Easy cheese cake, easy roses

This year my daughter asked for cheese cake for her birthday. I made one twice. Once on her birthday and once last Saturday when she had some of her friends over to celebrate. This cheese cake is very “light” and quick to make. You, basically, mix cream cheese and creme chantilly and put it in the fridge. No baking. I found the recipe in an old Greek book titled “183 fresh ideas” by Kristia Mavroidi.The first time I made it without decorations. The second time, I decorated with these surprisingly simple-to-make roses which I saw on “I am baker” and LOVED! You can double the ingredients below to get a taller cake.

Recipe 

Ingredients

• 1 and 1/2 cup crumbled graham crackers
• 4 tablespoons sugar
• 2 sticks butter (about 250 grams), melted
• 1 cream cheese (about 200 grams)
• 3 tablespoons confectioner’s sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup heavy cream & 4 tablespoons confectioner’s sugar for the chantilly

How to make: Combine the crumbled graham crackers with the sugar and the melted butter. Press it at the bottom of a springform pan.  Use a mixer to beat the cream cheese with the 3 tablespoons confectioner’s sugar until it becomes really creamy and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract and beat a bit more to combine. Set the cream cheese aside. To prepare the chantilly, use a mixer (clean bowl) to beat the heavy cream with the confectioner’s sugar. When it starts forming firm peaks, stop. You can add a few drops of vanilla here, too, if you want. Fold the chantilly into the cream cheese. Pour the mix in the spring form and put it in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours.

For the roses, I just bought the icing, already colored. I used the star-shaped tip, starting releasing icing in the center and then going one or two circles.  Check here, “I am baker”,  for detailed instructions and a video demo.

Notes and tips

• Check your local supermarket for crumbled graham crackers. It will save you time and the quality is the same.
• The heavy cream must be cold. If you use heavy cream at room temperature, it won’t work.
• Instead of the roses, serve this cheese cake with strawberries. Combine a pound of strawberries with two tablespoons sugar and let them rest for half hour.