With a super simple preparation, these no-bake white chocolate cheesecakes are a dream! They’re made even better with a topping of mulled wine fruit.
A few years ago, we were lucky enough to start our holiday season in Edinburgh, Scotland. We celebrated the very American holiday of Thanksgiving in a pub and walked around a very European Christmas Market afterward sipping mulled wine and hot chocolates.
We fell in love with the people, the culture, the food. If you have been around here for a while, you know I am a HUGE Outlander fan (my dogs are even named after characters from the books) and love all things Scottish. I’ve always been a little bummed out that I am not from the UK.
When Walkers Shortbread asked me to partner on a holiday dessert, it was as if Jamie Fraser himself had asked me. I couldn’t say yes fast enough.
I created a No-Bake White Chocolate Cheesecake with orange and vanilla on a bed of crushed ginger shortbread topped with a mulled fruit compote, sugared cranberries, and more adorable gingerbread men for good measure.
Why are these no-bake white chocolate cheesecakes so amazing?
I absolutely adore the crust on these no-bake cheesecakes. Thanks to Walkers Shortbread Gingerbread Men, we can have a perfect (and quick!) gingerbread crust every time. Not to mention – they make perfect toppers for desserts and are perfection dunked into a hot chocolate.
Many people dismiss white chocolate, but I absolutely love it. It pairs perfectly with the orange and is the most delicious base for the spiced berries. It also sets the cheesecake, so you do not need to use gelatin.
This is a perfect make-ahead dessert. It needs to be made ahead of time to set up and can be made in individual portions or in one large cake size. You could even go smaller and make bite-size and make them in a muffin or mini-muffin tins.
This dessert also only has a 30 minute prep time. If you can stir, you can make it – it is that simple.
The mulled fruit is incredible. It reminds me of the mulled wine from the Christmas Markets (your house will smell amazing as it simmers away) and is unique and perfect for the holidays.
Ingredients //
We have a few elements for these no-bake white chocolate cheesecakes with mulled wine fruit, so I have broken down the ingredients for each.
Walkers Shortbread Gingerbread Men: A buttery shortbread cookie with just enough ginger spice that you want during the holidays. These are the perfect base for my no-bake cheesecakes.
For the cheesecake: Beyond white chocolate, you will need cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla bean paste or extract, orange zest, some orange juice, and heavy cream.
When searching for white chocolate: Check the labels for something without palm oil, to give it a smoother flavor. Try to purchase white chocolate with 28% cocoa solids, the higher-quality the white chocolate, the better the end result will be.
Mulled wine fruit: We will need mixed berries (two cups of whatever combo you love; either frozen or fresh), ¼ cup of red wine or cranberry juice, sugar, cinnamon, cardamom, freshly grated nutmeg, ginger, and a pinch of salt. You will also get the juice and zest of an orange, so make sure you pick one that feels ripe, with a bright-smelling skin.
Garnish: You can do whatever you like, but I really like using a few sprigs of thyme and sugared cranberries as well as Walkers Shortbread Gingerbread Men!
How to Make – The Steps
- First, add the Walkers Shortbread Gingerbread Men to a food processor and pulse until fine crumbs. Pour into a large bowl and add melted butter. Mix this until it is fully combined and resembles wet sand. Set this aside for later!
- In a double boiler over gently simmering water, melt your white chocolate slowly. Once smooth, set it aside to cool.
- After that, combine the cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla bean paste, orange zest, and orange juice into the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat on medium speed until smooth (about 3 minutes), scraping the bowl as needed.
- Once smooth, gradually add the cooled white chocolate to the stand mixer until fully combined. Transfer from the mixer to a large bowl.
- In the now-empty stand mixer bowl, add your heavy cream and whip until stiff peaks form.
- Once the cream is whipped, fold ⅓ of it into the cream cheese mixture. Fold in the remaining cream until well combined. Set this in the fridge until ready to serve.
- Next, add the fruit and wine (or juice), mulling spices, orange zest, and orange juice, to a small saucepan on medium-low. You want the fruit to soften and the juices to release. This usually takes 5-10 minutes, depending on which berries you choose. Once it looks like a thick fruit compote, remove from heat and let cool until ready to serve.
