• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Cape Point Press

South African Cooking in the USA

  • Home
  • About Us
  • Our Books
    • South African Cooking in the USA
    • E-book – Essential South African Cooking in the USA
    • Recipe Gallery
  • Blog and Recipes
  • Recipe Search
  • South African Cuisine
  • Contact

Cream cheese fridge tart

Uncooked, egg-free cheese tart

Cream cheese fridge tart

 

Baked cream cheese tart or Cream cheese fridge tart – which do you prefer?

Further choices are – a pastry base or a biscuit (cookie) crumb base; cream cheese, cottage cheese or quark – as used in the German cheesecake – for the filling, with or without eggs.

My favorite cream cheese tart was of the baked variety, with a pastry base, extending up the side. This was served at D’oude Werf in Dorp street, Stellenbosch, in the ’90s. A special treat was a slice of this delectable cake/tart with an iced coffee – South African style, made with ice cream, mik, cream, and full-bodied coffee. I wonder whether it would still taste as good today!

I was not partial to the cream cheese fridge tart as it often had a lot of gelatin and lacked the light creaminess of the baked variety. This latest easy recipe of mine for cheese fridge tart has, however, made me re-think my preferences!

I hope you enjoy this as much as I have – especially in the hot weather when one keeps oven cooking or baking to a minimum.

 

Print
Cream cheese fridge tart

Rating  5.0 from 1 reviews

Easy, full-bodied, creamy cheese tart.
Ingredients
  • 1½ packs (of three) in the 14.4 ounce box of Graham crackers, approximately 2 cups
  • ¾ stick (3 ounces) butter
  • 1 envelope (¼ ounce) gelatin, approximately 2 teaspoons
  • ¼ cup cold water
  • 1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
  • ¼ cup lemon juice
  • 2 8-ounce packets cream cheese, room temperature
  • 1 cup heavy whipping cream, whipped
Instructions
Base
  1. Crumb the crackers in a blender or place them a plastic bag and use a rolling pin to crumb.
  2. Mix the crumbs and melted butter and press into a non-stick 9-inch spring-form pan. (If you think it may stick, line the base and sides with parchment paper). Use the base of a measuring cup or similar item to compact the crumbs in an even layer on the base.
  3. Bake at 350˚F for 10-15 minutes. Set aside to cool (see Notes).
Filling
  1. Sprinkle the gelatin over the cold water and set aside for 2-3 minutes to sponge.
  2. Set over a little hot (boiled and turned off) water, to clarify. (see Notes http://capepointpress.com/pineapple-cream/)
  3. Mix the condensed milk with the lemon juice in a large bowl, until thick.
  4. Add the cream cheese and beat for 2-3 minutes until quite smooth.
  5. Add the gelatin and mix well.
  6. Fold in the whipped cream.
  7. Scrape onto the prepared base and refrigerate for 10-12 hours or overnight.

Decorate as wished or serve plain, with fresh berries and whipped cream.
Notes
It is not essential to bake the base, but I believe it is much improved by baking – both texture and flavor-wise.
3.2.2708

Graham crackers crumbed
Graham crackers being crumbed
Crumbs and butter
Melted butter added to crumbs
Crumb base compacted
Crumb base compacted

Fridge tart filling
Thickened condensed milk with cream cheese
Gelatin for fridge cheese tart
Clarified gelatin
Cream added to filling for fridge cheese tart
Whipped cream to be folded in

Previous Post: « Hollandaise sauce
Next Post: Coronation chicken »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. aussiebushgirl says

    December 1, 2019 at 8:40 PM

    Hi. What can I substitute Graham Crackers with please? (Marie Biscuits; Tennis Biscuits…?)

    Reply
    • Aileen says

      December 2, 2019 at 9:38 PM

      Thanks for your question! I’ve always been partial to Tennis biscuits so would use those, although Marie biscuits would work too.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Rate this recipe:  

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Subscribe to our mailing list

Blog & Recipe Categories

Recipe Photo Gallery

The Recipe Gallery contains photos of prepared dishes from our book, "South African Cooking in the USA". We aim to eventually have pictures of all 170 recipes in the book.

Find us on Amazon

South African Cooking in the USA Available in Hardcover and Paperback as well as Spiral-bound.

Footer

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Cape Point Press

Food and flavors of Africa

Published books: "South African Cooking in the USA" and "Essential South African Cooking in the USA: 25 Traditional Recipes".

About Us

The three founder members of Cape Point Press are Brown and Aileen Wilsen and their daughter, Kathy Farquharson. They lived in and around Cape Town for most of their lives and their move to America is not an unfamiliar story. Blending their past with the future in this great land is challenging and exciting.

Recent Posts

Colorful vegetable stew of French origin

Our Books

All the recipes were tested in the American kitchen. A unique and fun hostess gift!

"We have tried many of your recipes & they are delicious! Your book is a great gift idea for fellow South Africans. Just made your mock Snoek pâté and its fabulous. Thank you.”

Copyright © 2021 · Cape Point Press. All rights reserved.
Website by Itsanoffice Phoenix Webdesign