This Fluffy Crustless Cheesecake is simply the best, and it happens to be gluten free! One of the most popular recipes on Cooking with Mamma C. Don’t miss the video!
So, I casually mentioned in my last post that homemade chocolate liqueur is perfect to pour over cheesecake. In my head, I was thinking of this fluffy, crustless cheesecake — otherwise known as the best cheesecake I’ve ever tried.
It’s pure decadence!
I’m almost at a loss for words in trying to describe this dessert, which happens to be gluten free. It’s fluffy, airy, luscious and so delicately soft.
Delicious on its own, it’s flavored with vanilla and is just begging to be accented with your favorite topping. I’ve tried it with homemade versions of chocolate liqueur, strawberry liqueur and limoncello.
I know. To die for!
But it’d be excellent with non-alcoholic toppings like caramel sauce, raspberry coulis or strawberry preserves.
Like the liqueur, we enjoy this cheesecake on our trips to Connecticut to visit my in-laws for the holidays. A dear family friend makes it, and my mother-in-law stores it in the freezer to thaw when we arrive.
(She knows how much I love this cheesecake. Heck, I think everyone in Connecticut knows how much I love this cheesecake.)
I finally got the recipe over the summer, and have been waiting for Christmastime to try it. It’s definitely a special occasion kind of dessert, something to make when it can be shared.
It’s way too dangerous for me to have around just because. I don’t have that kind of self control.
But on Christmas day, I’ll happily indulge in this rich, fluffy crustless cheesecake, topped with our delicious chocolate liqueur. It’s the perfect present, don’t you think?
Here are some tips for this crustless cheesecake:
- To prevent lumps, let your cream cheese come to room temperature before starting. Beat each block one at a time, until it’s smooth and creamy. Add each ingredient one at a time, beating after each addition, just until combined. Then mix everything for seven minutes on a high speed that won’t splash. Your batter must be smooth before baking.
- To prevent over browning, move your top oven rack down to the second lowest position and bake your cheesecake there, with nothing above it so there’s room.
- To prevent cracks, bake your cheesecake in a water bath (bain marie) by filling a roasting pan 1/4 full with hot water and letting your springform pan (affiliate link) with the batter rest in it. When done baking, leave the cheesecake in the oven with the door ajar for one hour.
- Test to see if your springform pan leaks before filling it by letting it sit in the water bath for 10 minutes. If water seeps into the pan, you can dry it, then place your springform in a pie dish. Then set the pie dish with the springform in the water bath and proceed.
Buon Natale and Happy Hanukkah, my friends! May your days be filled with peace and joy.
P.S. I now have a chocolate version of this gluten-free, crustless cheesecake! You must try this Chocolate Cheesecake!
(Recipe Source: Barely adapted from family friends Lee and Carol, who said it originally came from Williams Sonoma)
Watch the video to see how to make Fluffy Crustless Cheesecake!
- 5 (8-ounce) blocks cream cheese (at room temperature)
- 6 eggs (large)
- 1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 pint sour cream (low-fat is fine)
- An hour ahead of time, unwrap your cream cheese blocks and set them out at room temperature to soften. When the cream cheese is softened, start the recipe.
- Move the top oven rack down to the second lowest position in your oven, with nothing above it (to prevent over browning the cheesecake). Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Grease a 10-inch springform pan. (See notes if you have a 9-inch springform.)
- Fill a roasting pan 1/4 full with hot water. If you have a leak-proof springform, place it in the water bath. If you suspect your springform will leak, (see notes) place it in a pie dish, then place the pie dish with the springform in the water bath.
- In a large mixing bowl, add one block of cream cheese and beat it until creamy. Continue adding one block of cream cheese at a time and beating well, scraping the bowl as needed. There must not be any lumps in your batter. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing after each addition on low. Add the remaining ingredients one at a time, mixing to combine after each addition. When all ingredients have been added, beat on high (or as high as you can without splashing) for seven minutes.
Transfer the batter to the springform pan (filling it no more than 3/4 of the way to the top; see notes for what to do with extra batter). Bake the springform in the water bath for 10 minutes at 400 degrees F. Then lower the temperature to 375 degrees F and bake for 45-55 minutes. The top should be set, except for a small circle in the middle. Do not insert anything into the cheesecake to test it, or it will crack. Turn off the heat and let the cheesecake stay in the oven with the door ajar for one hour.
Leave the cheesecake in the springform pan and let it finish cooling on a wire rack. Refrigerate the cheesecake overnight before cutting into it.
