A Big Little Recipe has the smallest-possible ingredient list and big everything else: flavor, creativity, wow factor. Psst—we don't count water, salt, black pepper, and certain fats (specifically, 1/2 cup or less of olive oil, vegetable oil, and butter), since we're guessing you have those covered. Today, we’re making—but not baking—a cheesecake.
It’s hard to bake a cheesecake just right. Underdone, it’s gooey and unsliceable. Overdone, it’s cracked and dry. Which is why most recipes recommend baking at an ultra-low temperature, or in a water bath, or covering the pan with foil.
The easier route is to not bake the cheesecake at all.
This style, known as no-bake cheesecake, yields 66,200,000 results on Google. Compare that with New York cheesecake (81,100,000) and ricotta cheesecake (21,500,000) and you begin to see just how sought-after this approach is.
Though it wasn’t always so popular. Flip through iconic American cookbooks and you’d be hard-pressed to find it. The most recent edition of The Joy of Cooking doesn’t include it. Nor does The Fannie Farmer Cookbook, The Gourmet Cookbook, The Essential New York Times Cookbook, or How to Cook Everything.
Why? As a former no-bake cheesecake skeptic, I have a theory: It sounds too good to be true. Classic cheesecake, like most other cakes, starts as an inedible batter (because of raw eggs), which the oven transforms into a smooth, creamy, and set dessert. Most no-bake cheesecakes, on the other hand, more closely resemble the ingredient list for cream cheese frosting—cream cheese, granulated or powdered sugar, and heavy cream.
And I don’t really want to eat a wedge of cream cheese frosting.
Which is why this recipe is not that. Instead of using cream cheese and heavy cream, we’re going to take a cue from Italian-style cheesecakes, and call in another cheese (yahoo!)—milky, fluffy, good enough to eat plain ricotta. Unlike cream, which is mild as can be, ricotta has its own spunky personality and whips up like a champ in cheesecake filling.
Now, about that crust. Most recipes use graham crackers, or other cookie friends (think Oreos, Nutter Butters, Gingersnaps). One Big-Little swap makes all the difference: salty pretzels. Blitzed up in a food processor and combined with butter and a little bit of sugar, these act just like graham crackers, but their malty-savory flavor balances the sweet filling.
It isn’t a classic cheesecake, by any means, but it’s a heck of a lot easier. And during this extra-sweaty summer, I’ll take any excuse I can get to not preheat my oven. Especially when that excuse is cool, creamy, and covered in berries.
No-Bake Cheesecake With a Pretzel Crust
View Recipe| 1 1/2 | cups super-fine pretzel crumbs |
| 1/4 | cup granulated sugar |
| 1/4 | teaspoon kosher salt |
| 12 | tablespoons (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, melted |
| 1 1/2 | cups super-fine pretzel crumbs |
| 1/4 | cup granulated sugar |
| 1/4 | teaspoon kosher salt |
| 12 | tablespoons (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, melted |
| 8 | ounces full-fat cream cheese, at a cool room temperature |
| 1/2 | cup granulated sugar |
| 1/2 | teaspoon kosher salt |
| 1 | pound whole-milk ricotta (I used Calabro brand) |
| 8 | ounces full-fat cream cheese, at a cool room temperature |
| 1/2 | cup granulated sugar |
| 1/2 | teaspoon kosher salt |
| 1 | pound whole-milk ricotta (I used Calabro brand) |
Written by: Emma Laperruque
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