I decided to make a gingerbread cheesecake but couldn’t decide if I wanted to make a no-bake or a baked one. So I am starting with this no-bake and the baked will come soon to! This gingerbread crust is filled with lemon and white chocolate cheesecake filling and I topped it with Italian meringue. So delicious and fresh! Gives a Christmas feeling but keep it light and fresh. A perfect dessert after a heavy Christmas dinner?
Are you more for baked cheesecakes? I have made exactly this cheesecake in a baked version. Get the recipe here! Otherwise try my old favourite, the raspberry and white chocolate cheesecake!
I made this cake in a small but tall cake pan, but I would recommend using a 23-24 cm pan. That’s because the tall one isn’t so stable because of the hight. I am writing the recipe for a 23-24 cm pan, but if you really want to use a small (15 cm) pan like me, you can just decrease the amount of meringue. I have written the new amount for small pan in parantheses.
Recipe for no-bake gingerbread cheesecake with lemon and white chocolate filling (Pepparkakscheesecake med citron och vit choklad)
- 200 g gingerbread cookies, crushed
- 75 g salted butter, melted
- 3 dl whipping cream, chilled
- 600 g cream cheese, room temperature
- 1.5 dl sugar
- 200 g white chocolate, melted
- 2-3 lemons, zest
- 3 egg whites (2)
- 0.5 tsp lemon juice
- 2 dl sugar (1.3)
- 1.5 dl water (1)
- 0.75 tsp vanilla sugar (0.5)
Start with melting the chocolate so it reaches room temperature when you add it to the filling.
Grease a pan with butter and line the edges with parchment paper if you want to make it easier for you to remove the cheesecake. Melt the butter, and mix the cookies in a blender. Add the butter and stir until evenly mixed. Press the cookie crumbs out on the pan and up on the edges. Place in the freezer while you make the filling.
Whip the cream thick. In a separate bowl, stir the cream cheese and sugar. Add the melted chocolate and fold it into the cream cheese with a spatula. Add the whipped cream and lemon zest and fold it gently in the mixture in the same way as before. Taste and add more lemon zest if needed.
Take the crust out from the freezer and pour the filling in it. Cover the cheesecake with plastic wrap and let it rest for 12-24 hour.
Italian meringue topping:
Add sugar and water in a saucepan and heat on medium heat until sugar is dissolved. Keep stirring with a spoon. Once the sugar is dissolved, let boil until it reaches 121 degrees C. While you wait for it to reach the temperature, whisk your egg whites with the lemon until fluffy, around 1-2 minutes. Wait for the sugar mixture to reach the desired temperature. Stir with the spoon once in a while.
When you reach the temperature, start adding it in a slow drizzle to the egg whites while beating the egg whites with an electrix mixer. Continue mixing until the meringue forms stiff peaks. Let rest for a few minutes until it reaches room temperature.
Pipe the meringue out on the chilled cake. Use a kitchen blow torch to give it a nice color. Store in the fridge until serving. Enjoy!
Want to bake a delicious lemon cheesecake but don’t like gingerbread? Change the gingerbread cookies for your favourite cheesecake crust.