- To slice, remove the outer circle of the pan and dip a knife in warm water to make the cuts. (Keep the bottom of the pan under the cheesecake. You can even place the cheesecake with the bottom portion of the pan on a cake stand.) Store the cheesecake covered in the refrigerator (you can keep it in the springform) for up to three days or freeze it for up to 3 weeks.
- To test if your springform leaks, place your springform pan in the water bath and wait 10 minutes to see if any water seeps into your springform. If so, dry it, grease it and place your springform in a pie dish. Then place the pie dish with the springform in the water bath.
- Even if you have a 10-inch springform, just fill it 3/4 full so it doesn't overflow. If you only have a 9-inch springform pan, fill it 3/4 full with the batter. Bake the remaining batter in two ramekins or another suitable baking dish, in a water bath, ideally in a separate oven, so you can pull out them out earlier without affecting the springform cheesecake. I baked my extra batter in a separate oven for 10 minutes at 400 degrees, then 25 minutes at 375 degrees, then left it in the oven with the door ajar for 20 minutes. If you don't have a separate oven, bake the ramekins/baking dish in the same oven with the springform cheesecake for the full amount of time (it's important not to open the oven during baking) and just know that the ramekins/baking dish will come out a bit overcooked, but tasty.
- This cheesecake is barely adapted from a Williams Sonoma recipe.
Rosa
I am wondering if this recipe will work with Graham cracker crust at the bottom?
Mamma C
Hi Rosa – I haven’t tried it, but another reader made it with a crust and said it was good. If you are baking the crust with the cheesecake, remember not to fill your pan with batter any higher than 3/4 full. If you want to use a no-bake crust, you could make the recipe as written, freeze the cheesecake solid, then transfer the frozen cheesecake onto the crust. Let me know how it goes!
Logan
I just tried this recipe. It was my first time ever making cheesecake, and I was really paranoid that I would screw it up. Everything was flawless until the last 20 minutes of baking time. I baked the cake in its water bath at 400 for 10 minutes, then turned it down to 375 and set the timer for another 50 minutes. At the 30 minute mark, I checked the cheesecake and it looked like it still had a great deal of baking to do. When the timer went off, I opened the oven to find the top dark brown. What a bummer. I don’t know whether to throw it out or serve my family a burnt cheesecake for Thanksgiving.
Mamma C
Hi Logan – When my friend makes this cheesecake, hers is quite brown on top too, but it still tastes delicious. If you think it looks bad, you could top it with some whipped cream or even place berries on top. Your oven may run hotter than mine.
Mamma C
To address this issue of some ovens running hotter, I’m recommending that the top rack of the oven be moved down to the second lowest position, with nothing above it. Bake the cheesecake on the second lowest rack.
Debbie
This looks delicious!! I wonder how it would be to use low fat cream cheese, egg beaters and Splenda. Has anyone out there tried it?
Mamma C
Hi Debbie – I know people have tried it with other sweeteners and had good results. You probably could use low-fat cream cheese too. I don’t know if the Egg Beaters would work here. Let me know if you try it!
Callee
I tried to make it and it didn’t turn out very good at all for me was flat and because the oven was so fight it kinda burnt it eventhough I followed directions exactly didn’t work for me but seemed like a good recipe
Mamma C
Hi Callee – Did you remember to turn down the oven to 375 after the first ten minutes? I’m sorry to hear this didn’t turn out for you and am trying to figure out what went wrong. This is a recipe that has been made hundreds of times.
Mamma C
Hi Callee – I’m recommending now that the top oven rack be moved down to the second lowest position. Bake the cheesecake on that level, with nothing above it, to avoid burning the top.
Darlene
Do any of you like to use pie filling on top of a cheesecake? I’m experimenting with cherry pie filling right now as it’s the only sugar-free one my local grocery store had, but I’d like to try blueberry and other fruits.
Mamma C
Hi Darlene – I haven’t tried it, but I bet it would be delicious.
Darlene
This evening I drove all over my town looking for other sugar-free pie fillings and couldn’t find any other than the cherry I mentioned above. 🙁 This was after first looking on Amazon thinking I could order it, and not finding any sugar-free blueberry there. Guess I’m just going to have to find some recipes for cooking down frozen blueberries, strawberries, blackberries and raspberries and making my own
Mamma C
Homemade should taste great. Good luck!
Rebecca
This is the most fantastic cheesecake recipe. I add a tablespoon of vanilla bean paste and a tablespoon of lemon juice. I also use a Monk fruit sweetener rather than sugar to make it keto. It comes out fluffy and delicious every time! I’ve also made a pumpkin version by leaving out one block of cream cheese and adding one can of pumpkin and 1 tablespoon of pumpkin pie spice. It was a big hit at Thanksgiving!
