Hot Cross Bun Cheesecake (No Bake)

Spiced cheesecake with dried fruit biscuit base, cinnamon sugar topping and a white chocolate cross, perfect for Easter!

Course Dessert

Cuisine British

Keyword Cheesecake, easter

Prep Time 30

Setting time 4

Total Time 4 30

Servings

Calories 437kcal

Author thebakingexplorer

Ingredients

For the biscuit base

300 g Digestive biscuits crushed
135 g Butter melted
100 g Mixed dried fruit or any dried fruit you prefer
¼ tsp Cinnamon
¼ tsp Mixed spice

For the cheesecake filling

750 g Full fat cream cheese I use Philadelphia
125 g Icing sugar
1 ½ tsp Mixed spice
1 tsp Cinnamon
¼ tsp Nutmeg
1 tsp Vanilla extract
1 tsp Orange extract
300 ml Double cream

For decoration

1 tbsp Light brown soft sugar
½ tsp Cinnamon
50 g White chocolate melted

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

To make the base use a food processor to whizz up the biscuits into crumbs, if you don't have a food processor, bash the biscuits gently with a rolling pin in a bowl or freezer bag
Mix the melted butter (or baking spread) into the biscuit crumbs. Add the cinnamon, mixed spice and mixed dried fruit and mix them in. Press the mixture into the bottom of a 23cm springform tin. Put it in the fridge for 30 mins to set
For the cheesecake filling use a food mixer with a whisk attachment or an electric hand mixer to mix together the full fat cream cheese, icing sugar, cinnamon, mixed spice, nutmeg, vanilla extract and orange extract until smooth with no lumps
Add the double cream and whisk until it is very thick and holds it's shape, You want it to get to a stage where you can scoop some up with your spatula or spoon and you have to give it a tap on the side of the bowl or slight flick of the wrist to get the mixture off the spoon. If it’s sloppy and slides right off the spoon without any encouragement needed, then you need to mix it more
Smooth the filling into the tin on top of the biscuit base, ideally using a palette knife, then put it in the fridge overnight, or for at least 4 hours, to set
Remove the cheesecake from the tin and put on your serving plate. Smooth the sides with a butter knife to create a neater finish if needed
To decorate the cheesecake mix the light brown soft sugar and cinnamon together and sprinkle it all over the top of the cheesecake. Melt the white chocolate and put it in a piping bag, pipe a cross over the cheesecake
Serve immediately, store any leftovers in the fridge and eat within 2-3 days

Notes

It is really important to stick to the ingredients and use full fat cream cheese and double cream (a cream with a 48% fat content), both of these ingredients are essential to ensure the no bake cheesecake sets. If you want to make a low fat version, I suggest doing this in small dessert glasses or ramekins as they will not set well enough to be sliced.
I am based in the UK and I find that Philadelphia cream cheese is the thickest and best quality cream cheese to use for no bake cheesecakes. I have made many cheesecakes with supermarket own brand cream cheeses too, and they have worked great. If you can though, I think it is worth spending a little more for Philadelphia (and no they haven't paid me to say this!)
I used some mixed dried fruit in the biscuit base, but you can use all raisins, or a combination of whatever dried fruit you prefer.
You can use either butter or baking spread for the biscuit base, I find that baking spread makes the cheesecake easier to remove from the tin as it doesn't make the base set as solidly.
Mixed spice is a British spice blend usually containing cinnamon, coriander seed, nutmeg, clove, pimento and ginger. If you can't get hold of it, you can use a Pumpkin Spice mix instead. Or try ½ tsp cinnamon, ¼ tsp ground ginger and ¼ tsp ground nutmeg.
You can find lots of answers to common no bake cheesecake questions on my How To Make A No Bake Cheesecake guide. If you've never made a no bake cheesecake before, I highly recommend reading through my guide first!
Although I provide cup measurements, I highly recommend weighing your ingredients out using digital kitchen scales. It is the most accurate way to measure ingredients and will ensure the best results. Digital scales are very low cost and can be purchased for around £12 ($16.50) .
For teaspoon (tsp) and tablespoon (tbsp) measurements, please use measuring spoons and not the type of spoons you eat with. Again this will ensure accuracy and provide the best results.

Nutrition