NO-BAKE GRANDMA’S CAKE

The NO-BAKE GRANDMA’S COOKIE CAKE is a delicious dessert perfect for when you crave something good, simple to make, without needing to turn on the oven.

A simple cake made from a base of crumbled dry cookies, mixed with melted butter and cream cheese with which you’ll create a base inside which you’ll pour a generous layer of CUSTARD, decorated on top with powdered sugar and pine nuts.

There’s no need to knead for this no-bake cake base, which is a mix between a Cheesecake and a no-bake shortcrust cake with custard ready in no time and irresistible, perfect to enjoy as a snack or to serve as a dessert at the end of a meal.

The no-bake Grandma’s cake is an easy and quick dessert and is nothing but a variant of the GRANDMA’S CAKE but in this case, it does not require baking.

You can enrich the mixture with chopped nuts if you like, while you can replace the custard with chocolate cream (Grandpa’s Cake), or hazelnut cream, pistachio cream, or lemon curd.

I assure you that once you’ve tasted this cake with a base of dry cookies and custard, you won’t stop making it. If you’re looking for other NO-BAKE desserts, check out the recipes below

Difficulty: Very Easy
Cost: Economical
Rest time: 4 Hours
Preparation time: 30 Minutes
Portions: 6
Cooking methods: No-bake
Cuisine: Italian

306.71 Kcal

calories per serving

Info Close

Energy 306.71 (Kcal)
Carbohydrates 18.66 (g) of which sugars 7.78 (g)
Proteins 7.76 (g)
Fat 22.65 (g) of which saturated 8.36 (g)of which unsaturated 7.12 (g)
Fibers 0.87 (g)
Sodium 373.50 (mg)

Indicative values for a portion of 75 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA^* and FoodData Central^** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.

^* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ^** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov

Ingredients

8.8 oz cookies (shortbread type)
5 tbsp butter
6.2 oz cream cheese (or strained Greek yogurt)
2 cups custard
8 g gelatin sheets
1.8 oz pine nuts
powdered sugar

Tools

Bowl
Blender
Springform pan

Steps

Soak the gelatin sheets in a bowl with cold water (about 10 min)

Place the cookies in the blender and blend them into a powder. Transfer them into a bowl, add the melted butter and cream cheese. Mix with a spoon until you get a fairly compact dough. It should be neither too liquid nor sticky nor too hard. Adjust because the amounts can slightly change depending on the type of cookies you use. Pour the mixture into a springform pan (diameter 8.7 inches) with a removable bottom and press with your hands using the back of a spoon. Let it rest in the fridge for about 15 minutes.
To obtain a rich and velvety custard, follow my recipe by clicking HERE. When it has reached the right consistency, add the previously soaked gelatin sheets (10 min in cold water) and stir well until it completely dissolves. Let it slightly cool.
Take the cake base from the fridge and pour the custard inside. Let it set in the fridge for at least 4 hours. Remove the No-Bake Grandma’s Cake from the fridge a few minutes before serving so it returns to the right creaminess. Finish by adding a generous amount of pine nuts and dusting the surface with powdered sugar. Enjoy your tasting!!!

NOTES

COOKIES In this recipe, I used classic shortbread type cookies; you can easily use any other type of cookie as long as it is dry and does not contain fillings.

CREAM CHEESE For a lighter recipe, you can substitute it with YOGURT. The only warning is that to get a mixture of the right consistency, it is preferable to use strained Greek yogurt because it has a denser consistency.

DOUGH The amounts provided in the recipe refer to a dough obtained with shortbread type cookies with added melted butter and cream cheese. If you decide to substitute the type of cookie or cream cheese with yogurt, you may need to adjust the amounts. The dough should be quite consistent but not hard and dry.

SPRINGFORM PAN To make this No-Bake Grandma’s Cake, I used a springform pan with a diameter of 8.7 inches. Changing the size of the pan will naturally result in a different thickness and height of the cake you make.

PINE NUTS You can omit the pine nuts or replace them with other whole or coarsely chopped nuts.

STORAGE

The No-Bake Grandma’s Cake can be kept for 2-3 days at most in the refrigerator, covered with a layer of plastic wrap (or aluminum foil) or with a cake dome.

Delicious Recipes