I would love to figure out a peanut butter version and a chocolate version. If Anyone has a successful version of either of these flavors, please post it!
Mamma C
Hi Rebecca – Thanks so much for sharing your adaptations! The pumpkin version sounds great! I tried a chocolate version once, but it needs more testing to get it right. Peanut butter sounds awesome too!
Mamma C
Hi Rebecca – I just posted a chocolate version of this cheesecake! Chocolate Cheesecake
Dorothy
So, I’m not a baker. I’m wondering how you would recommend adapting this to add some flavoring ( orange or lemon juice) without sacrificing the fluffy consistency.
Mamma C
Hi Dorothy – I would use orange or lemon extract in place of the vanilla. Then, I’d add maybe two teaspoons of zest. It’s important not to add any extra liquid. Let me know if you try it!
Darlene
I’ve made this 4 times now and can not get it as fluffy as yours. The 4th time, I even scaled back the mixing from 7 minutes to 5 because over-beating could cause that. It still tastes wonderful so I guess I can’t complain, but I sure want a light and airy cheesecake.
Also I way upped the vanilla to 2 tablespoons. Other than that, I left everything else the same.
Mamma C
Hi Darlene – If you’ve been using 6 times as much vanilla as the recipe calls for, you could be throwing off the balance needed for a fluffy cheesecake. It’s probably way too much liquid.
Darlene
The first time I made it I stuck exactly to your recipe and it was the same (not really fluffy). The next two times I used a tablespoon of vanilla, and then the last time I went gung ho with 2 tablespoons. It has risen to the same height every time. I’m wondering if it could be something the higher humidity here where I live.
Mamma C
That’s an interesting thought. If you do have high humidity, it’s really important not to add extra liquid to the recipe. Also, beating for seven minutes is needed to incorporate air into the batter to make it fluffy.
LUKE
I LOVE IT!! Thanks, I made a tiny one looked aweful and used a sugar sub. But man was it good. Can’t wait to make the 2nd batch.
Mamma C
Hi Luke – Too funny! I’m glad you loved it though.
susie leyens
The cheesecake shown in the video isn’t fluffy like the other images? It looks completely different.
Mamma C
Hi Susie – I had the video made for me. It looks like the cheesecake in the video wasn’t thawed all the way from the freezer. I assure you, this cheesecake is very fluffy!
Patti
Hi Mama C,
Thank you. I’m making this tomorrow. I have one more question. I wanted to make it chocolate. Can you advise on this. Do I just add cocoa powder or also melted chocolate. I was even thinking of making strawberry swirl if possible. I can’t find much on these.
Thanks for all the help. Can’t wait to make your cheesecake. I do Keto so I use swerve for sugar.
Namaste
Mamma C
I tested a chocolate version once but wasn’t happy with it. I need to play around with the ingredient amounts again before making a recommendation. You could serve this with chocolate-covered strawberries, though.
Patti
Good to know.
Thanks
Mamma C
Hi Patti – I just posted a chocolate version of the Fluffy Crustless Cheesecake. Chocolate Cheesecake
Patti
Hi Mamma C,
I made a cheese cake almost identical to,this but I only used 32 oz of cream cheese. I am wondering about the beating part. You say not to over beat it but then you say to beat it for seven minutes. I did the same thing to mine. I beat it with my kitchen aid with the whip attachment but did not beat for 7 min. I want to try it this way. Mine came out great but it did brown to much on the edges. I saw where someone said if you use the water bath this will not happen.
I love your recipe and can’t wait to make it. I also use swerve for sugar and you can’t tell the difference.
Please advise on the beating part.
Thanks so much
Mamma C
Hi Patti – This recipe calls for beating after each ingredient is added, then beating the batter for seven minutes. The seven minutes (with a paddle attachment) is required to create fluffiness and volume. Make sure your cream cheese is softened and comes to room temperature before you begin, so you won’t end up overbeating the cream cheese when you add each block. Enjoy!
Karen C Lewis
Going to make this again, but this time in a smaller pan so I can get some individual mini cakes. My thoughts on doing this (too keep it from cooking too fast due to the smaller volume): place ramekins or smaller pans in separate bath with COLD water. That way the cold water can absorb the heat and keep the batter in the smaller containers from heating up faster than the big cake.
Mamma C
That’s an interesting idea. Please let us know how it works!