[Recipe] No-bake Calamansi Cheesecake on a Calamansi cake base and topped with a clear citrus gelatin glaze

I have been wanting to make a more elaborate cake for some time now but I don't have a proper oven at the moment except for an oven toaster without a thermostat. My old oven had problems with the pilot light and would sometimes blow out when I open the oven door too quickly - I've had near misses when I attempted to relight the oven and let's just say that I was lucky to only suffer singed eyebrows!

No-bake Calamansi Cheesecake on a Calamansi cake base and topped with a clear citrus gelatin glaze (wow that was a mouthful - pun intended)

I have settled to make a no-bake cheesecake with a cake base and clear gelatin glaze on top. I had to improvise and bake the cake using my rice cooker (it is one of those multi-function ones which includes a baking mode) and I think the results weren't too bad. I did need to do a lot of trimming to make the base fit into the springform pan I intended to use. You know what they say, if life gives you lemons, well calamansi in this case, then you should just make the best of it and make calamansi cheesecake. :)

With the layers clearly seen on the side

A big slice of calamansi cheesecake

This recipe is inspired by a YouTube video I recently watched of a no-bake matcha cheesecake dessert. While it is not exactly based on that particular recipe, that video did prompt me to try making a no-bake dessert using gelatin and get creative with other methods of cooking. I have based the different elements from various sources, most notably, the calamansi cake base is roughly patterned after the famous calamansi muffins of Boracay island, and the cheesecake recipe itself is just based on a tweaked lemon cheesecake recipe.

Using a baking paper lined springform pan is very convenient

This was a great opportunity to play around with my new stand mixer and I realized that it was the birthday of a family member. Those seemed to be good enough reasons to try this recipe that I have been planning for quite some time.

I have been getting a lot of flak from the thinly sliced calamansi I used for decoration. Yeah, I know you are not really supposed to eat it but it does identify what kind of cheesecake it is ;)

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Ingredients:
For the Calamansi Cake base:
1 & 1/2 cup cake flour
1/2 cup butter, softened (room temperature)
1/2 cup coconut sap sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup calamansi juice
2 pcs eggs, room temperature
1 tsp baking powder

For the Calamansi Cheesecake:
1 cup whipping cream, chilled
1/3 cup calamansi juice, freshly squeezed with seeds filtered out
1 packet unflavored gelatin (10 grams)
16 oz (450 grams) cream cheese, room temperature
1/3 cup white sugar
6 packets sugar substitute, e.g. stevia (each packet's sweetness equivalent to 2 teaspoons sugar - adjust accordingly if different) or you can go full sugar if you want to. I just prefer it reduced sugar :)
1 tsp vanilla extract

For the Clear Citrus Gelatine Glaze:
1 packet of unflavored gelatin powder (10 grams)
2 Tablespoon cold water (used to dissolve the gelatin powder)
1 can of calamansi, lemon, or lime flavored soda

1 drop of yellow food color (optional)

Directions:

For the Calamansi Cake base:

Preheat the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit (177 degrees Celcius).

Sift cake flour, baking powder, and salt together in a mixing bowl then set aside. Mix the milk and calamansi juice together in another bowl, set aside.

In a stand mixer, cream butter, coconut sugar, and white sugar for 2-3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time and mix well. Gradually add in milk mixture and flour mixture alternately. Be careful not to over mix. Pour into a baking paper lined springform pan. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit (177 degrees Celcius) oven for 20-25 minutes or until a wooden toothpick comes out clean in the center. Alternatively, I have made the cake base using a multi-function rice cooker with a thick bowl with good heat distribution and a cake baking function. Refer to the instructions of your cooker if you want to go that route.

For the Calamansi Cheesecake:

In a small bowl, mix calamansi juice and unflavored gelatin and let it stand for 5 minutes to allow the gelatin to bloom. Transfer to a small saucepan and heat gently until the gelatin is dissolved stirring constantly (for about 4 to 5 minutes). Turn off the heat and let it cool a little. In a mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese until soft. Then beat in the white sugar, vanilla extract, and the calamansi juice mixture. In a separate mixing bowl, beat the pre-chilled whipping cream until stiff peaks form. Fold in the whipped cream by hand into the cream cheese mixture using a spatula until even.

Prepare a springform pan by lining the sides with baking paper. Cut the cake base into a disk that will just fit the bottom of the springform pan. You can also reduce the thickness of the base by carefully cutting off the desired thickness using a long serrated bread knife (I used about an inch of the base). Spoon the resulting cheesecake mixture over the cake base. Place the cheesecake in the fridge to set for at least 4 hours and even better if overnight. I used clingwrap to wrap the entire pan on the outside as my pan tends to leak a little. Make sure to leave space on the top of the pan for the gelatin glaze.

For the Clear Citrus Gelatin Glaze:

In a small bowl, sprinkle the gelatin powder over the cold water and mix thoroughly. Let it soften for about 5 minutes. In a small saucepan, place one can of the citrus flavored soda and gently heat on low setting, stirring constantly. Add the softened gelatin and stir until completely dissolved. Let it simmer gently for 3-4 minutes. Strain over a fine strainer into a measuring cup with a lip for easy pouring later on. Straining ensures that there are no undissolved solids remaining and it also removes bubbles that will become unsightly when the gelatin sets. Let it cool to room temperature.

Remove the chilled cheesecake (still in the springform pan) out of the refrigerator. Carefully arrange thinly sliced calamansi on the top for decoration before pouring over the gelatin glaze on top. Do this layer by layer ensuring that no bubbles are formed. Return the pan inside the refrigerator in between and add the successive layer when the previous layer has set a little.