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no bake strawberry swirl cheesecake. top down photo of cheesecake garnished with fresh strawberries and thyme sprigs. three slices have been cut but not removed.
Heather Wolf

No Bake Strawberry Swirl Cheesecake

Ditch the oven and let your refrigerator make this No Bake Strawberry Swirl Cheesecake with a Pretzel Crust. It's crunchy and creamy, salty and sweet and decked out with fresh strawberries and thyme.
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Prep Time 30 minutes
Chill 8 hours
Total Time 8 hours 30 minutes
Servings: 8
Course: Cheesecake
Cuisine: American
Ingredients Method

Ingredients
  

Strawberry swirl
  • 1 cup fresh strawberries diced
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 Tbsp corn starch
  • 1 Tbsp water
Pretzel crust
  • 2 cups salted mini pretzel crumbs
  • 8 Tbsp unsalted butter melted
  • 1/4 cup dark brown sugar
No bake cheesecake
  • 16 ounces full fat cream cheese softened to room temperature
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla pure
  • 1 cup heavy cream cold

Method
 

Strawberry swirl
  1. Puree diced strawberries with sugar in a food processor. 
  2. Strain puree through a mesh sieve to remove seeds. 
  3. Add puree to a small saucepan. Bring to a slow boil for 1 minute over medium heat then reduce heat to low.  
  4. Whisk cornstarch and water in a bowl then stir into strawberry puree.
  5. Sir occassionaly until puree has thickened, approximately 5 minutes.
  6. Remove pan from the stove, pour puree into a shallow bowl and place in the refrigerator to chill while you prepare the pretzel crust and cheesecake filling.
Pretzel crust
  1. Grease a 9-inch springform pan with butter. Set aside.
  2. Pulse mini pretzels in a food processor until powder-fine crumbs form. Yield should be 2 cups, discard excess.
  3. Add melted butter and brown sugar to food processor. Pulse until combined with pretzel crumbs and mixture resembles the consistency of wet sand.
  4. Spoon mixture into the springform pan. Use the flat bottom of a glass to pack crust evenly and tightly into the bottom of the pan.
  5. Place springform pan in the freezer for 10 minutes while you prepare the cheesecake filling.
No bake cheesecake
  1. Beat cream cheese with an electric mixer until smooth.
  2. Add powdered sugar and vanilla. Beat on until smooth and lump free, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a spatula as needed. Set aside.
  3. In a separate bowl, whisk heavy cream until stiff peaks form.
  4. Gently fold heavy cream into cream cheese mixture with a rubber spatula until just combined. Avoid overmixing as it will cause whipped cream to deflate.
Assembly
  1. Remove pretzel crust from the freezer. Pour cheesecake filling onto crust then smooth top with a spatula until level.
  2. Remove strawberry sauce from the refrigerator. Drop dollops of sauce onto the top of the cheesecake then swirl with a chopstick or butter knife.
  3. Place cheesecake in the refrigerator and chill for 2 hours until top is set then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
    *Mine chilled for 12 hours total.
  4. To remove springform ring, dip a butter knife in hot water and run it around the outer edge of the cheesecake before unlatching the pan and gently removing.
  5. If desired, garnish cheesecake with fresh strawberries and thyme.
Store
  1. Cover and store leftovers in the refrigerator up to 5 days or freeze up to 3 months.