These no-bake cheesecakes took inspiration from several places. Conceptually, they were inspired by one of the few desserts my mom would make for me a kid, being cheesecake with a graham cracker crust. I was also inspired to go the no-bake route because of two reasons. The first there being how popularized nama or rare cheesecake(a variety of no-bake cheesecakes) are in Japan, which is something I learned a lot about and even made a couple of times when I studied Japanese in high school. The second being that I found these cute little Swiss cheese wedge silicone molds, and making a no-bake cheesecake with them would be the smartest way to utilize the molds themselves; trying to make a baked cheesecake in a mold that has a bunch of bumps in them would likely result in uneven baking and overcooked corners. However, I wanted to take a home cooking-inspired concept and do my own spin on it. For starters, I want the entire cake to be no-bake. Even the crust. I have done a technique in the past where I combine cookie crumbs with melted chocolate and it forms a delicious but firm crust. I did that technique for this cheesecake, using graham cracker crumbs and blonde chocolate(also called dulcey, or caramelized white chocolate). For the cheesecake itself, I used chevre[pronounced sheh-vruh], or goat cheese, to add a pleasant tanginess, along with yuzu, a Japanese citrus, to bring in some more sour and acidic notes to keep the overall dessert from being too sweet. And just for an additional surprise factor, I made a triple berry gelee, using strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries, as well as more yuzu, just to tie in with the usage of it in the cheesecake itself. The gelee is used both inside of the cheesecake, and as a garnish on top for a colorful decoration. I really love how these cheesecakes came out, and can’t wait for the next time I get to use these cheese wedge molds!

For the components, there are essentially three: chevre-yuzu cheesecake filling, dulcey-graham cracker crust, and the triple berry gelee. In terms of difficulty, this recipe is easy enough to make even without a stand mixer! I will admit that I measured out the whole thing in grams(I apologize in advanced, but try measuring out finely graham cracker crumbs in cups and tablespoons when the scale was an option instead and you’ll understand my decision!). The only challenges in this recipe are timing and temperatures, which is a consistent theme with practically every dessert recipe on this site. The gelee needs ample time to not only set, but also freeze solid for ease of assembly, since it’s being pressed into the center of each cheesecake slice. I made each berry gelee separately first, just so that I could ripple them together for the top garnish, then with the leftover gelee, I combined that with yuzu and froze that for the filling, so that whole process will take a minute to do. For the graham cracker crust, a ziplock bag or a spice grinder will be your best friend to finely grind down the graham crackers. The graham cracker dust is then mixed with melted blonde chocolate, salt, and oil, then pressed into a 4-inch ring mold to finish. Oh and that’s another thing – this recipe does need a 4-inch ring mold, and either a second 4-inch or 3-inch ring mold. I originally set my berry gelee filling in a 4-inch ring mold, but I found that some of the gelee slices wound up poking through the sides of the cheesecakes due to how long large they were, so for this recipe, I adjusted the gelee to fit a 3-inch mold, just so that the filling stays inside of the cheesecake instead of trying to make a run for it. The reason for using ring molds is because the cheesecake slice molds are shaped like slices from a round circle, so making round disks of the gelee and crust then cutting those into slices makes for perfectly shaped crusts and fillings for each cheesecake! For the cheesecake itself, I whipped chevre and cream cheese with evaporated goat milk, yuzu, gelatin, sugar, and vanilla bean, and then folded into that whipped cream for a slightly lighter, mousse-like texture. The assembly of the cheesecake requires some patience, namely in layering up the cheesecake, then freezing them solid before unmolding them, but the end product are these adorable little no-bake cheesecake wedges with a gorgeously colorful filling and a buttery crust!

Makes 8 servings:
For the triple berry gelee:
70g strawberry puree
70g blueberry puree
70g raspberry puree
3g salt(in 3 parts)
12g agar agar(in 3 parts)
10g yuzu juice

In 3 separate pots and/or pans, heat up each fruit puree with one part salt and one part agar agar. Bring each puree to a simmer. Pour roughly 1/3 of each puree onto a lined sheet tray and transfer to the refrigerator to set(at least 20 minutes). Combine the remaining purees together into a pot with the yuzu juice and bring to a simmer again. Then pour the puree into a cling wrap-lined 3-inch ring mold and then freeze solid(at least 45 minutes). Cut the disk into 8 slices and keep frozen.

For the dulcey-graham cracker crust:
65g blonde chocolate
65g graham crackers
1g salt
8g canola oil

Melt half of the blonde chocolate over a double boiler. Take the bowl off heat and mix into the melted blonde chocolate the remaining until that is fully melted in as well. Grind the graham crackers into a fine powder and mix that, the salt, and the oil into the blonde chocolate as well. Press the mixture into a 4-inch ring mold and freeze solid(at least 1 hour). Cut the disk into 8 slices and keep frozen.

For the chevre-yuzu no-bake cheesecake:
113g chevre(goat cheese)
185g cream cheese
60g goat milk
40g granulated sugar
3g gelatin powder
1g salt
60g heavy cream
5g vanilla extract

In a bowl, whip the chevre and cream cheese until smooth and spreadable. In a pot, stir together the goat milk, sugar, gelatin, and salt. Put the pot on low heat and bring to a simmer, until the gelatin is fully dissolved into the milk. Pour the milk into the goat cheese mixture, stirring together both mixtures until fully combined. In another bowl, whip the cream and vanilla to stiff peaks, Fold the cream through the goat cheese to form your cheesecake filling. Use for assembly right away.

For assembly:
In 8 silicone cheese wedge molds, fill each halfway full with the cheesecake filling. Then place into each mold one slice of the gelees. Then fill the molds the rest of the way with the cheesecake fillings, then press into each the slices of graham cracker crust. Freeze the cheesecake solids, at least 2 hours, before attempting to unmold. With the gelee that was set on a sheet tray, cut out 1-inch squares and drape two of them on top of each cheesecake to finish.