Thirteen items and six and a half hours, almost all of it the fridge working.
Nothing is baked. The crust is pressed and chilled, the filling is folded and chilled, and the fruit is not cut until the dessert is already set.
Why This Recipe Works
- Melted butter binds the crumb base firmly enough to slice without a bake.
- Folding whipped cream into beaten cream cheese sets without gelatine or an oven.
- Six hours is what turns a soft folded filling into a layer that holds a slice.
- Mixing the fruit just before serving keeps kiwi and strawberry from weeping.
- Pouring the caramel generously is what makes it run down the sides.
Ingredient Notes
- Graham cracker crumbs with melted butter
- Two cups with six tablespoons, pressed rather than baked. Twenty minutes in the fridge is what firms it enough to hold the filling.
- Cream cheese, powdered sugar and whipped heavy cream
- Sixteen ounces, three quarters of a cup and one cup whipped. The whipped cream is folded in rather than beaten, which is what keeps the layer thick and light.
- Kiwi, pitted cherries, strawberries, blueberries and mango
- Five fruits, cut and mixed only at the end. The dark red round fruit here is cherries, halved and pitted.
- Caramel sauce
- Three quarters of a cup, poured rather than drizzled. It should flood the top and run down the sides.
How to Make It
Graham crumbs and butter pressed into a springform, chilled
Mix graham crumbs and butter and press into a 9-inch springform pan; chill 20 minutes.
Cream cheese beaten with sugar and vanilla, whipped cream folded in, spread
Beat cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla; fold in whipped cream and spread over the crust.
Chilled at least six hours until firm enough to slice
Chill at least 6 hours until the round dessert is firm enough to slice.
Kiwi, cherries, strawberry, blueberries and mango mixed just before serving
Mix kiwi, halved pitted cherries, strawberry, blueberries, and mango just before serving to make the fresh fruit-salad topping.
Fruit piled over the set layer, caramel poured until it floods and runs
Pile the fruit over the set cheesecake layer and pour caramel generously so it floods the top and runs down the sides.
Mint on top, served cold
Garnish with mint and serve cold.
The Salad Is the Fourth Layer Down
The title calls this a fruit SALAD, but it is a round dessert with a pressed base and a set cream layer, cut into slices. The fruit salad is the MIXED-FRUIT TOPPING ON A CONSTRUCTED CHEESECAKE, NOT A LOOSE BOWL SALAD. Read it from the base up and that is obvious.
The CARAMEL - POURED, and it FLOODS
3/4 cup of CARAMEL SAUCE POURED GENEROUSLY SO IT FLOODS THE TOP AND RUNS DOWN THE SIDES. Flooding rather than drizzling is a real distinction: a drizzle would leave the fruit and the white layer mostly bare, and the amber should run over the edge and down onto the plate. Then FRESH MINT on top - a garnish the title does not name - and SERVED COLD. The whole assembly, cheesecake and cut fruit alike, is a 40°F OR BELOW item.
The FRUIT SALAD - five fruits, cut at the LAST MOMENT
1 diced KIWI, 1/2 cup HALVED PITTED CHERRIES, 1 cup SLICED STRAWBERRIES, 1/2 cup BLUEBERRIES and 1/2 diced MANGO MIXED JUST BEFORE SERVING. The dark red fruit is CHERRIES - grapes and cherries look alike halved. Just before serving matters as well: cut fruit sitting on a cream layer weeps, so it goes on CLOSE TO SERVING TIME.
SIX HOURS - and this is the step that makes it sliceable
CHILLED AT LEAST 6 HOURS UNTIL THE ROUND DESSERT IS FIRM ENOUGH TO SLICE. No gelatine, no eggs, no bake - the only thing setting this filling is time at temperature. Six hours is the floor rather than a suggestion, and it is why the total time on a no-cook recipe runs to six and a half.
The CREAM layer - beaten, then FOLDED
16 oz CREAM CHEESE beaten with 3/4 cup POWDERED SUGAR and 1 tsp VANILLA, then 1 cup of WHIPPED HEAVY CREAM FOLDED IN and spread over the crust. Two different actions in one step and they are not interchangeable: the cream cheese is BEATEN smooth, and the whipped cream is FOLDED so the air stays in it. Beating the cream in would give you a dense sweetened cream cheese instead of a thick white layer.
The CRUMB base - PRESSED, never baked
2 cups GRAHAM CRACKER CRUMBS with 6 tbsp MELTED UNSALTED BUTTER PRESSED INTO A 9-INCH SPRINGFORM PAN and CHILLED 20 MINUTES. There is no oven anywhere in this recipe, so the butter is doing all the binding on its own - it has to set solid in the cold to hold a slice together. Press firmly and evenly; a loose patch at the edge is where the first slice will crumble.
Success Tips
- Press the crumb base firmly and evenly, or slices break at the edge.
- Fold the whipped cream in gently; beating it flattens the layer.
- Cut the fruit at the last moment so it stays glossy rather than watery.
Serving Ideas
Ten slices of a round no-bake cheesecake on a golden crumb base, heaped with kiwi, halved cherries, sliced strawberry, blueberries and mango under amber caramel running down the sides, with a mint sprig on top.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this a fruit salad or a cheesecake?
A cheesecake. The fruit salad is the mixed-fruit topping heaped over it — there is a pressed crumb base and a set cream layer underneath, and it is cut into slices.
Are those grapes or cherries?
Cherries, halved and pitted. Half a cup of them, mixed with the kiwi, strawberry, blueberries and mango just before serving.
Can I top it ahead of time?
No. Add the fruit close to serving. Cut fruit weeps onto a set cream layer as it stands, and the whole dessert is a 40 degrees Fahrenheit or below item.
