Easy No-Bake Cheesecake

Ingredients

• For the crust:
• 8 3/4 ounces graham cracker or Biscoff crumbs, store-bought or homemade
• 2 1/2 ounces unsalted butter, melted
• Kosher salt, to taste
• For the filling:
• 16 ounces plain, full-fat cream cheese
• 5 1/4 ounces sugar
• 3/4 ounce fresh juice from 1 lemon
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt; for table salt, use about half as much by volume or the same weight
• 12 ounces heavy cream
• To Serve:
• 12 ounces fresh fruit, washed and dried

Directions

1. Stir the cookie crumbs and melted butter together in a small bowl, then work in a pinch of salt, adjusting to taste. Scatter the crumbs into a 9-inch pie plate or tart pan and nudge them into a level layer before packing them down hard with the flat base of a measuring cup or drinking glass; as you press, the mixture will climb up the sides on its own. Keep at it until the crust is tight and even across the base and sides. Chill it until you are ready for it. If you want to get ahead, wrap the crust in plastic and keep it chilled for a day or two.
2. Add the cream cheese, the sugar, the lemon juice, the vanilla, and the salt to a stand mixer bowl, and use the paddle. Start on low so everything comes together as a dense paste, then turn the mixer to medium and beat until the mixture relaxes into something soft and smooth.
3. Pause to scrape both the bowl and the paddle with a flexible spatula. Trade the paddle for the whisk, add the cream, and mix on low until it is incorporated; then go up to high and whip until the filling stands in stiff peaks, 3 to 5 minutes, depending on how mighty your mixer is.
4. Transfer the filling to the chilled crust, smooth it out, and use the back of a spoon to make swoops and swirls over the top. Cover with plastic, then refrigerate until the cheesecake is set and thoroughly cold, about 6 hours, or until its internal temperature reaches 40 degrees F (4 degrees C).
5. Pile the fresh fruit on top, then slice the cheesecake into wedges with a hot chef's knife, rinsing the blade under hot running water between cuts. Ease a pie server beneath the crust and be sure it goes all the way to the point of the wedge; the first piece is the fussy one, so expect a little mess.