Easy No-Bake Lemon Cheesecake – A delicious lemon cheesecake with a crunchy biscuit base that’s absolutely packed full of flavour from the fresh lemon zest and juice. It’s unbelievably moreish!
Introducing one of the most moreish desserts I’ve ever made – No-Bake Lemon Cheesecake.
This lemon cheesecake is a dessert I hadn’t really expected to share on here. The simple reason is that until recently, I didn’t think I was particularly fussed on either cheesecakes or lemon desserts (so I really wouldn’t go for something that combined the two).
This stems back to the fact that I wasn’t keen on them as a child, and like a stubborn child I flatly refused to give them another go until recently. You may have guessed by the regular stream of both lemon desserts and cheesecakes appearing on here in recent months, I’ve completely changed my mind.
I realised that as my tastes had changed when it came to so many other foods, they had probably done so with both lemons and cheesecakes too, and I’m so glad I decided to give them another go. I have to say that this lemon cheesecake is one of the most moreish desserts I’ve ever eaten. It’s quite light, while still being packed full of flavour, so I could keep eating it for ages. In the end, I had to pop the rest of the leftover cheesecake into the freezer to stop me polishing it all off!
Easy Lemon Cheesecake (No Bake)
INGREDIENTS
- 100 g digestive biscuits
- 40 g butter
- 250 g cream cheese - I use Philadelphia
- 280 ml double cream - 300g - I prefer to weigh my cream as then I can pour it straight into the bowl I'll be whipping it in
- 100 g caster sugar
- Zest of 2½ lemons
- 5 tsp lemon juice - This is the juice of just under 2 lemons
To decorate
- 75 ml double cream - 80g
- 4 slices of lemon (halved)
INSTRUCTIONS
- Line the base of an 18cm round loose bottomed tin with greaseproof paper or a reusable baking liner.
- Melt the butter (40g).Crush the digestive biscuits (100g). Mix together the crushed biscuits and melted butter. Put the biscuit mix into the prepared tin and use the back of a spoon to push it flat. Put the tin into the fridge to chill while you make the topping.
- Finely grate the zest of 2½ lemons. Squeeze out the juice until you have enough for 5 tsp and set aside.
- Whip the double cream (280ml/300g) until it forms a soft peak. Add the cream cheese (250g), caster sugar (100g), lemon zest and lemon juice.Whisk together until combined and thick.
- Remove the tin from the fridge and add the lemon mixture. Add a little at a time and push the mixture down with the back of a spoon, so there are no gaps. Once you've added all of your lemon mixture, smooth the top with a palette knife. Put your cheesecake into the fridge for at least 2 hours to set fully.
- When you're ready to serve, carefully remove the cheesecake from the tin. You may find the edges become a little smudged as you do this. If this happens, simply run a small palette knife around the edge of the cheesecake to smooth it out again.
Decorate your cheesecake
- Whip the double cream (75ml/80g) until it forms stiff peaks. Put it into a piping bag fitted with a star nozzle (I use a JEM1B) and pipe 8 small swirls of cream around the edge of the cheesecake. Top each swirl with a half slice of lemon.
- Serve.
NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION
Any nutritional information provided is the estimated nutritional information per serving. Please refer to my guide to Charlotte’s Lively Kitchen nutritional information if you would like to learn more about how this is calculated.
❄️ SUITABLE FOR FREEZING
This cheesecake freezes brilliantly. However, I would recommend adding both the fresh cream and lemon slices to the top just before serving as the cream will go grainy if it’s frozen and then defrosted.
To freeze the cheesecake, either:
- Keep it in the tin (if the tin is freezer-safe) – cover the top with clingfilm to protect it.
- Store it in an airtight container
- Wrap it in clingfilm – pop it into the freezer for a couple of hours on a freezer-safe plate (either uncovered or loosely covered with clingfilm. Once it is firm, you can remove it from the plate and wrap it with clingfilm. It’ll hold its shape well despite not being in a container (as long as you don’t pack it in too tightly!). When you remove it from the freezer, take off the clingfilm immediately (otherwise it will stick to the cheesecake mixture). If you find there are some clingfilm marks on the surface of your cheesecake, simply run a palette knife around the edge to smooth it.
For all of these options, make sure you put the cheesecake onto your serving dish when you take it out of the freezer as it’s much harder to move once it has defrosted.
FREE FROM/SUITABLE FOR
The ingredients I used to make this recipe are all free from the following allergens. However, please check any labels carefully for allergens you need to avoid as brands can vary, and product recipes can change over time.
- Suitable for Vegetarians
- Egg-Free
- Tree Nut-Free
- Peanut-Free
- Sesame-Free
- Soya-Free
- Sulphur Dioxide & Sulphite-Free
- Lupin-Free
This lemon cheesecake can be made gluten-free by switching the digestive biscuits for a gluten-free alternative.
Zulkeflee says
Hi, i tried this recipe and it taste good. But the cake doesnt sit well, but its not runny either, when i slice it, it just kinda fall. Do you, by any chance, know what could be the cause?
Charlotte Oates says
It’s difficult to say what it could be, the most likely causes are using a low-fat cream cheese (I always use full-fat Philadelphia) or the cream wasn’t whipped enough before the other ingredients were added.
In future if you find your cheesecake hasn’t set as expected try popping it into the freezer for an hour or so and that should help it to firm up.
Mum says
Our Sunday lunch guests loved it! Rather than making one big cheesecake, I made them in individual dishes so no worries about serving.
