No Bake Earl Grey Cheesecake

This no bake earl grey cheesecake recipe is to die for. Lotus biscoff biscuit crust paired with cream cream cheese filling, flavored with aeromantic earl grey tea and topped with creamy lemon ganache. A fuss free and sophisticated dessert to make ahead and wow your loved ones this barbeque season.

This earl grey cheesecake is classy and impressive, with 3 delicious layers to tantalise your taste buds. There’s the earl grey cream cheese filling, with it’s earthy tea aroma and light citrus notes. This is complimented with a crispy base made of Lotus Biscoff biscuits, and a top layer of lightly whipped lemon ganache.

Not only does it taste spectacular, but no bake cheesecakes are also so easy to make. There’s no fussing around with a water bath, no need to worry about cracked tops. There’s no eggs, no baking, it’s basically impossible to mess a no baked dessert up.

Gosh I love a no bake make ahead dessert, and this one takes the cake.

Tools you’ll need

• Food processor
• Electric Mixer
• 6″ diameter springform pan
• Parchment Paper

Ingredients

To make this cheesecake, you’ll need the following ingredients:

• Earl Grey Tea: Given this is the star of the dish, make sure to use your favorite brand of tea.
• Cream Cheese: Packaged cream cheese – aka the stuff that is sold in blocks. Do not use the spreadable cream cheese that comes in a tub, it won’t set.
• Heavy Cream: Look for cream that is 30% – 40% fat.
• Granulated Sugar
• Plain Greek Yogurt: Adds a little tartness to the cake.
• Lemon Juice: Elevates the citrus notes of the earl grey tea.
• Vanilla Extract: Provides sweetness and balance
• Lotus Biscoff Biscuits
• Unsalted Butter
• White Chocolate

How to make Earl Grey Cheesecake

This easy earl grey cheesecake recipe can be whipped up in less than 30 minutes. It’s loosely based off a recipe from Sally’s Baking Addiction.

1. Grease a 6″ spring form pan and line it with baking paper. If you don’t have a spring form pan, see my nifty tip section below for a hack to use a cake tin instead.
2. Infuse earl grey into the cream by heating it in a saucepan over medium heat. Once the cream begins to steam, turn off the heat and let the the brew for about 10 minutes. You can either leave the tea in the cream, or remove them at this point. In my opinion having flakes of tea through the cream cheese adds to the charm. Transfer the cream to a heat proof container, cover it in a skin layer of glad wrap (see the image below) and it pop the cream in the fridge to chill completely.
3. Crush the lotus biscuits into a fine crumb. Stir in the melted butter, then transfer it to your pan. Use. a container with a square base to press the crumbs into the base of the cake tin. Then pop it in the fridge to set.
4. Once the cream has completely chilled, use an electric mixer to whip it until it forms stiff sturdy peaks. Make sure the cream is very cold (fridge temperature) as warm cream will not whip up.
5. In a second bowl, mix together the cream cheese filling and granulated sugar. Mix in the lemon juice, vanilla extract and yogurt. Mix until there are no lumps of cream cheese and the filling is smooth. Then stop mixing straight away. If you over mix the cream cheese, it will become very runny.
6. Gently fold the cream cheese mixture through the earl grey cream. Once again, be careful not to over mix the filling so that you do not deflate it.
7. Pour the filling over the lotus biscoff crust and pop the cheesecake back in the fridge to set.
8. Combine the lemon juice, cream and white chocolate in a plastic, microwave safe bowl and in the microwave at 1000W for 30 seconds. Give the chocolate a good stir to help it melt. If there are still a few lumps of unmelted chocolate after staring, pop the bowl back in the microwave and zap for another 10 seconds, then stir again. Repeat this until the chocolate, cream and lemon juice combine to form a ganache. Then set this aside to cool.
9. Once the ganache has set, whip it up using your electric mixer. Be careful to whip it for only a minute or so (maybe less). Over-whipping ganache can cause it to split. Once whipped, use an offset spatula to spread an even layer of ganache over the cream cheese filling. Pop the cake tin back in the fridge for at least 8 hours – overnight is best.
10. To serve, remove the cake from the cake tin and decorate with your favourite toppings like fresh berries, edible flowers and dried citrus slices.

Nifty Tips to nail this recipe

• If you don’t have a spring form pan, you can hack it by using baking paper. Cut 2 strips of baking paper (about 2-3″ wide). Place in a cross shape in the cake tin, making sure that there is enough length in the strips so that they hang over the sides of the tin. Then line the tin as per usual. When it’s time to remove the cake from the tin, use the baking strips to lift the cake up and out of the cake tin. Refer to image one in the section above.
• An even flat crust will result in a neater looking cheesecake. The secret to achieving a nice even crust is to ensure whole base has been well compacted. Make sure to blend the biscuits into a fine crumb, and use a glass or something with a square edge to press the base into the pan, paying close attention to the outside edge of the base layer.
• When making the filling, make sure you whip the cream until it forms stiff peaks. If the cream is flat, you’ll have a cream cheese soup. Also, know that warm cream does not whip. Make sure your cream is very cold (as in fridge temperature cold) before whipping it in your electric mixer.
• Make sure to refrigerate the cheesecake for at least 8 hours – but overnight is best. This will give the filling plenty of time to set. Personally I prefer to make it the day before, so that it sets up nicely and so that I have a remade dessert on hand for stress free entertaining.

I do hope you love this recipe for earl grey cheesecake. If you love earl grey desserts, check out some of the other earl grey recipes on my blog.

Happy baking!

Related Recipes

• Earl Grey Macarons
• Earl Grey & Lemon Cupcakes