Gordon Ramsay vanilla cheesecake is a no-bake dessert built upside down. The vanilla cream cheese sets in ramekins, then gets turned out and crowned with caramelised biscuit crumb. A dark berry compote goes round the plate.
It comes from Fast Food, his book of F Word recipes, where he says he inverted the classic components “to be contrary”. So the biscuit goes on top rather than underneath, which is the whole reason it stays crisp.
The crumb is what makes it. Sugar caramelises in a dry pan before the butter goes near it. The biscuits end up coated in toffee rather than simply held together by fat.
Cooked this recipe? Send a photo or tell me what you changed at fans@gordonramsayrecipes.uk and I’ll share your experience live on this page.
Gordon Ramsay Vanilla Cheesecake with Berry Compote
Course: DessertCuisine: BritishDifficulty: Easy8
servings30
minutes10
minutes705
kcal2
hours2 hr 40 min
A no-bake cheesecake from Fast Food, his F Word book, where the vanilla cream cheese is moulded in ramekins and the caramelised biscuit crumb goes on top instead of underneath.
Ingredients
- For the caramelised crumb:
8 digestive biscuits (graham crackers)
6 tbsp caster sugar (superfine sugar)
113g unsalted butter (½ cup)
- For the berry compote:
300g blueberries or blackberries (10 oz)
2 tbsp caster sugar (superfine sugar)
A splash of crème de cassis, or water
- For the vanilla cream cheese:
400g cream cheese (14 oz)
6 tbsp icing sugar (confectioners’ sugar)
Juice of ½ lemon
1 vanilla pod, split
575ml whipping cream (2½ cups)
- To finish:
Icing sugar (confectioners’ sugar), to dust
Directions
- Caramelise the crumb: Grind the biscuits coarsely in a food processor. Melt the sugar in a heavy non-stick pan until it starts to caramelise, then add the butter carefully, shaking the pan so the two come together as it melts. Tip in the crumbs and toss until coated.
- Chill and break up: Spread onto a plate and chill for 5 minutes until firm, then break into pieces. Wipe the pan out with kitchen paper.
- Cook the berries: Tip the berries into the same pan with the 2 tbsp of sugar and a splash of cassis or water. Cook over a medium-high heat for a minute, just until they soften slightly, then spread on a plate to cool.
- Make the filling: Beat the cream cheese, icing sugar, lemon juice and the seeds scraped from the vanilla pod until smooth.
- Fold in the cream: Whip the cream to soft peaks in a separate bowl, then fold it through the cream cheese mixture.
- Mould and chill: Line 8 ramekins with cling film, fill with the mixture and level the tops with the back of a knife. Chill until you are ready to serve.
- Turn out and finish: Turn each one onto a plate and peel the cling film away. Scatter the crumb over the top, spoon the berries around, dust with icing sugar and serve straight away.
Notes
- Digestives stand in for the graham crackers in the original American edition, since they behave the same way. If you would rather skip the moulding, Ramsay says you can layer the cream cheese and berries in glasses and scatter the crumb on top. Calories are calculated from the ingredients, since the book gives none.
FAQs
Why is the biscuit on top instead of underneath?
Because Ramsay turned the whole thing round on purpose, saying he inverted the classic components “to be contrary”. The vanilla cream cheese gets the crumb as a crown rather than sitting on a base.
There is a practical gain too. A biscuit base under a wet filling goes soft within a few hours, which is the usual trouble with the lemon meringue cheesecake. Scatter the crumb on last and it stays crisp right up to the table.
Why caramelise the sugar before adding the butter?
Most biscuit bases are crumbs bound with melted butter and nothing more. Here the sugar caramelises in a dry pan first, and the butter joins it afterwards, so the crumbs come out coated in toffee.
That is where the crunch comes from. Ramsay calls it the crispy topping on camera, and it sits closer to a praline than to a cheesecake base.
How do you turn the berries into a proper compote?
The book keeps it simple: berries, sugar and a splash of cassis all in the pan together for a minute, which glazes them. That is what the quantities above are for.
In the video he goes further. The sugar hits the hot pan first and caramelises with the fruit, and the cassis goes in afterwards to deglaze. He points out the darker colour it gives, and that step is what makes it a compote rather than glazed fruit.
Does this cheesecake really need no baking?
None at all. Whipped cream folded through cream cheese does the setting, so there are no eggs, no oven and no water bath to worry about.
That is the opposite of the raspberry lemon cheesecake, a baked New York style set with eggs. This one is faster but softer, so the chilling time is doing real work.
What if you don’t have ramekins?
Ramsay answers that in the book. Layer the cream cheese and berries straight into glasses and scatter the crumb over, which skips the moulding and the turning out altogether.
The video shows a third way. He sets it inside a metal ring on the plate, then warms the outside very gently with a blowtorch so the ring lifts away clean. Same dessert, so pick whichever suits your cupboard.
Which berries should you use?
The book calls for 300g of blueberries or blackberries, cooked barely a minute so they soften without collapsing. The crème de cassis is what deepens the colour and stops them tasting flat.
In the video he puts strawberries in alongside the blueberries and finishes the plate with a touch of mint. Whatever you use, keep the cooking short, because the point is glossy fruit rather than jam.
Can you make it ahead?
The filling and the berries, yes. Mould the cheesecakes and chill them, cook the berries and let them cool, and both will happily sit overnight.
The crumb is the part to hold back. It keeps its crunch in an airtight tin, but softens as soon as it meets the cream cheese. Scatter it as the plates go out.
