No Bake Jammie Dodger Cheesecake

Wow your true love on Valentines Day with this no-bake Jammie Dodger cheesecake, made with just a few simple ingredients! It’s so silky smooth and rippled with sweet raspberry jam. And the best thing… you don’t even have to turn the oven on!

Game-changing Dessert

If you’ve been reading the blog recently you’ll know that I’ve fallen in love with the simplicity of no-bake cheesecakes. If you’re a cheesecake fan, it really is a game-changer.

There’s no baking, no water-baths, no nervously waiting to see if it’s cracked – and the best thing once you’re nailed the base recipe, anything is possible!

Like most things I’ve been baking and making recently, they’re usually resulted from a rummage in the cupboards to see what I’ve brought on a whim and that I really must use before I buy anything else.

This time it was the turn of the Jammie Dodger!

Young hearts, run free…

I’m a sucker for those little crumbly biscuits and that jammy centre, especially the mini ones! The mini ones that I brought in bulk on a Saturday morning supermarket trip. That when presented to Ian with the question ‘What shall I do with these?’, I got ‘Cheesecake!!” in response.

It seems that after how many years of being together, I have finally uncovered his favourite dessert… so expect a few more no-bake cheesecake recipes coming in the future.

With Valentine’s Day coming up I thought I’d try out a recipe that spoke to his little dessert heart. Plus, the speediness and simplicity of this cheesecake sells itself to me every time. 

So if you are thinking about making your Valentine a little something to show them how much you love them, then you can’t go wrong with these…

What are Jammie Dodgers?

Quintessentially the ultimate British party biscuit only pipped to the post by a Party Ring, Jammie Dodgers are little jammy biscuity gems of goodness. And you can forget about all those flavour variations, there is nothing better than a raspberry one.

For those of you not familiar with the Dodger, the easiest way to describe it is a miniature version of a Linzer torte. Instead of the pastry, you have two shortcake biscuits, and in between then is a raspberry, or sometimes strawberry, jam.

So you get an eyeful of that beautiful jammy centre, Jammie’s have a distinctive heart cut out of the top biscuit. Too cute!

If you didn’t need convincing on how fabulous these biscuits are, then let the stats do the talking… they were voted Britain’s best biscuit in 2009 with 40% being eaten by adults, proving we’re all still big kids at heart.

What biscuits to use for the base

You’ll find that most cheesecakes use Digestive biscuits or Graham crackers for the base, and for the Jammie cheesecake they’d work perfectly too.

However, I wanted to do something a little different and thought I’d go for buttery and crumbly shortbread fingers, just like the biscuits of the Jammie Dodger that keep that beautiful ruby raspberry jammie centre in place.

The shortcake biscuit base goes so well with the cheesecake filling and just melts in your mouth as you eat it. What more would you want? Mmmm!

Now I can hear you reading this and saying, but why are you not using actual Jammie Dodgers for the base? 

If I’m honest I wasn’t quite sure how well they would crumble, especially with the jammy centre. So I thought I’d save that for the filling. That said if you want to try them out for the base, just substitute the shortbread biscuits with equal quantities of Jammie Dodgers.

What ingredients do I use to make the filling

The best thing about this cheesecake is that there’s no baking required, so the base ingredients for the filling are really simple to chuck together and get into the fridge to set, in less than 20 minutes!

Yes, really, and probably even less than that!

Similar to no-churn ice cream, this no-bake filling has a couple of key ingredients that you can adapt and tweak to play around with flavours. So you’ll need to grab these to get going:

• Full-Fat Cream Cheese – You’ll find cream cheese in the chiller section of the supermarket. In the UK block cream cheese isn’t as readily available, so I use Philadelphia cream cheese instead. It’s stable enough for baking and mixing without being too slack and runny. But, if you can find block cream cheese, then this is perfect.
• Icing or Confectioners Sugar – Using granulated sugar to make the filling will give you a really coarse texture as it can’t be readily dissolved into the mixture. Therefore using icing or powdered sugar is ideal – it gives the filling the sweetness, is easily incorporated and keeps it nice and smooth.
• Double or Heavy Cream – To really plump out the filling and make it really smooth, double or heavy cream is the way to go. When whisking the mixture, the cream will whip up and thicken, this carries the cream cheese and helps it set. Single cream doesn’t have the fat content that is needed to thicken up the mixture, so don’t scrimp on the cream.

And for the flavour…

• Vanilla Bean Paste – I always add a drop of vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste to my cheesecake fillings, it emphasises the sweetness without being a huge hit on your sweet tooth. It also acts as a carrier for any other flavours you add to the filling, without it tasting cheesy!
• Raspberry Jam – To mimic that signature jam centre, sandwiched between the Dodger biscuits, I’ve chosen to ripple a beautiful ruby red raspberry jam. I add good dollops of the jam after I have put the first layer of cheesecake filling over the base, then I swirl it around with a skewer or knife. You could add the filling in more than 2 layers if you prefer and swirl more jam through. Don’t go too overboard on the jam though, as it will overpower the filling; you’re looking for that perfect balance.

And you could move it up a notch on the raspberry flavour with…

• Freeze Dried Raspberries – I love adding crushed freeze-dried raspberries for a really intense fruity hit of flavour, without adding fresh fruit that could make the filling feel a little wet. Using the freeze-dried fruit along with the jam will give a speckled filling as well as that beautiful red ripple throughout. If you don’t use them in the filling, sprinkled over the top is a great way to finish off your decoration.
• Fresh Raspberries – When you add the first layer of cheesecake filling, you could scatter over fresh raspberries instead of the raspberry jam. This would give you little pockets of sharp, fresh raspberry which would cut through the sweetness. Just remember that if you’re using fresh fruit, that you will need to eat within 1-2 days for freshness.

