Sometimes it happens that you don’t have an oven.

Usually, it happens when you need cake most.

There’s nothing terribly remarkable in that; the lack of oven usually brings on intense stress. And stress leads to cake. Or it does in our world.

Fortunately, you don’t need an oven to make this cheesecake.

And, even though there’s no egg (or gelatine), this cake holds together well because of the extra cream cheese.

But, that does make it exceptionally rich (that and the condensed milk doesn’t hurt either).

The most important part of this recipe is the lemon. Squeeze them to get the juice – don’t use the bottled kind. It’s the secret to making such a rich dessert light.

If you’ve got a crowd, plan on making two of these cakes at once. After they’ve set, you’ll have a difficult time restraining yourself and others from it.

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Ingredients

Recipe makes 1 medium cake

For the base

250 grams (9 oz) Digestive biscuits (or graham crackers), crushed
2 tbsp Butter, melted
1 tbsp Brown sugar

For the cheese cake

450 gram (1 pound) Cream cheese (feel free to use low-fat)
410 ml (14 fl oz) Condensed milk
1 tsp Grated lemon zest
12 ml (½ cup) Juice of freshly squeezed lemons

To Prepare

Grease your cake tin (or glass dish, if you prefer). Prepare the base by combining all the ingredients and pressing the mixture into the base of your cake tin.

To prepare the cheese cake mixture, beat all of the ingredients until smooth. Pour this mixture over the base of your cake. Place in the fridge and leave for at least 8 hours to set.

Really Good Bit

Of course, you can always substitute limes for lemons – or even oranges if you like.

And, if you want to lighten this a bit, take out half of the cream cheese and add in a quarter cup of egg substitute – or beaten egg whites (if you’re confident in the quality of your eggs).

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From the notebook of Katie Schenk

Mmmm, cake. Fancy some more no-bake and cheesecake recipes before deciding what to make?

Easy Cake, No Mess : Healthy no bake cookie powerballs
Super healthy easy chocolate mousse
Mini Baked Cheesecakes

If you make this do drop us an email with a pic. We’d LOVE to see how it turns out.