Whether it's for a holiday gathering or a delightful dessert, this Cranberry Cheesecake recipe is sure to become a new favorite. Requiring no gelatin or baking, it's the perfect make ahead dessert for those times where you need to feed a bunch of people with minimal effort at meal time.
There isn’t gelatin or any setting agent in sight for this and honestly, if you want a real punch of cranberry in this cheesecake, you can absolutely up the fruit content, though a large slice of this was a delicious serving.
Table of Contents
Why you'll love this
Festive and flavorful
This Cranberry Cheesecake is a perfect dessert for the holiday season or any special occasion. The tartness of the cranberries pairs beautifully with the creamy and rich cheesecake, creating a burst of flavors that will tantalize your taste buds.
Creamy and indulgent
The creamy and velvety texture of our cheesecake is simply divine. Each bite melts in your mouth, delivering a heavenly experience. The combination of the smooth cheesecake filling and the tangy cranberry sauce is an absolute delight.
Ingredients and substitutions for Cranberry Cheesecake
- Graham crackers: These the perfect base for these bars with their light and whole wheat flavor. If you are unable to obtain graham crackers, a great substitute in equal measure would be digestive biscuits.
- Cranberries: Tart and full of flavor, raw cranberries were used here, though you need to cook them to incorporate meaning frozen works just as well. If you want a strong cranberry flavor, I recommend upping the amount of cranberries in this recipe to 160 grams / 5.64 ounces.
- Sugar: The best sugar here is superfine or caster which helps dissolve into the cream cheese during whipping. You could half and half the sugar with light brown sugar or raw sugar alongside the caster sugar as I do not recommend completely substituting in another due to the flavor it would give the cheesecake instead of simply adding sweetness.
- Cream cheese: The core of our creamy cheesecake is room temperature full fat cream cheese, which results in giving us a light cheesecake that is easy to mix until smooth and full of that beloved cheesecake flavor.
- Heavy Cream: Fluffy and lightly whipped heavy cream helps the no bake hold its shape. It also helps bind the cream cheese and compliment the cranberries.
See recipe card for quantities.
How to make Cranberry Cheesecake:
Cranberries: Simmer the cranberries and sugar until a soft has formed.
1
Blend: Either place an immersion blender into your saucepan or toss into a blender and combine until smooth.
2
Base: Stir the crushed biscuits and melted butter together.
Press: Spoon the biscuit crumbs into the loaf tin and press firmly until it’s nice and even.
3
Whip: Whip the cream cheese until smooth.
Add sugar: Add in half the sugar and beat until well combined and repeat.
Whipped cream: Whip the cream until soft peaks form.
Fold: Fold the cream and cream cheese until smooth.
4
Flavors: Add in 1 tablespoon of the cranberry puree and vanilla extract and fold until smooth.
5
Tin: Spoon the cream cheese filling over the biscuit base and smooth out.
Red topping: Spoon the remaining cranberry puree over the cheesecake and spread evenly with an offset spatular or swirl with a skewer or knife.
6
Refrigerate: Place the cheesecake in the fridge to set for several hours.
Remove and slice: Pull the cheesecake out of the tin and slice.
Serve it up: Serve, ideally with a cup of your favorite hot beverage!
Equipment needed to make this
Greaseproof paper: Lining your tin will make getting this cheesecake out a breeze!
Loaf tin: The loaf tin used here fits 1 kilo or 2 pounds.
Small saucepan: To make that syrup, you'll need a small saucepan or pot.
Offset spatula: A small spatula helps smooth out the cheesecake.
Hand or stand mixer: To whip the cream cheese and cream, though this can be done by hand.
FAQ's for the best Cranberry Cheesecake
The cranberry sauce is made by simmering fresh cranberries, sugar, and water until the cranberries burst and the sauce thickens.
Yes, you can use frozen cranberries if fresh ones are not available. Just make sure to thaw them before using and adjust the cooking time as needed.
Absolutely! This cheesecake can be made ahead of time. Allow to chill, covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. It's a great dessert to prepare in advance for special occasions or gatherings.
While this recipe suggests a graham cracker crust, you can certainly use other types of crusts if you prefer. Cookie crusts, such as chocolate or vanilla wafers, or even a nut-based crust, would work well too.
More cheesecakes you’ll love
Cranberry Cheesecake
Ingredients
Cranberries
- 130 grams / 4.6 ounces cranberries raw or frozen
- 60 grams / ⅓ cup superfine/caster sugar
Base
- 150 grams / 5.3 ounces graham crackers crushed
- 60 grams / 2.10 ounces butter melted
Cheesecake
- 50 grams / ¼ cup superfine/caster sugar
- 340 grams / 12 ounces cream cheese room temperature
- 200 milliliters / ¾ cup + 1 ½ tablespoons heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Line a loaf tin with greaseproof paper.
Cranberries
- Place the cranberries and sugar into a saucepan on low heat and cover.
- Stir intermittently, heating until the sugar has dissolved and the mixture is simmering and the sugar has dissolved, approximately 5 minutes.
- Allow to cool a little and blend until smooth. Set aside.
Base
- For the base, place the crushed graham crackers and butter into a bowl.
- Pour into the loaf tin and press firmly and evenly into the base of the tin. Set aside.
Cheesecake
- Place the cream cheese into a bowl and beat until smooth, approximately 2 minutes with a hand beater.
- Add in half the remaining sugar and beat to until smooth and the sugar has dissolved, approximately 1 minute with a hand beater, repeat with the remaining sugar.
- Beat the cream until soft peaks form and fold through the cream cheese until well combined.
- Add vanilla extract and stir to combine.
- Drop 2 tablespoonfuls of the cranberry sauce into the creamy mixture (or more if you want a more punchy cheesecake) and fold to mix lightly.
- Spoon ½ the cream cheese mixture over the chilled base and smooth out to remove any bubbles and ensure the mixture is firmly against the edges of your tin.
- Spoon the remaining mixture over and repeat by smoothing out nice and evenly.
- Top with the remaining cranberry sauce in teaspoon portions and either spread out evenly on top for a nice firm cranberry layer or swirl to your heart’s content.
- Place in the fridge to set for at least 4 hours or preferably overnight.
- Remove from the fridge and slice.
- Slice evenly and serve chilled.
- Dig in!
Notes
- Graham crackers: These the perfect base for these bars with their light and whole wheat flavor. If you are unable to obtain graham crackers, a great substitute in equal measure would be digestive biscuits.
- Cranberries: Tart and full of flavor, raw cranberries were used here, though you need to cook them to incorporate meaning frozen works just as well. If you want a strong cranberry flavor, I recommend upping the amount of cranberries in this recipe to 160 grams / 5.64 ounces.
- Sugar: The best sugar here is superfine or caster which helps dissolve into the cream cheese during whipping. You could half and half the sugar with light brown sugar or raw sugar alongside the caster sugar as I do not recommend completely substituting in another due to the flavor it would give the cheesecake instead of simply adding sweetness.
- Cream cheese: The core of our creamy cheesecake is room temperature full fat cream cheese, which results in giving us a light cheesecake that is easy to mix until smooth and full of that beloved cheesecake flavor.
- Loaf tin: The loaf tin used here fits 1 kilo or 2 pounds.
- Different type of crust: While this recipe suggests a graham cracker crust, you can certainly use other types of crusts if you prefer. Cookie crusts, such as chocolate or vanilla wafers, or even a nut-based crust, would work well too.
- Make ahead: Allow to chill, covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Nutrition
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