Sunday 31 December 2006

Oreo Cheesecake


I made this No-bake Oreo Cheesecake for my younger one's birthday recently. His birthday cake was a bit small. As such I made this cheesecake to ensure everyone gets to eat a piece of cake. I was very glad that it was very well received. Thanks Evan, from Evan's Kitchen Rambling for providing the receipe. I am very inspired by her creations and her talents in both baking and photograpy. I modified the recipe a little and added chocolate shavings on top of the cake to decorate it a little.
Most instructions for cheesecakes call for the use of a springform pan or a loose-bottom pan, as cheesecakes cannot be turned out on the rack without collapsing. As I do not have any one of these pans, I improvised by following the tip from Kraft's website. Just line a 18cm round pan with a sheet of aluminum foil that extends out 2-3 cm at the side of the pan. When the cake is chilled, lift the cake out of the pan by the foil. Carefully remove the foil and transfer the cake to a platter. Decorate the top or side as desired.
The side of the cake looks a little crinkly because of the foil. Next time, I will use a strip of baking paper to line the side of the pan so that the sides will look neat.

Ingredients:

base:
110g digestive biscuits(about 8 pieces), chopped into fine crumbs
40g melted butter

filling:
300ml whipping cream (chilled, I used Bulla Thickened Cream)
1 tablespoon gelatin powder
3 tablespoon boiling water
10ml lemon juice
250g cream cheese, soften at room temperature
50g icing sugar
45ml fresh milk
1 table spoon vanilla essence
8 pieces of oreo cookies (coarsely chopped, with cream removed)
4 pieces of oreo cookies (finely chopped, with cream removed)(1 piece refers to half of the oreo cookies)

Method:
  • Mix biscuit crumbs & melted butter together and press firmly with the help of a spoon onto the base of a 18cm cake tin. Chill for 30 minutes.
  • Beat whipping cream with electric mixer until 70% stiff or until mousse-like. Do not over mix. Takes about 2 to 3mins on low speed. Keep in the fridge.
  • Place gelatin powder, lemon juice & boiling water in a bowl. Heat a pot filled with water until just simmering and place the bowl inside the pot. Dissolve gelatin, lemon juice & boiling water in the bowl. Keep warm.
  • With an electric mixer, beat cream cheese , icing sugar, milk and vanilla essence until smooth & creamy. Blend in gelatin solution. Blend in whipping cream with a spatula.
  • Pour half of the cheese mixture into a bowl. Stir in finely chopped oreo cookies. Mix well. Pour the mixture the cake tin. Chill for 15 minutes.
  • Sprinkle coarsely chopped oreo cookies on top of the first half of cheese mixture which has been chilled. Pour in the remaining half of the cheese mixture. Chill for 3 to 4 hours before serving. Remove from pan and decorate with chocolate shavings or as desired.
Tips:To ensure easy whipping, make sure the cream is chilled. Chill the mixing bowl in the fridge for 15mins before using it to whip the cream.
To achieve a clean slice, heat up the knife before slicing (eg. soak knife in a cup of hot water or heat over a stove on low heat). Clean the knife after each cut.

80 comments:

bossacafez said...

hi happy homebaker, thx for liking my blog and that my entries hv inspired you. am very happy to hear that. glad you started blogging and you hv a lovely blog too!

your oreo cheesecake looks fantastic and i think by lining a foil in the tin as a replacement for springform is a really fantastic idea. for myself, i use loose base tin which is cheaper and better than springform, in my opinion. and no choice too coz two of my springform bases hv been discarded accidentally by my dear hubby LOL. and i don't hv any intention of getting anymore springforms. too expensive.

you hv a great new year too, all the best in 2007 and look forward to more of your postings!

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi Evan, thanks for dropping by my blog!

I did'nt want to get a springform pan as I also find it too expensive, especially I may not use it that often. I may get a loose base tin when I drop by Phoon Huat next time :)

CheezyHeart said...

Hi,

For the double boil method. Is it ok for the bowl to touch the simmering water when placed in? Next, what is the brand of fresh milk u use? tks =)

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi, for dissolving the gelatine, it is ok for the bowl to touch the water. I used eith HL or Daisy low-fat milk.

