I feel that the holiday season brings out two very different kinds of personalities. There are those who get right into the festivities, putting the decorations up really early, have Christmas music playing, shopping and wrapping done by early December and always have some kind of seasonal snack on hand.

Then there are the people who bemoan the presence of Christmas stuff in the shops in September, get their tree up the week before Christmas (if at all) and are shopping on Christmas Eve. And don’t even start with the Christmas music and movies! I’m usually the latter, but for some reason this year I’m kinda getting into the festive sprit! I’d love to know, which one are you??

Last minute Christmas peeps, I’ve totally got you. This festive cheesecake topped with raspberries and cherries is the perfect last minute dessert. It comes together so quickly and easily, with barely any baking. The crust only needs about 15 minutes in the oven and then the simple cheesecake filling just has to chill out in the fridge until you’re ready to serve. This is the kind of dessert you can make on Christmas Eve and still steal the show! 

The Biscoff crust is a revelation. Lotus Biscoff cookies and the much hyped cookie butter have become very popular lately. Cookie butter. Don’t those two words just make your mouth water?! It is super on trend right now thanks to Instagram. I’ve seen cookie butter used in all kinds of creative dessert recipes lately!

The spiced biscuits are like Dutch speculoos cookies, which are made around St Nicholas’ Day in early December. Traditional speculoos cookies contain a lot of the spices I’ve come to think of as festive like cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger and black pepper. I just knew the biscuits would make an excellent Christmas Cheesecake base.

The filling could not be simpler – I just mixed softened cream cheese with some cream and sour cream (you can also use creme fraiche), icing sugar and lots of vanilla. The sour cream cuts the richness and sweetness, which I really liked. There’s no eggs and no baking required! I refrigerated it for about 3 hours (really last minute here!) but chilling overnight would be better to ensure that the filling is nicely set and cuts into beautiful slices.

I topped this Christmas Cheesecake with some beautiful seasonal raspberries and cherries. A dusting of icing sugar made it look extra festive. There’s just something about cherries that screams celebration to me. If you’re in Aus like me, there are so many beautiful fruits in season right now. Mangoes, peaches, strawberries and blueberries, just to name a few, would all be delicious toppings. For my friends in the northern hemisphere, you could make a compote out of frozen berries that would taste delicious with this cheesecake!

Related Post: Gingerbread French Toast

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Almost No Bake Christmas Cheesecake

This Almost No Bake Christmas Cheesecake topped with raspberries and cherries is the perfect last minute festive dessert.

Course Dessert

Keyword Christmas, Dessert, Summer

Prep Time 1 hour

Cook Time 15 minutes

Refrigerate 4 hours

Total Time 5 hours 15 minutes

Ingredients

Crust

• 250 g Lotus Biscoff biscuits
• 100 g butter, melted
• 1 tablespoon raw sugar

Filling

• 250 g cream cheese, softened
• 200 ml sour cream or creme fraiche
• 100 ml pouring cream
• 40 g icing sugar, sifted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or 1/2 teaspoon vanilla bean paste

To serve

• Fresh raspberries
• Fresh cherries
• Icing sugar, for dusting

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F).

2. To make the crust, place the Biscoff cookies into a food processor and blitz until they form crumbs. Add the melted butter and sugar and blitz again until the mixture has the consistency of wet sand. Press into the bottom and sides of a 24cm/9 inch removable bottom tart tin, using the back of a spoon to press down evenly. You might have a little bit leftover.

3. Bake crust for 10-15 minutes, until the crust looks just slightly darker in colour. Set aside to cool.
4. To make the cheesecake filling, place the cream cheese, cream and sour cream into a large bowl. Beat with electric beaters (or stand mixeuntil smooth and creamy. Sift in the icing sugar and add the vanilla and mix again until well combined. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary to ensure everything is well mixed.
5. Dollop the cheesecake mixture into the cookie crust and place into the fridge for at least 3-4 hours but preferably overnight.
6. When ready to serve, top with fresh raspberries and cherries and dust with icing sugar.