No-bake Passionfruit Cheesecake

5 from 1 vote

Passionfruit cheesecake is tart, tangy, creamy and gorgeously tropical. This no-bake dessert includes a ginger biscuit base, a rich and creamy cheesecake centre and a beautiful passionfruit jelly topping. Get stuck in!

Prep Time40

Total Time40

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Worldwide

Servings:

Calories: 387kcal

Author: Jane Coupland

Equipment

1 Springform 8-inch (20cm) deep circular cake tin

Ingredients

For the Biscuit Base

200 g Gingernut biscuits aka gingersnaps
100 g Butter

For the Cheesecake Filling

400 g Full-fat Philadelphia cream cheese
100 g Caster sugar
2 Gelatine leaves Platinum grade, use 3 for a firmer set
200 ml Double cream
100 g Greek yoghurt
15 ml Lime juice
2 teaspoons Vanilla bean paste
100 ml Passionfruit puree see notes

For the Passionfruit Jelly Topping

100 ml Passionfruit puree see notes
100 ml Passionfruit pulp see notes (you'll need 3-4 passionfruits)
75 g Caster sugar
2 Gelatine leaves

Instructions

Make the Biscuit Base

Process the ginger biscuits in a food processor until they resemble fine breadcrumbs.
Melt the butter and stir into the biscuit crumbs.
Spoon this mixture into the base of the baking tin and press down to level (don't press too firmly though as it will be difficult to remove from the tin if you do).

Make the Cheesecake Filling

Put 2 gelatine leaves in a bowl filled with cold water. Leave for 5-19 minutes until soft.
Beat the cream cheese and sugar together until smooth.
Add the Greek yoghurt and vanilla bean paste and mix in.
Next warm the passionfruit puree and lime juice together in a pan until warm (around 50C/ 100F on a food thermometer). Drain the gelatine sheets from the water, add to the pan and mix until dissolved.
Beat the fruit juices into the cheesecake batter - quick quickly once the liquid is poured in to avoid it starting to set.
Add the cream and beat until thick enough for a spoon to stand up in it.
Spoon onto the biscuit base and level using a blunt knife (an offset palette knife is ideal for this task). Chill for 3 hours.

Make the Passionfruit Jelly Topping

Place the remaining 2gelatine leaves in cold water and leave to soften.
Put the passionfruit puree and fresh passionfruit pulp into a small pan along with the sugar and heat to around 60C/ 120F until the sugar dissolves.
Drain the gelatine, add to the pan and stir to dissolve.
Let cool to around 40C/ 80F then pour over the top of the cheesecake.
Return the cheesecake to the fridge for a further 3 hours.

Notes

Using Vege Gel in place of gelatine.

To make this no-bake passionfruit cheesecake suitable for vegetarian diets it is necessary to remove the gelatine from the recipe. I did this using Vege Gel, a product made by Dr Oetker.

To achieve the soft set of this cheesecake as pictured ¾ teaspoon of Vege Gel is needed. For a firmer set increase this amount to 1 teaspoon.

Simply add the Vege Gel to the passionfruit and lime juice in step 4, stir until dissolved then heat to almost boiling. Let cool for a few minutes (but keep a close eye on it as you do not want the liquid to start setting. Proceed with the rest of the recipe.

In place of the jelly topping, simply scoop the flesh and seeds from several passion fruits and spoon over at the point of serving (the Vege Gel did not yield a successful jelly).

Making passionfruit puree

This recipe calls for both fresh passion fruit pulp (juice, flesh and seeds) and a large amount of passionfruit puree (juice and flesh but not the seeds). The latter can now be picked up easily online.

If you do decide to make your own passionfruit puree, the best way to do this is to scoop the flesh out of the fruits, pop it into a blender and pulse 3-4 times. This helps the pulp fall away from the seeds. At this point, sieve the flesh to separate the seeds. You'll need 12-15 passionfruits to make the quantity of passionfruit puree required for this cheesecake.

Expert Tips

You can make the jelly topping just from passionfruit puree if desired (i.e. no seeds). Store-bought puree usually has a little added sugar so reduce the amount of caster sugar added in to 50g in this instance. Keep all the sugar in if preparing your own seedless puree.
Use an extra sheet of gelatin (3 in total) in the cheesecake centre for a firmer set cheesecake.
Don't skimp on the chilling time - 6 hours is the minimum this no-bake passionfruit cheesecake requires to fully set. If possible leave it overnight.
To release the cheesecake from the tin run a sharp knife between the cheesecake and the edge of the tin then pop the springform release mechanism open. Next, use a palette knife to release the biscuit base from the tin.
Due to the high volume of dairy products and gelatin in this no-bake passionfruit cheesecake it's not easy to convert it into a vegan recipe (sorry). However, there are a few dedicated vegan passionfruit cheesecake recipes around, such as this one.
Fancy making individual mini cheesecakes? Try assembling the layers of this passionfruit cheesecake in glass jars or pots.
This cheesecake must be stored in the fridge once assembled. Pull it out and let sit at room temperature for up to 1 hour before serving, just to take the chill off of it.
I do not recommend freezing this cheesecake.

Nutrition