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I have an excellent recipe for a no-bake cheesecake that my family has made hundreds of times over many decades. For the first time today I was asked how long it would keep in the fridge. It's never lasted long enough for it to be a question, so I didn't have an answer.

Main ingredients are cream cheese, eggs, whipping cream, butter, sugar, milk, and gelatin. The egg yolks, some sugar and milk are heated. The rest is not.

Any thoughts on how long it would last? Would freezing affect it in any way?

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I think that in the past I've made an egg-based no-bake cheesecake and eaten it after a week. I'd think it starts to smell/taste bad if it's gone bad. –  dancek May 6 '11 at 8:47

3 Answers 3

I wouldn't keep it more than 3 days, 5 at the most if I was desperate for some cheesecake. I agree with your statement though I have never had a no-bake cheesecake last more than a day in my family.

You could freeze it and I have tried with a piece, not a whole pie before and mine turned into cheesecake soup when I thawed it and tasted terrible. I am by no means an expert freezer of food though.

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The raw egg whites and cream are what make me nervous for keeping longer than 3-5 days. And because no-bake cheesecake depends on gelatin for much of its structure, it will likely become much softer after freezing, as Varuuknahl experienced. The explanation for why gelatin breaks when frozen is too much chemistry for me to try to explain it, though. You can look up syneresis if you're feeling smart. –  bikeboy389 Dec 6 '10 at 21:26
Eggs are a surprise in that recipe, but everything else would be fine for 5-7 days assuming they're fresh. Raw eggs, in a neutral-pH dish, imply 2-3 days unfortunately. –  Bruce Alderson Dec 12 '10 at 4:13

My grandmother makes the best no bake cheesecake without eggs, and she routinely freezes it and then thaws it in the fridge overnight without it losing its shape. Defrosting by microwave would NOT be recommended. I can't answer the storage time though because that's what I just googled!

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I may give that a shot next time I make the cheesecake if I can keep everyone's grubby paws off the last piece. I do wonder however, if the absence of eggs would affect it. I will report back when I see what happens to it. –  talon8 May 2 '11 at 21:32

As far as freezing it, you could also try cutting it into small squares and freezing them separately. Then you could serve frozen cheesecake -- possibly dipped in chocolate!

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Thanks for the neat idea. One day when I've got some time, I may try that. But doesn't answer my current question, unfortunately... The goal of the person making the cake is to serve a one made today, in 7-8 days. –  talon8 Dec 6 '10 at 20:27
I think the answer above of 3 days is probably right, but there are lots of other deserts which would freeze well. If I had to cook now to serve in a weeks time I'd probably go for deliaonline.com/recipes/main-ingredient/chocolate/… it freezes perfectly and thaws on the side in a few hours. –  vwiggins Dec 9 '10 at 14:26

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