American cheese slices are loveable squares of orange goodness that grace the tops of burgers and sneak into our macaroni and cheese sauce…but in a dessert? Before you turn your nose up at the whole concept, you have to take a look at this video! Here a creamy no-bake cheesecake is as easy as can be with a few pantry staples and a surprise appearance from an unexpected cheese.
Cutting corners isn’t a bad thing, especially if you’re looking for an oven-free dessert, so I got super excited when I stumbled across this recipe for a no-bake cheesecake. Few ingredients, some rest time, and I’d have an evening date with a decadent dessert? Honestly, I’m won over by the whole prospect, and I wasn’t disappointed.
The ingredient list is short and sweet, and nothing out of the ordinary – milk, sugar, cornstarch, and American cheese. This truly is a great dump-and-pour recipe, off the stove, whisk the milk, sugar, and cornstarch until completely combined, then on the stove add two slices of American cheese, and whisk continuously until it becomes thick and creamy like a pudding.
Now American cheese sounds like a weird ingredient to use in a dessert, but its mild flavor doesn’t create an off-putting cheesecake. As you combine the American cheese with the sugar and the milk, you get a similar quality to other cheesecake ingredients like cream cheese or sour cream.
You can prep any sort of round glass or metal container, or if you’re in a pinch, a cake pan will work just fine. Greasing the pan thoroughly with neutral cooking oil is crucial to having your cheesecake come out in one piece. Before you let the cheesecake chill, press plastic wrap down onto the surface of the warm cheesecake mixture, this will prevent skin from forming.
The hardest part of the recipe is the wait time, four hours to be exact, but this time in the refrigerator is needed, or else you’ll have a pudding instead of a sliceable cheesecake.
After unmolding the cheesecake, you can garnish it like in the video with finely grated coconut, or you can top it with fresh fruit and cream.
Changing up the cheesecake’s flavors is effortlessly simple. For example, after the cheesecake thickens on the stovetop, you can add vanilla extract off the heat, which will give the cheesecake a more complex flavor. Since the American cheese is such a neutral canvas, you can really dress up the cheesecake with cookie mix-ins or different extracts.
This no-bake cheesecake comes together on the stovetop and goes from stove to fridge to the table in no time flat – who said that American cheese had to be a solely savory ingredient?