I love to make special desserts for the holidays, especially for July 4th. This Americana No-Bake Cheesecake will impress all your guests and it’s super easy to make ahead of time.

Ingredients

‘–for the crust

2 cups graham cracker crumbs (14 full sheets) you can also us ginger snaps or chocolate wafers

1/3 cup light or dark brown sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) melted, unsalted butter

baking spray

for the filling

1 1/4 cups cold heavy whipping cream

3 (8 ounce) blocks full fat cream cheese, softened to room temperature

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 tbsp confectioners sugar

1/4 cup sour cream, at room temperature

2 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 tsp vanilla bean paste

for the topping

1 1/2 cups fresh raspberries

1/2 cup fresh blueberries

1/2 cup fresh blackberries

Directions

Prepare the crust: Pulse the graham crackers (or your preferred cookies) in a food processor until you have a consistent crumb. Pulse in the sugar and butter until well combined. Spray a 9″ or 10″ springform pan with baking spray. Press the crust into the bottom of the pan, using your palms to make sure it’s firmly packed. Refrigerate while you are making the filling, 15-20 minutes.

Prepare the filling: Whip the cream in a stand mixer with the whisk attachment until you have stiff peaks, about 5 minutes. Transfer the whipped cream to a bowl and place in the fridge.

In the same bowl, you don’t have to rinse it, beat the cream cheese and granulated sugar on medium speed until smooth and creamy. Scraping down the sides of the bowl with a soft rubber spatula as needed. On medium-high speed, beat in the confectioners sugar, sour cream, lemon juice and vanilla bean paste until smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Be sure that there are no lumps of cream cheese in the mixture.

Remove the bowl from the mixer and gently fold in the whipped cream being sure not to over mix, you don’t want to cream to deflate.

Scoop the cheesecake mixture over the crust. Smooth out the top with an offset spatula. Decorate with the berries.

Refrigerate for at least 6-8 hours up to two days. Serve cold.