- To put together your no-bake white chocolate cheesecakes, spoon 2-3 tablespoons of the gingerbread crumb mixture into the base of a glass or mug. Pat it down a bit before piping in the cheesecake mixture.
- Chill these for at least four hours, though I prefer overnight. When ready to eat, spoon over the mulled wine fruit. I like to add whipped cream, sugared cranberries, and another Walkers Shortbread Gingerbread Men on top!
More reasons to love this no-bake white chocolate cheesecake recipe
I love plenty of things about this recipe, but I really want to showcase:
- Using Walkers Shortbread Gingerbread Men for the base is not only a time-saver but great for small hands to help with.
- The use of berries for the mulled wine fruit is really flexible and up to your preference. You can use whatever is fresh or available frozen, and it can be added to other things like ice cream or pound cake.
- I serve these individually, which is great for gatherings and holiday dinners. Alternatively, you could make one large cheesecake, making it in a springform pan.
Variations and Tips //
- Outside of the holiday season, you can create a simple berry topping without the mulling spices. Add a bit of orange peel or a berry on top for decoration.
- Alternatively, an apple-cinnamon mixture would be great for these if you wanted to try another fall flavor favorite.
- Check out the Walkers Shortbread website for more incredible Scottish treats for your baking adventures!
Serving and storing your no-bake white chocolate cheesecake //
- I love serving a dessert like this with a refreshing sparkling wine or seltzer with citrus.
- Any kind of cooked-down fruit works great as a topping, but if you don’t have time to make that – a simple fruit preserve goes well on top of this combo.
If you make this recipe, I’d love to know how it goes! Be sure to follow me on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest, too!
More cheesecake recipes //
- Maple Cheesecake
- Apple Almond Bavarian Cheesecake
- Mini Almond Cheesecake Baked in a Jar
- Cookie Butter Cheesecake Brownies
No-Bake White Chocolate Cheesecakes with Mulled Wine Fruit
Ingredients
No-Bake White Chocolate Cheesecake
- 2 4.4 oz packages Walkers Shortbread Gingerbread Men + more for garnish
- ½ cup butter melted
- 8 ounces white chocolate
- 2 8 oz. packages cream cheese, room temperature
- 1 ½ cups powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste or extract
- Zest from one orange
- 1 T. orange juice
- 2 cups heavy cream
Mulled Fruit
- 2 ½ cups mixed berries – blackberries raspberries, cherries
- ¼ cup red wine or cranberry juice
- 2 Tablespoons sugar
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon cardamom
- ¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ginger
- Pinch salt
- Zest from one orange
- Juice from one orange
- Whipped Cream optional
- Sugared Cranberries optional
- Thyme or rosemary springs optional
Instructions
- Add the Walkers Shortbread Gingerbread Men to a food processor and pulse until fine crumbs. Pour into a bowl and add melted butter. Mix until combined and resemble wet sand. Set aside.
- Melt the white chocolate in a double boiler over gently simmering water. Set aside to cool.
- Add the cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla bean paste, orange zest, and orange juice to the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat on medium speed until smooth, scraping the bowl occasionally. This takes about 3 minutes. Gradually add the cooled white chocolate. Transfer to a large bowl.
- Add the heavy cream to the same bowl and whip with the cream until stiff peaks form.
- Fold ⅓ of the cream into the cream cheese mixture to lighten. Fold in the remaining cream until well combined.
- To make the mulled wine fruit, add the fruit, wine or juice, spices, salt, orange zest, and orange juice to a small saucepan. Cover with a lid and cook on medium-low heat until the juices release from the fruit and begin to soften, about 5 to 10 minutes, depending on the fruit. Remove from heat and let cool.
- To assemble the cheesecakes, spoon 2-3 tablespoons of the Walkers Shortbread Gingerbread Men mixture into the bottom of a glass. Spoon or pipe cheesecake filling over the crust. Chill in the refrigerator for 4 hours or overnight, covered loosely with plastic wrap.
- When ready to serve, top with mulled fruit. Garnish with whipped cream, a whole Walkers Shortbread Gingerbread Man cookie, and sugared cranberries.
Video
Nutrition