Anonymous said...

hello
was wondering whether do you sell those home made jelly hearts ! =)
thanks

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi Anonymous, Thanks for asking, I am sorry, I don't sell my bakes, as they are not up to standard :)

cutiemum said...

Hi, for the butter, did u used salted or unsalted? And which brand of cream cheese did u used?

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi Cutiemum, I use salted butter for this recipe. as for the cream cheese I use Kraft's Philadelphia cream cheese. Hope this helps :)

Anonymous said...

hi! i tried ur no bake oreo cheesecake, but my base didnt stick together. it just fell apart. is 40g of butter enough???

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi Cindy, yes, 40g of butter should be enough. You will have to press the biscuits crumbs to the base very firmly and chill it before adding the cream cheese mixture.

Anonymous said...

hello...
hmm...i actually tried making the oreo cheesecake using yr recipe.
however, there's this bitter after taste.
why is this so?
is it because of the lemon juice?

:) thanks.

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi Anonymous, I am not sure what was the cause of it, as I didnt encounter this problem. I suspect you have accidentally added in tiny bits of lemon seeds, or the white part right under the lemon skin (hope u know what I mean?). The white part will give a very bitter taste.

Anonymous said...

Hi, it was my first attempt. Thanks for your recipe. Honestly speaking, I've not tasted any non-bake cheesecake before, therefore I would like to find out if the cheesecake suppose to turn out like an icre-cream cake. At least it turned out to be like that when I tried out last week. Am I suppose to keep chilling before serve? Should I continue to chill the unfinished cake? Thanks.

Happy Homebaker said...

hi anonymous, the cheesecake is different from an ice cream cake as it won't melt away. You will need to chill it to let it set in the fridge. Yes, you will have to keep it chilled all the time, and all unfinished cake has to be kept in the fridge as well.

Anonymous said...

hi happy home baking!

i made a this oreo cheese cake not long ago but it melted very fast. once i use a hot knife to cut it, it straight away melt. it is because maybe i add too much water(lemonand and boiled water)?? i want to make a 'chocolate-oreo cheesecake with sponge cake' for my friend but there is gelatine(beef skin) in it and also i do not really know how to make layers. is there any thing else i can replace gelatine?. sorry for ur inconvience cause i really need this help by this sat.
ohya. this cheese cake really taste nice even my boyfriend's family like it. when i brought it home the next day i want to eat it, it is gone.

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi Cheryl, there could be 3 possibilities:
1) your cake was not well chilled in the fridge...so it didnt set well. You can check by shaking the pan a little, the cream layer shouldn't wobble or giggle.
2) the amount of gelatine to water. If u increase the water by a lot, you may need to increase the gelatine. if not, it shouldnt affect.
3) if you over heat the gelatine when trying to dissolve it, it may loss it's 'power' to set.

I am not sure what else to use in place of gelatine. So sorry, I can't help in this.

Anonymous said...

hi happy homebaker,

i really enjoy reading your blog. it is very well organize and lively to read.

it is a clever move to use foil and normal round tin to bake the cake. i have made a similar non-baked oreo cheesecake using springform tin. mine had a slightly bitter after taste which i concluded was either due to the lemon juice or the oreo cookie. oreo cookie powder gives a slightly bitter taste to the cheesecake.

after some experimenting with cheesecakes, i find that the cheesecake base tastes better and is softer when baked in the oven at 150degrees C for around 12mins. an alternative and tastier base is to mix 70g digestive biscuit with 40g oreo cookie. use around 50g melted butter and add one tbs of brown sugar. unbaked bases are slightly stiff in texture.

zy

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi zy, I have never tried mixing oreo with digestive biscuits. I will certain give it a go the next time I were to make a non-bake cheesecake, thanks for the wonderful idea!

Anonymous said...

hi! what should i do if i do not have a mixer? how would i know if the whipping cream is stiff enough?

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi Anonymous, the cream will be ready when it is able to form a peak when you lift up the whisk, you need not whisk it to stiff peak, just soft peak will do, meaning the peak will drool a little. You can read more about it here:
(http://www.baking911.com/howto/cream_whip.htm)

peixian said...

Hello!

May i know if there is an alternative for gelatin because i'm a vegetarian.

