Eggless No Bake Strawberry Paneer Cheesecake

To dissipate all the COID-19 horribleness, I decided to make this easy Eggless No-Bake Strawberry and Paneer Cheesecake two days back. Cheesecake is a popular dessert made famous by the New York dessert shops and restaurants. However, contrary to the popular belief the history of cheesecake is actually very interesting. It originated in Greece, which was a simpler version, made primarily with cheese and honey and some flour. Romans won over Greeks and bought it to their country from where it spread throughout Europe and everyone kept on making several variations of the cheesecake. Europeans brought the cheesecake to America and they created their own version by adding cream cheese and that is the version we make today. There are several variations of the cheesecake within the US as well.

My version of the Eggless No-bake Strawberry cheesecake is inspired by Germans who add cottage cheese to their cheesecake. I was set on creating a regular version but realized that I didn’t have any heavy cream at hand and decided to use cottage cheese aka paneer since I had handy. Since I don’t consume eggs, all my cheesecakes are eggless and no-bake. Since strawberry season is in, I decided to make the most of the fresh strawberries available in the markets and made this gorgeous cheesecake.

Also, do not forget to check out my Tiramisu Cheesecake and Orange & Chocolate Cheesecake recipes, which are both my favorites.

PREPARATION TIME: 60 minutes
SERVINGS: About 10 slices
DIFFICULTY SCALE: Easy

INGREDIENTS: 

(For a 9-inch mould) 

1. Cheese crackers – 10-12
2. Unsalted butter – 60gms, melted
3. Protein powder – 1 scoop, optional
4. Strawberries – 10-15
5. Sugar – ½ cup
6. Cream cheese – 180gms
7. Cottage cheese/Paneer – 200gms
8. Fresh fruits (strawberries, cape gooseberries) – a handful

UTENSILS/EQUIPMENT:

1. Cheesecake mould
2. Grinder
3. Non-stick spatula
4. Grater

RECIPE:

1. Wash the strawberries and let them dry for some time.
2. Melt some unsalted butter and keep it aside.
3. Take the crackers in a grinder and crush into a fine powder.
4. Mix the butter, protein powder, and the cracker powder in a bowl and add the crumble in the tin and press it gently with your fingers to form a uniform base.

5. Place the tin into a refrigerator for about 1 hour.
6. Add strawberries and sugar in a grinder and make a smooth puree.

7. Now grate the paneer and add it to the grinder along with cream cheese. If you have heavy cream, you could replace cottage cheese with it.
8. Puree everything well.
9. Add this mix in the cheesecake mould on top of the frozen biscuit crumble.

10. Place it into a refrigerator overnight or at least for 8-9 hours.
11. Place some fresh fruits on top and serve chilled. I used some fresh strawberries and cape gooseberries.

PRODUCTS USED:

1. Cream Cheese
2. Crackers
3. Protein Powder – Mocha Cappuccino Flavor