, so no need to worry about making it perfect!



No-Bake Spiderweb Cheesecake 


Ingredients
For the Crust:
Canola oil cooking spray
18 ounces chocolate wafers (2 packages), finely ground (4 1/2 cups)
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
6 ounces (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon coarse salt

For the ganache:
4 ounces semi/bitter-sweet chocolate (preferably 61%), finely chopped
1/2 cup heavy cream

For the Filling:
32 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 cups heavy cream, cold

Directions
Make the crust:  Coat a 10-inch springform pan with cooking spray.  Mix wafers, sugar, butter, and salt in a medium bowl.   Pat mixture into a pan, pressing firmly into bottom of pan (I used the bottom of a water glass) and all the way up the sides.  Cover, and refrigerate until ready to fill.

Make the ganache:  Place chocolate in a food processor.  Bring cream to a simmer in a small saucepan, then pour over chocolate.  When chocolate starts to melt, process until smooth.  Reserve 2tablespoons ganache for decorating, and spread the remainder evenly on bottom and all the way up sides of crust.  Cover, and refrigerate until ready to fill.

Make the Filling:  Beat cream cheese with a mixer (standing or hand) on medium speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Reduce speed to low, and slowly add sugar and salt.  Raise speed to med-high, and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Beat in lemon juice.

Whisk cream until medium-stiff peaks form.  Whisk 1/4 of the whipped cream into cream cheese mixture, then fold in remaining whipped cream.  Pour filling into crust, and spread evenly.  Gently tap bottom of pan on counter to release air bubbles.

Transfer reserved ganache to a pastry bag fitted with a 1/4-inch round tip.  Starting from the center of the cheesecake, pipe a spiral, spacing about 1/2-inch apart.  Pull the tip of a pairing knife in a gentle curved line from the center of the spiral to outer edge.  Wipe knife clean , and repeat every inch or so to form a web.

Cover and freeze for at least an hour or overnight.  Serve and garnish with scary spiders!

Recipe Adapted from Martha Stewart

16 comments:

  1. Such a great cheesecake...love the web :)
    Working on a guest post for you now...

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  2. What a fun cheesecake. I love any cheesecake that requires no baking!
    This will have to be made for Halloween. :)

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  3. Great dessert for Halloween and I need to work on my spinning skills for that web on top! Wonderful post.

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  4. What a fantastic halloween dessert!!! I love the little spiders crawling over it.

    I also love how this recipe doesn't use gelatin. I'm going to bookmark this to try. Thanks for sharing :D

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  5. Wonderful Halloween cake. Thanks for sharing.

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  6. BEAUTIFUL! This cake is beyond perfect for halloween. I have never made a non bake cheesecake and look forward to trying your recipe!

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  7. Beautiful cheesecake! Look forward to trying this!

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  8. This cheesecake looks awesome and it's even better that it's no bake!

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  9. What a cute idea! It looks adorable and scrumptious.

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  10. Wow! that is a wonderful work of creativity. It's a must for me to prepare same version as you have here. Looks so luscious and I can't resist to indulge with it.

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  11. What a gorgeous cheesecake! I love the addition of the spiders too...so cute! :)

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  12. This is awesome, I would love to try this for my nephews, they would love it. I love your creativity and your blog is beautiful!

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  13. We made this last year, and it was yummy! We shared it on our blog, www.soshalclub.com. Thank you.

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