Thank you. :D

Anonymous said...

Hi,

many thanks for this recipe. I tried making it and my colleagues loved it.

Just a question: can I substitute the digestive biscuits with the same amount of oreos (cream removed)?

Thanks. =)

regds,
christine

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi peixian, I am sorry I am not sure about the substitute for gelatin. Although some sites recommend replacing it with agar-agar powder...but I have not tried it so I am not able to give any advise on this.

Christine, yes, you can use oreos from the biscuit base. I will think removing the cream will be better so that the base will not be too sweet.

Anonymous said...

Thanks so much. I just tried your strawberry banana muffins recipe today too. Worked fantastically.

=) christine

Swee Cheng said...

Hi HHB,

I have President UHT cream and the Redman whipping cream, which one is more suitable for this cake? Or should I use Bulla just like what you used?

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi Swee Cheng, I suggest you use the President cream which I think it's a dairy whipping cream (similar to Bulla). The Redman whipping cream is a non-dairy cream which I would think is not so suitable for this cheesecake.

Pet said...

I ate no-bake raspberry cheesecake when I was in the states. It was good. But, raspberry not so easy available here.

Btw, my fren made many, like 5 -8 trays and then kept in the freezer.

Anonymous said...

Hi HHB,

Don't laugh at me. I replaced the oreo cookies in your recipe with red dragon fruit. And I used non-dairy whipping cream. The mixture turned out to be a little stiff. After it's poured into the cake tin, I had to push it down and smooth out the top. Is the mixture supposed to be stiff, or is it because of the non-dairy whipping cream?

If I want to use red dragon fruit to make a chilled cheesecake, would it be better to use your ribena chilled cheesecake recipe?

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi, nah, I won't laugh at you :)
The mixture should be thick but not very stiff. You may have whisked the non-dairy cream to very stiff. I am not sure whether you can use that ribena cheesecake recipe...how do you intend to use the dragon fruit, make into puree? I am sorry, I am no expert in baking, as such I am really not in the position to give any advise on this, hope you understand.

Anonymous said...

Hi HHB,

I think you're right, I may have whisked the whipped cream too stiff. With my first experiment, I cut up the dragon fruit into small pieces and combine into the mixture.

I like your posting. They are simple and easy to make. And yet they look and taste good.

Your strawberry heart cheesecake has inspired me further. I'm gonna chopped the dragon fruit into tiny pieces and put them into the jelly. I think the magenta red jelly layer will be striking in colour and refreshing to the tastebud. Now I'm thinking what to use to create the dragon fruit jelly layer, flavoured jello - which flavour to use (is there a plain jello?), or just use gelatine and add some sugar to taste. What do you think? Agar-agar powder is not workable because it will turn solid when cooled to room temperature. Gelatine and Jello should stay liquid at room temperature, right? I'm new to this jelly thing. Just starting to learn their chemical property.

Btw, I'm a big fan of red dragon fruit. The colour is so beautiful.

ty said...

hi, I just tried to make a non-bake oreo cheesecake recently and it was otherwise fine except that my oreo crumb biscuit base was soft... Any tips on how to have it crunchy like biscuits? Might it be because the layer was too thin? Or would butter block moisture from seeping in - since I actually only used the white cream from the biscuits to bind the base instead of any butter.

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi ty, yes I think you need to add melted butter to combine the crumb so that it will be firm. You can also freeze the base (instead of just chilling in the fridge) before using, it will make the base firmer.

Anonymous said...

Hi do yr hve the recipe for non bake minty oreo cheese cake ? as my boi oni like minty cheese cake but i wish to add in oreo.
Hope ya can help mi on dis ...
Thanks!!!

Kiwi

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi Kiwi, I'm sorry I do not have such a recipe.

Anonymous said...

hi, may i noe where to buy the whipped cream u brought?

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi, I got it from Cold Storage.

Anonymous said...

hi happy homebaker, tried ur recipe.... it is good. i modified a bit, i use oreo cookies for the crust and i didnt ate lemon juice. the texture is bit soft. u know the cause? .... amelia.

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi, I am not sure what was the cause...maybe it is due to the gelatin...the gelatin has to be dissolved in a bowl set over a pot of simmering water. Not sure whether you followed this step?

jeannie said...