How to make a Jammie Dodger cheesecake

Full measurements and instructions can be found on the printable recipe card

It’s all about the base

The base is the key to holding everything together; if your base isn’t solid then when you serve your cheesecake it will just crumble about. And in my opinion, it’s also the best bit!

So to start, you need to crush your biscuits as fine as you can. I’m using shortbread fingers to complement the Jammie Dodgers, but you could use a Digestive biscuit or Graham cracker if you prefer. 

Crush them either using a food processor or in a Ziploc bag with a rolling pin. If doing in a bag, be careful not to bash them too hard as you might split the bag, and that just makes a crumbly biscuit mess [1].

Next, in a large mixing bowl mix together the biscuit crumbs and melted butter to form a crumb dough [2]. Pour this into a springform cake pan, and press down to level the crumbs. Make sure to take the crumb dough to the edges of the pan, then smooth off with the back of a spoon or offset spatula [3-4].

Before adding the filling, you’ll need to chill the base to firm up, so pop it into the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

That smooth and creamy filling

Whilst your base is chilling in the fridge, it’s a good time to get ahead and make your filling.

You can either make the filling in a large mixing bowl with a handheld mixer or in a stand mixer. As it only takes a matter of minutes to mix together, I usually go for the handheld option; however, the choice is entirely up to you [5].

Whichever way you use, you will want to gently beat together the cream cheese and icing sugar. Be careful not to overbeat as the cream cheese could slacken and become too runny.

Next, add the double cream and vanilla extract and whip together until the cream thickens and the mixture starts to look and feel heavier. Don’t overwhip the mixture as you need it to be smooth enough for you to spread easily [6].

Before you start adding it into the cake pan, save about 100-150g of the filling for decorating the top later. I know its tempting, but don’t eat it!

When you’re ready, add half the remaining cheesecake filling over the top of the chilled biscuit base and level off. Then dollop spoonfuls of bright red raspberry jam all over, and swirl using a skewer or knife. Finish off with the rest of the filling then pop it back in the fridge for at least 6 hours to firm up [7-9].

Make it look pretty

After a good chill, your Jammie Dodger cheesecake is set perfectly and ready for it’s finishing touches. Be careful when removing it from the pan, remember the cream cheese filling will set firm but still a little soft – this is where the springform cake pan is a blessing.

Take the filling that you kept to one side and pipe rosettes around the top of the cheesecake. Decorate with mini Jammie Dodgers and a sprinkle of freeze-dried raspberries for a little extra flavour [10-12].

Lastly, the good news is you don’t have to chill it again (except for storing it), so cut yourself a slice and enjoy!

How long will the Jammie Dodger cheesecake keep for?

The Jammie Dodger cheesecake will keep for up to 3 days in the fridge, although it’s best eaten within 1-2 days, especially if you use fresh raspberries in it.

If you don’t manage to eat it all, the cheesecake will keep up to 3 months in the freezer; although it’s not something I really recommend. If your cheesecake isn’t stored correctly the filling can become grainy.

Therefore, when freezing, make sure you wrap your leftover cheese with cling film or plastic wrap and then cover with a layer of aluminium foil. This will help to prevent ice crystals forming in the filling. And finally, remember to allow the cheesecake to thaw before serving.

Top tips for the ultimate cheesecake recipe

To take your Jammie Dodger cheesecake to perfection, each and every time, check out these top tips and you won’t go wrong…

• Use room temperature cream cheese – For the creamiest filling, slightly softened room temperature cream cheese is a must. Take your cream cheese out of the fridge about 30 minutes before you want to make the filling. If it’s too cold, it won’t whip as smoothly and you could end up with lumps in the mix
• Always go for full-fat cream cheese – To really give you that smooth and decadent creaminess, you really want to go for full-fat cream cheese. Now there’s nothing stopping you using a lower fat version, but trust me it’s worth the extra calories. Plus the tart raspberry jam will cut through the creamy richness, giving you the perfect flavour balance.
• Use a springform cake pan – Unless you’re making individual portions of the cheesecake, then it’s a good idea to make the recipe in a springform cake pan. The easily removable side means that you can quick release your cheesecake and slide it onto your serving plate without the risk of damaging it. Just make sure you grease the base well so it slides straight off, or clamp a layer of greaseproof baking parchment over the base plate.
• Set the cheesecake for at least 6 hours – Now I know that cheesecake filling is so good you could eat it straight from the bowl, but wait let it chill first! Pop it in the fridge for at least 6 hours to chill, and if you can leave it overnight that’s better. Chilling the cheesecake properly means you’ll be able to cut perfect slices when you’re ready to serve.

How can I adapt this cheesecake?

There are so many different ways you can adapt this recipe; switching the biscuits in the base or tweaking the flavours, as a start. But you could also make it on a smaller scale and even gluten-free:

• Individual cheesecake pots – If you’d prefer to make the cheesecake in individual portions, it’s really easy to scale down. I love using old-fashioned glass yoghurt jars and layer everything up. Instead of rippling the raspberry jam through the filling, I layer this on top, so when you plunge your spoon in, it all mixes up together
• Gluten-free – Naturally the biscuit base and Jammie Dodger have gluten and wheat in them; however you can now get gluten-free Jammy Wheels and shortbread. You’ll just need to switch out the regular biscuits for the free-form ones and you’re good to go! Remember to check any of your other ingredients for wheat, just in case.