Can I bake a "no bake" cheesecake?

Question

Random, but I haven't seen this anywhere else.

I realize this can't apply to every "no-bake" cheesecake recipe for good-reason, but I'm wondering if it would be safe to try.

Has anyone ever done it?

Note: This isn't asking for opinion, but rather whether baking a specific "no-bake" cheesecake is plausible to some extent.

I just don't like the mousse consistency in the no-bake recipes.

But, then I got to thinking of how the cheesecakes offered at The Cheesecake Factory all seem to be baked, even the ones that have no-bake versions up on YouTube.

I don't think that baking one will remove the mousse consistency you dislike. — AntonH, Apr 07 '17 at 21:03
Why wouldn't it be "safe"? Cooking food doesn't make it less safe... you'd just likely waste the ingredients if it didn't work. — Catija, Apr 07 '17 at 21:11
@Catija I assume the OP meant "safe" more figuratively, like "won't just waste my ingredients/time/money", as suggested by "plausible to some extent", not the food safety sense. — Cascabel, Apr 07 '17 at 21:16

score 13 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 07 '17 at 22:25

I can't say I've browsed through dozens and dozens of no-bake cheesecake recipes but the ones I've looked relied on the ingredients being whipped (usually cream) or gelatin to maintain their shape. Mousse style no-bake cheesecakes use a whipped mixture of gelatin and some milk product that gives the foamy texture.

All no-bake cheesecake recipes (that I've read) require them to be refrigerated before serving. A no-bake cheesecake made with whipped cream, cream cheese, sugar and other ingredients would simply melt into a mess if baked. Ditto for one made with gelatin.

Baked cheesecakes call for eggs and flour to provide structural strength to hold the fats together. I guess if you wanted to add flour and eggs to a no-bake recipe, it might hold some sort of shape. Or not and you get a less spread out mess instead. I really don't think it's at all plausible and I wouldn't want to test it and clean the mess each time.

Plenty of baked recipes don't include flour (it's in none of the ones I make). I'm fairly certain I've made one with neither flour nor eggs, and if baked very slowly. — Chris H, Apr 08 '17 at 13:32

score 3 · Answer 2 · answered Feb 06 '19 at 05:01

I just did and everything’s great!! I used two boxes of jello no bake cheesecake, a quarter of a cup of flour, a teaspoon of vanilla extract, 3 eggs, and about four cups of milk. A single box only calls for a 1 1/2 cups milk, so I doubled for two boxes and added extra to compensate for the flour. I baked for a little over an hour in a preheated 350°F oven. The whole process was winged and just intuitive. I knew I wanted a custard but I was afraid that it wouldn’t set. After tasting? The consistency is perfect and dense, but if I did this again I would add maybe 1/2 to 3/4 cup of sugar to enhance sweetness. With that said, no one died and the cheesecake browned and set beautifully. I searched the Internet for anyone who may have done this and found nothing. So here it is! It can be done and it can be delicious.

Congrats! Would you be willing to share a recipe at some point? — ThatRandomGuy, Feb 06 '19 at 19:53

Can I bake a "no bake" cheesecake?

2 Answers2