Hi,

I've tried this recipe and my friends love it! I would like to use this recipe as a base and change the flavour to green tea. Is this possible? If yes how much green tea powder should I add? Can I juz add in the green tea powder or should I make it into a paste 1st? If so, how much water should i add to make a paste? Or can i juz add into the milk called for in the recipe?

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi Jeannie, I have not tried with using green tea for this recipe. However, I have tried making a matcha tiramisu. I think it works the same...you can add 2 teaspoons of green tea powder (I use this brand: http://www.piermall.com/PhotoDetails.asp?ShowDESC=N&ProductCode=T-Uji-Maccha-1 ) together with the cream cheese, icing sugar, milk and vanila essence. You don't have to make it into a paste. Taste the mixture, if you prefer a stronger taste, add in another teaspoon of green tea powder.

Anonymous said...

thanks for the recipe.:D

may i know how i should cut down on the ingredients if i want to make a smaller cake? the cake looks kind of big to me. for a 18cm cake, how many slices would it generally be?

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi, I am sorry I do not know how much ingredients to reduce...it is best to stick to the recommended portion otherwise it may affect the outcome. Maybe you can use two smaller pans instead? For a 18cm cake, you can cut it into 6 to 8 slices.

Anonymous said...

Hi HHB, can i subsitute the whipping cream with the same amount of plain natural yogurt for a healthier choice?
Appreciate your prompt reply! thanks. =)

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi Anonymous, I am so sorry since I have not tried replacing the cream with yogurt, I am not sure whether it will work for this recipe.

Anonymous said...

Hi. where did you buy the Bulla Thickened Cream as the whipped cream? I looked around NTUC and Shengsiong but could not find them. Thanks

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi, you can get it from Cold Storage or Carrefour.

Anonymous said...

Hey Happy Homebaker, I love your blog. I stumbled across it and tried your Mango Yogurt Pudding Cake recipe and it was a success. I was wondering if I could use yogurt instead of cream for this recipe because I'm not brave enough to try to whip cream yet.

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi, I am not sure about replacing the cream with yogurt for this recipe. However, there is another recipe Blueberry Cream Cheese Tart, which uses yogurt. You may want to refer to that recipe (http://happyhomebaking.blogspot.com/2007/03/blueberry-cream-cheese-tart.html) for the filling. Thanks for visiting and hope this helps :)

Anonymous said...

Hello! I was just wondering what "70% stiff" means. Does that mean soft peak or stiff peak? Also, I don't need to add sugar to the cream right? Thanks a lot!

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi, it means soft peak. No sugar is added to the whipping cream.

Anonymous said...

Hey there Happy Home Baker. I really like your blog. I think that you're great! :) I wanted to know whether I have to soak the gelatin in cold water first before I heat it or not? Thanks for your time!

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi, for this recipe, you just need to add the gelatin powder, lemon juice to the boiling water, and then set it over a pot of simmering water to dissolve it. In my later recipes, I learned this method: sprinkle gelatin powder on the required amount of water, let it sit/soak for about 10mins or so before proceeding to dissolve it (over pot of simmering water). Hope this helps.

Linda said...

Hi there,
I'm gonna try making it this afternoon but I do not have a 18-cm round tin. I have various sizes of square tin. Which size can I use for this oreo cheesecake?
Thank you for your time. Linda

Happy Homebaker said...

Linda, base on the area of a round 18cm pan, and assuming the height of the cake remains the same, you will need a square pan size of around 16cm. If you are using a bigger square pan, your cake will be shorter, and you will need to increase the amount for the biscuit base.

Anonymous said...

Hi, can I know 'chill' is to mean in the freezer or just leave it in the fridge?
Thanks! Jane

Happy Homebaker said...

Jane, yes, leave it in the fridge (Not the freezer).

Reira said...

Hi HBB,

Thanks for sharing the recipe =) Have just made it this afternoon! No bake cake is easier to make! Making this as my son's birthday cake on the actual day (which is tomorrow).

Anonymous said...

hey can i check with you what is the purpose of adding lemon juice to the cheese?thanks :)

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi, I am not really sure, but I think besides adding flavour, the acid in the lemon juice will help to set the no-bake cheesecake.

