Okay, I know these may look super complicated and some people are going to steer clear, but I promise you, these cheesecakes are SUPER simple.
Why?
They’re no-bake.
There is no cooking involved. Well, mostly. The rhubarb on top is cooked in simple syrup for 15 seconds. But that hardly counts, right?
The trickiest part of these cheesecakes is peeling the indivdiual strips of rhubarb off. You really have to press hard against the stalk using a flat potato peeler. I personally found it easier to peel that colored outside layer off. Then start your peeling. Sometimes you won’t get a good strip, don’t fret. Just keep going. Get more stalks then you think you’ll need. I tried to get some greener and some dark red so I could make the ombre effect. I thought this looked the best.
Try it out and leave a comment with your creation. I love seeing what you guys make.
Here’s what you’ll need:
Yield: 24 cylinder cheesecakes
For crust:
3 cups graham crumbs
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 lb butter, melted
For cheesecakes:
3 lbs cream cheese
2 1/4 cup sugar
3 T lemon juice
1 T vanilla
4 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
Topping:
Simple sugar (equal parts sugar and water)
Fresh rhubarb
- Combine all ingredients for crust and mix together until combined. Press crust into bottom of molds.
- Cream the cream cheese in a stand mixture fitted with a paddle attachment until smooth. Add sugar. Cream together for 2-3 minutes. Scrape down sides of bowl and add lemon juice, vanilla and salt and mix until combined. Set aside.
- Whip heavy cream until medium to stiff peaks form. Fold into cream cheese mixture.
- Pipe or scoop cheesecake into molds. Freeze until firm. (Alternatively you can refrigerate, it will just be harder to trim access rhubarb off edges at the end.)
- While cheesecake is setting up, heat simple syrup on stove top. ( I like to make mine ahead and just heat it up to a simmer to cook rhubarb. You do not want this boiling hot or it will totally kill the color and overcook.)
- Add rhubarb in batches with same color strips. (I do lightest to darkest so no color transfers.) Cook for 15-20 seconds.
- Pull rhubarb out of simple syrup. When all is cooked and rhubarb is slightly cooled, lay flat strips out individually. (Don’t worry about them being in piles when first pulled out.)
- When cheesecake is set up, remove it from the freezer or fridge and remove it from molds. (You want to do this in stages. Either, only removing a few at a time, or removing all and putting some back in freezer or fridge in order to easily apply rhubarb.)
- Lay rhubarb in desired pattern and cut away access overhang with scissors.
- Refrigerate until ready to serve.
