If you like piña coladas… just kidding, I don’t like that song.
When you imagine a piña colada, you imagine summer and probably poolside. A big frosty glass probably with a cherry or pineapple garnish (maybe both!). Really, just living your best life. At least that’s what my brain goes to. So I wanted to make a piña colada no bake cheesecake, so I can have that feeling while having dessert in the summer and I’m stuck inside my house because it’s 120° outside. Plus, no bake because who wants to turn on their oven in summer? But I can imagine this would also be great in winter when you’re stuck inside because it’s snowing but you want to pretend it’s summer. All season dessert!
So I tried to make this a few ways. First I tried a pineapple juice reduction making a sort of pineapple syrup with crushed pineapple, and it just didn’t have enough pineapple flavor. So I moved onto pineapple extract. I realize you probably aren’t going to have this in your pantry. I didn’t! But it made the cheesecake have so much more pineapple flavor so I definitely recommend it. Ultimately, I decided to use both as while the pineapple extract helped a lot, without the reduction it felt a little artificial tasting.
I also tried this with regular whipped cream and adding a little coconut whipped cream on top, but ended up just moving the coconut whipped cream into the cheesecake itself. I’m not someone who loves coconut. I pretty much will only eat it with pineapple, so if you aren’t a huge coconut person, trust me it’s not an overwhelming flavor. But, if you love coconut, I would recommend adding some coconut extract to the whipped cream and maybe doubling the amount.
I used my pineapple curd (link is to lemon curd, pineapple curd variation above recipe card) as a thin layer on top both for some visual appeal and an extra bit of pineapple flavor. It is not a MUST but I definitely recommend it!
Piña Colada No Bake Cheesecake Key Ingredients
- Pineapple extract – This is the key to getting a strong pineapple flavor without watering down your cheesecake too much so it doesn’t set.
- Crushed pineapple – While pina coladas don’t have chunks of pineapple in them, this adds a lovely little bit of texture and burst of flavor when you get a bite with it.
- Coconut cream – Just a little bit, we don’t want the coconut to overpower the pineapple. This helps make the Piña Colada no bake cheesecake so creamy and adds that coconutty goodness.
Ingredients
Cheesecake
- 16 oz Cream cheese room temperature
- 20 oz Crushed pineapple in pineapple juice
- 50 g Powdered sugar ½ cup
- 13.5 oz Coconut cream cold
- 2 tbsp Powdered sugar
- 1 tsp Pineapple extract
Crust
- 20 Biscoff cookies ground/crushed
- 50 g Dark brown sugar ¼ cup
- ⅓ cup Unsalted butter melted
Optional Topping
- 2 tbsp Pineapple Curd
Instructions
- At least 8 hours before you want to make the cheesecake, place the can of coconut cream into the refrigerator to chill. You want the cream and the coconut water to separate in the can and the cream will more or less be solid when it's ready.
- Grind up your biscoff cookies finely, and add brown sugar and melted butter. Stir until you have a wet sand consistency.
- Empty crust mixture into an 8" cake or springform pan that is lightly greased or lined with parchment. Press into an even layer on the bottom.
- Place prepared crust into freezer while you prepare the filling.
- Open your can of crushed pineapple and pour the juice into a measuring cup, until you have about 8 ounces.
- Pour the juice into a small sauce pan over medium heat. Let the juice come to a simmer, stirring every minute or so. After about 5-10 minutes the juice will have reduced to somewhere between 2oz and ⅓ cup. Pour back into a measuring cup and allow to cool.
- Optional: Measure out about a cup of the crushed pineapple and chop into smaller pieces. I diced each piece into about 6 smaller pieces so that there would be lots of little pineapple bits as opposed to big chunks, but this is personal preference.
- Put the room temperature cream cheese and powdered sugar into a bowl or the bowl of your stand mixer with the paddle attached and blend for about 2-3 minutes until combined and smooth.
- Mix in 1 tsp of pineapple extract, and your cooled pineapple reduction into the cream cheese, blend until combined.
- Add 1 cup pineapple chunks to your cheesecake batter and mix with a spatula until evenly distributed.
- Remove your can of coconut cream from the refrigerator. Open the can and scoop out the separated cream into a bowl. It's okay if a little remaining coconut water gets in with the cream. Save this liquid in case needed.
- Add 2 tbsp of powdered sugar, and optionally add ½ tsp coconut extract to cream.
- Using a whisk attachment, whip coconut cream until stiff peaks form.
- Using a spatula, fold in whipped coconut cream into cheesecake batter. Fold in until combined
- Remove chilled crust from freezer and add cheesecake filling to pan. Use a spatula or offset knife to smooth out the top.
- Place the cheesecake into the refrigerator for at least 6 hours, but ideally overnight.
- Optional: When cheesecake is ready, top with a thin layer of pineapple curd (recipe link in ingredient list and blog). Enjoy!