Na'imah said...

hi, can i know if there's any substitute for the gelatin? i would like to try baking this, but all your no-bake cake recipes seem to require gelatin, which i can't consume as it isn't halal. thanks!

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi Na'imah, I am not sure whether you can replace it with agar agar powder as I have not tried it. I use this brand Bake King (http://bakeking.com.sg/product/baking-ingredients/bake-king-gelatine) It is stated as halal, probably from fish origin, but there is no specific ingredient list printed on it, so I am really not sure.

Na'imah said...

yeah i'm not very trusting of such labels ... guess will have to ask the manufacturer directly. thanks for the link!

Anonymous said...

Hi there,I would like to make a matcha cheesecake with this recipe. Do I still add the lemon juice? WIll it affect the taste? Can I substitute icing sugar with caster sugar? WIll that affect the recipe? Thanks for answering my queries. Really enjoy reading ur blog! Keep up the good work! =D

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi, you can omit the lemon juice, but do use icing sugar as it will dissolve better than caster sugar.

Anonymous said...

Hi, tried your jellyhearts cheesecake a couple of times, n love it to the max!!:)) my family love it too, especially my mum who don't take cheesecake! But I find the filling too thin, I whip up a double portion, and it turn out great. Trying the Oreo cheesecake soon.

Anonymous said...

hi is there a substitute for gelatine?

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi, you can try replace gelatine with agar agar powder, but do expect the texture of the cake to be affected.

Yenyen said...

hey happy home baking :)
i think i know why about the bitter aftertaste that happens. it's because of the vanilla powder.. if you use the vanilla extract powder, u should just use half portion of the written recipe.. but if u use vanilla paste it's fine :)
i've experienced this on cupcakes before.. and it got really bitter aftertaste because of the vanilla extract powder..
and i was so stressed about having so very bad cupcakes, but i learned from it, at least ;)

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi MZ. SSS, thanks for your explanation, I have not used vanilla powder, been using the vanilla extract :)

mmmyen said...

hi,

i used a cake ring

may i know how to remove the cake ring.......so as to leave a clean nice cheesecake

thanks

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi mmmyen, I do not have a cake ring pan, but from what I have read from cookbooks, you can use a hot towel to cover the ring before releasing it.

Anonymous said...

Hi I would try this recipe of yours for my friend's upcoming birthday. However, I only have a 23cm cake tin at home. I understand that the measurements of ingredients state in the recipe is based on a 18cm cake tin. Therefore I would like to seek your help to guide me as to what should be the required amount for each ingredients if i will to use the 23cm cake tin??


Thanks.

Regards,
Pearlyn

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi Pearlyn, I am not sure the ingredient amount you would need to increase for a 23cm pan...maybe you can try make two portions/ The tricky part is the amount of gelatin used...too little, the filling may not set well, too much, the texture maybe affected. Sorry, I am of not much help.

Anonymous said...

Hi! Do you think it's okay to add silken tofu in? I love the texture of a tofu cheesecake :)

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi, I am sure you can, but do look for recipe that specifically states the use of the tofu, as u need to follow the amount of tofu to use, and more importantly, the amount of gelatin.

Anonymous said...

Hi,
I made 2 attempts to make the oreo cheesecake. However, when i used a warm knife to cut the cake, the base starts to crack into bits and pieces and cream cheese is so soft. Why is it so?

Happy Homebaker said...

Hi, maybe the filling was not set before you slice the cake, you can try leave it overnight before serving? and maybe when u slice the cake, do not use a 'sawing' moving, instead make a cut with just one downward movement (hope u know what I mean?), and you need a sharp knife to cut thru the base. also, when preparing the base, make sure u press down the oreo crumbs mixture firmly onto the base of the pan, u can use a flat based drinking glass to help press the crumbs. Hope this helps.

Anonymous said...

I tried this and the only variation I did was with 50g butter Nice. thanks for sharing

Anonymous said...

Hi..why my cheesecake taste bitter ..i didnt put the lemon juice but still taste bitter...do u have any tips ??

Happy Homebaker said...

Lemon juice will not make it taste bitter. Could it due to the other ingredients? Is the cream cheese or whipping cream within shelf life?