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Dreamy Coconut Cream Cheesecake

While experimenting with different dessert recipes and flavors, I often find myself in possession of an abundance of a specific ingredient.
Lately, this ingredient for me has been toasted coconut flakes—I acquired a decent-sized bag a few weeks ago, and have been experimenting with the ingredient for use in a variety of recipes. I love this product because it offers a beautiful coconut flavor in desserts, but also is useful when included in dishes such as Thai-inspired curries that are inherently more savory and spicy, and less sweet.
Recipes such as cheesecake don’t need to be baked nor successful—this recipe relies on the power or store-bought ingredients and refrigeration.
This Dreamy Coconut Cream Cheesecake is inspired by a previous recipe that I love for no-bake cheesecake, although the approach and methods used in this recipe are more whipped cream-based, resulting in a final product that is lighter and more similar coconut cream pie’s cousin.
The trick to this recipe lies in preparing your whipped cream mixture aside from the heavier Mascarpone and cream cheese filling mixture, where you gently fold the whipped cream into the heavier mixture at the end of the process, before refrigerating.

Ingredients

  • 8 Graham Crackers (crushed)
  • 6 Tbsp ¾ stick butter, melted
  • 1 Tbsp white granulated sugar
  • 2 Tbsp toasted coconut flakes
  • 1 cup heavy whipping cream (chilled)
  • 2 cups Mascarpone cheese (softened)
  • 1 cup cream cheese (softened)
  • 1 Tbsp heavy cream
  • 3 Tbsp white granulated sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract (chilled)
  • ½ tsp coconut extract (if available, chilled)
  • A small pinch of Kosher salt
  • 2 Tbsp ground coconut
  • ¼ cup toasted coconut flakes (with half reserved as garnish)
  • 10 fresh mint leaves (finely sliced, as garnish)

Instructions 

  • For the Graham Cracker base, combine crushed Graham Crackers with the melted butter, white granulated sugar, along with some of the toasted coconut flakes.
  • Mix the contents until fully combined, and gently press the Graham Cracker crumb crust mixture into the bottom of a lightly-buttered pie dish.
  • In a large, chilled mixing bowl, whip the heavy cream until soft peaks form, and set the whipped cream aside in the fridge.
  • In a separate large mixing bowl, whisk together the softened Mascarpone cheese, softened cream cheese, one Tablespoon of heavy cream, white granulated sugar, vanilla extract, and coconut extract, along with a pinch of Koosher salt and two Tablespoons of ground coconut.
  • Continue to mix until the contents are light, fluffy, and fully-combined.
  • Fold in half of the remaining toasted coconut flakes, leaving some of the toasted coconut flakes reserved for the garnish.
  • Use a rubber spatula to gently fold the whipped cream mixture that you prepared earlier into the whipped Mascarpone and cream cheese filling.
  • Gently distribute the coconut cheesecake contents on top of the Graham Cracker base.
  • Spread out the mixture into an even layer using a rubber spatula, and refrigerate for roughly one hour before serving.
  • Before serving, cut the no-bake Coconut Cream Cheesecake into slices, and garnish each slice with the remaining toasted coconut flakes, along with some finely-sliced, fresh mint leaves.

Notes

You can prepare this cheesecake in advance of serving, and leave it chilled and covered in the fridge.
If you buy a whole, fresh coconut, and proceed to create coconut shavings and toast them yourself, you get one million extra bonus points—If I had access to fresh coconut, I would 100% do this.