For me, a dessert is a very important part of a good meal. Specially when guests come over, the first thing I decide in the menu is the dessert.

One of my favorite desserts of all time has been Serradura. It is a Portuguese dessert which is very easy to make with simple ingredients. It has always been a hit with both friends as well as family and I always thought that it was the easiest and tastiest dessert to make.

This was until I made this cheesecake. Now I have another addition to my super-easy, super-yummy desserts list. Cheesecake had always been one of my favorite desserts. However, I had only eaten it at cafes and restaurants always thinking that it would be too difficult to make at home. A few days back, I bought a sweetened condensed milk tin at home planning to make some dessert. This tin had a very simple recipe of cheesecake written on it, and immediately I decided that I wanted to try it. I had all the ingredients at home, except for gelatin which I purchased and set about the task of making this dessert. This cheesecake is extremely easy to make and the initial steps can be done within 15-20 minutes, followed by allowing it to set in the fridge for 3-4 hours.

Since I was making the plain vanilla cheesecake, I decided to make some topping to go with it. I found one amazing cherry wine topping recipe at http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/vanilla-cheesecake-with-cherry-topping. I used this recipe only for the topping part of it and not the cheesecake.

The combination of cheesecake with the cherry wine topping was so excellent that I repeated it again in a weeks time. So do try it out, and I am sure you will love it! Also, if you are looking for a flavored cheesecake recipe, you can have a look at Mango Cheesecake on our blog. And here are some of my other favorite dessert recipes from my super-easy, super-yummy desserts list – Mango Parfait, Trifle, Choco Lava Cake and Mango Custard. Hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

Here is the No Bake Cheesecake recipe:

Preparation Time: 20 minutes
Setting Time: 3-4 hours

Ingredients:
To Make Cheesecake
Crushed Digestive Biscuits: 2 and 1/2 cups
Butter:1/2 cup melted
Cream Cheese: 1 cup
Fresh Cream: 170 gm
Sweetened Condensed Milk: 1 tin
Vanilla Essence: 1 tsp
Lemon Juice: 1 tbsp
Gelatin Powder: 10 gm
Hot Water: 1/4 cup

To Make Cherry Wine Topping
Port Wine: 2/3 cup
Sugar: 1/2 cup
Frozen pitted dark sweet cherries: 500 gm
Lemon Juice: 2 tbsp
Cornstarch: 4 tsp
Water: 4 tsp
Vanilla Essence: 1 tsp

Method of Preparation:

To Make Cheesecake

1. Combine the crushed biscuits and butter.
2. Take a greased loose bottomed cake pan and press the biscuit mixture to the bottom of this pan. Place in refrigerator for 1/2 hour.
3. Mix together cream cheese, condensed milk, fresh cream, vanilla essence and blend to a smooth mixture. Add lemon juice and blend.
4. Dissolve gelatin powder in hot water and mix well till it dissolves completely. Add to cream cheese mixture and mix well.
5. Pour it on the biscuit base and place in refrigerator for 3-4 hours.
6. Remove 1/2 hour before serving.

To Make Cherry Wine Topping

1. Mix together the wine, sugar, cherries and vanilla essence in a pan and bring to boil.
2. Cook for 5 minutes till cherries are thawed and mixture is syrupy.
3. Mix together the lemon juice, cornstarch and water until well blended. Stir it into the cherry mixture. Bring to boil.
4. Reduce heat, simmer for 3 minutes or until mixture is slightly thickened.
5. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature. Chill and serve over cheesecake.