Wanda says
100/100!
Love this recipe as all the other cheesecakes I have made were baked. This is lighter and gorgeous!
Elaine says
5 teaspoons of lemon juice seemed too weak, I wasn’t sure if you meant 5 tablespoons, which is what I used and it seemed perfect with that.
Jean says
Amazing receipe! I cannot believe I have found yours Charlotte, it is brilliant so easy. It came out on top even better than my other trouble is the cakes gone in no time thank you so much.
Wanda says
Brilliant recipe! Have made many cheesecakes and this is the first one I haven’t baked. Loved by all and eaten within a day! Light and lemony – just wonderful. I find the Waitrose cream cheese by far the best.
Tomorrow another two being made. Fab!
Thank you.
Debbie says
Absolutely delicious and so easy to make. My husband said its the best cheescase he ever tasted. I used Lotus Biscoff for the base. Very moorish, I can see this being a regular in our house
Ryan says
Nice recipe. I used double lemon juice and 3 x zest of lemon and for base I used lemon treat biccys which are a lemon cream filled biscuit which are slightly salty and this made it lemon decadent
Lisa Yeadon says
Hi Charlotte,
I only have a 23cm tin and I’m not sure how much to up the quantities for this, do you have any suggestions please?
Charlotte Oates says
You’ll need to increase the quantities by about about two-thirds for that size of tin.
Rita Carey says
Love all your recipes everything always turns out perfect. Thank you
JaneK says
this cheesecake was delicious thanks charlotte.
Sarah Pollard says
Absolutely delicious and so easy to make
Ali says
Like this recipe and so many of your online recipes. Lots of things in food and cooking are about individual preferences and taste and I like a thicker base and a stronger lemon flavour, so second time I did this I did double the base quantities with half digestive & half ginger nut and zest of 3 lemons and 6 tsps juice with only 85g sugar.
Karen says
Could you use mascarpone instead of cream cheese?
Charlotte Oates says
I’ve not tried it so I can’t be certain of the results, but it should work.
Ali says
Works with mascarpone or ricotta
Roisin says
I have all ingredients but single cream rather than double cream, will it work?
Charlotte Oates says
Unfortunately not. Single cream is too runny so your cheesecake mixture won’t thicken.
John says
Hi Charlotte, could I use ground almonds & almond extract in the cheesecake filling as I would like to create a bakewell tart flavour, with a teaspoon of strawberry jam on top of the biscuit base.
Charlotte Oates says
Adding ground almonds to the cheesecake mix would completely change its consistency. I’d suggest looking for a recipe that’s been specifically designed to be Bakewell flavoured rather than adapting this one.
Sophie says
Can I substitute lemon juice/zest for lemon extract? If so I’m what quantities thanks 🙂
Charlotte Oates says
You can, but it won’t have the same kick of lemon flavour as I find extract more mellow than juice and zest. If you want to give it a try, then I’d suggest adding 1/2 tbsp of lemon extract to your cheesecake mix.
Carey says
My cake looks alright but the texture of the cheese is sandy.May I know what’s wrong with my procedure?please advice.Thanks
Charlotte Oates says
I’m not too sure. By sandy do you mean that the cream cheese/cream went grainy when you mixed them with the other ingredients, or could it be the sugar? I use caster sugar as that’s what I prefer and I always find that it dissolves into the other ingredients leaving a smooth cheesecake, however if your sugar had slightly larger grains this could be the problem. In future you could try icing sugar instead.
If it’s the cream cheese/cream mixture that’s grainy, did you add the cream cheese before the cream was fully whipped. I’ve found it the past that they can go a bit funny when I do that so I always whip the cream first and then add the other ingredients.
Rita Carey says
Forgot to mention that l used ginger nuts for the base, the lemon and ginger together was amazing
Deb says
Made about 7 now for my family and friends they all agree it’s amazing the fresh lemon taste is amazing
karen says
Didn’t set as no setting agents in the recipe.
Bit of a flop is an understatement lol
Charlotte Oates says
I’m sorry to hear that your cheesecake didn’t set properly. The cheesecake doesn’t need a setting agent as the combination of whipped cream and cream cheese means that once chilled it should be firm. The main reasons why it doesn’t set properly are that the cream wasn’t whipped enough when the other ingredients are added or after they’ve been added. It should be whipped until it is thick. Sadly some brands of cream cheese don’t set as well as others (it needs to be a full-fat version – I always use Philadelphia).
You may find that if you pop it into the freezer for a couple of hours this will help it to firm up.
Devisgal says
You can add a tablespoon of gelatin in the lemon before mixing it it. Let the gelatin sit in the juice for around 5 min n then warm it a bit inorder for the gelatin to dissolve when u r ready to mix in the lemon juice… I did the same after reading the comments and it settled pretty well
I made the cream cheese at home so i couldn’t risk it setting or not. So use gelatin safe side
JENNIFER Radford says
Can you substitute the lemons with oranges and if so what quantities would you use please
Charlotte Oates says
I’ve not tried it so I”m not sure exactly what the flavours would be like (oranges are sweeter then lemons so you may find it a little sweet), but it’ll definitely work. I would substitute the 2.5 lemons with the zest of 1 orange and keep the amount of juice the same (5 tsp).
Dawn says
Works brill with orange I did zest of one big orange and only 3 spoons of juice hubby says its spot on not too in ya face tarty made lemon and now orange and think I need to hide the recipe xx