Stay out of the kitchen and enjoy the rest of the warm weather with an easy no bake orange creamsicle cheesecake. This no bake cheesecake recipe takes bright citrus flavor and packs it into a creamy, dreamy cheesecake for a refreshing dessert with no gelatin or condensed milk.

Have you ever had an Orange Creamsicle popsicle? You know the ones with the orange sherbet outside and a creamy vanilla inside?

They were a favorite treat of mine growing up and I still love the combo of the bright citrus flavor with the creaminess of the vanilla ice cream center.

It was the perfect refreshing treat any warm day that you didn’t feel like whipping up a more elaborate dessert like no bake mermaid cheesecake, strawberry cheesecake dump cake, or even a rich raspberry cheesecake ice cream.

This no bake orange creamsicle cheesecake takes all that refreshing orange and vanilla flavor and puts it into an elegant, yet easy dessert.

Basically this dessert is nostalgic and grown up all at once. That mix of childhood throwback and grown up presentation makes it a fun treat to serve at any summer gathering.

A No Bake Cheesecake WITHOUT Gelatin

Many no bake cheesecake recipes call for gelatin. This no bake orange creamsicle cheesecake doesn’t need any gelatin.

No bake cheesecakes that need gelatin use the gelatin to help it set. The gelatin gives those no bake cheesecakes a springy, mousse like texture. No bake cheesecakes that don’t need gelatin to set rely on some form of whipped cream to help them set.

However, instead of whipping my own whipped cream for this recipe, I’m skipping that step and using Cool Whip. I find the texture of the Cool Whip gives this cheesecake fluffy body while still resulting in a perfectly creamy cheesecake.

This method for making no bake cheesecake gives me a texture that I find much closer to the texture of a baked cheesecake.

How to Make No Bake Orange Creamsicle Cheesecake

Making this cheesecake requires a bit of work, but nothing involved is challenging.

Let’s start from the bottom up and make the crust first. To make the crust, pulse your graham crackers in a food processor until they are finely ground. Add the butter in one tablespoon at a time until the mixture is the consistency of wet sand. Press the graham cracker mixture into the bottom of a greased cheesecake pan.

Next up, slice one of the oranges into flat half circles. Then line the edges of the pan with the orange half circles, along the edge of the crust. If the oranges are drooping, feel free to fix them to the crust with toothpicks.

Now you’ve got the crust and edges ready to go, and it’s time to do your filling. To make the cheesecake filling just beat the cream cheese, orange juice, vanilla, Cool Whip, and sugar together with a hand mixer in a large bowl.

When the mixture is smooth, pour it onto the crust in the cheesecake pan and smooth it out with a spatula.Then lay some orange slices on top and sprinkle on some orange zest before you pop it in the fridge to let it set for a few hours.

When the cheesecake has set, put your finishing touches on the cheesecake by piping on dollops of icing and garnishing with more orange slices to decorate it.

Tips and Tricks for Making Orange Creamsicle Cheesecake

Use full fat cream cheese! This is not the time to cut calories. According to Nigella Lawson, full fat cream cheese helps the cheesecake set up without gelatin. Plus, the full fat cream cheese has a better mouthfeel and yields better results.
When you buy cream cheese for this recipe make sure you buy the kind sold in a brick not a tub. According to Fine Cooking, cream cheese from a tub is formulated to be more spreadable. This can change the texture of the cheesecake and make it not set as well.
Choose orange juice that doesn’t have pulp. If you have the kind of orange juice with pulp in it, strain it first prior to using. If you use orange juice with pulp, you won’t get the silky smooth texture in the cheesecake filling.
Don’t have fresh oranges on hand. You can skip them as a garnish and just proceed with the recipe as written otherwise.

Follow my tips and tricks and you’ll get the perfect creamy, bright no bake cheesecake to enjoy while weather is still warm!

OTHER NO BAKE CHEESECAKE IDEAS TO TRY:

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