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Dessert

Refrigerator No-cheese Cake

A chilled no-cheese cake made with yogurt, gelatin, and lemon, served with cherries or strawberries.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 22 ingredients
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Why it works: Milk and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and 19,175 recipes mention both. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓

The recipe

six equal slices

Ingredients

Contains: egg, milk, wheat (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

Directions

Make the crust

  1. Put crackers in a plastic bag and tie top; crush with a rolling pin or jar to make fine crumbs.

  2. Melt margarine in the bottom of an 8- or 9-inch round cake pan.

  3. Spread margarine evenly over bottom of pan.

  4. Sprinkle crumbs evenly on bottom only; press gently.

  5. Chill in refrigerator.

Make the filling

  1. Soak gelatin in cold water.

  2. Heat over boiling water to dissolve the gelatin.

  3. Combine yogurt and first measure of sweetener; beat at moderate speed with rotary beaters, adding dissolved gelatin gradually.

  4. Chill until it is the consistency of unbeaten egg whites.

  5. Meanwhile, place iced water, lemon rind, egg white, and dry milk powder in a large bowl.

  6. Beat with rotary beaters until soft peaks form.

  7. Add lemon juice, vanilla, and second measure of sweetener.

  8. Beat at high speed until stiff.

  9. Fold into partially set yogurt; blend very well.

  10. Spoon mixture on top of crumbs in pan.

  11. Chill 4 hours or longer until set.

Unmold and serve

  1. To unmold, loosen around edge of mold with thin spatula right down to bottom of pan.

  2. Place larger plate upside down on top of mold.

  3. Turn plate and pan over; cover top of pan for a few seconds with a hot cloth that has been run under hot water and then rung out.

  4. Remove cloth and lift pan from mold.

  5. When ready to serve, garnish with cherries or strawberries and cut into six equal slices.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

This recipe comes from the Recipes Wiki on Fandom and is licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Our formatting and summaries are shared under the same licence.

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Milk + vanillatop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together19,175 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  2. Sugar + vanillatop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlaplow
    Mentioned together35,031 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  3. Gelatin + sugar substitutetop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together11 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  4. Gelatin + sugartop 5% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together2,778 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  5. Yogurt + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together2,191 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

Sugar and vanilla share little aroma chemistry, yet 35,031 recipes mention both: they likely work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Gelatin
Sets the yogurt and milk mixture so the cake holds its shape when unmolded.
Plain low-fat yogurt
Provides the tangy, creamy body of the filling.
Egg white
Whipped to foam, it adds lightness and airy volume to the filling.
Instant nonfat dry milk
Whips with the cold water to create a stable, light foam that adds volume.
Graham crackers
Crushed into crumbs to form the base that holds the filling.
Fresh lemon juice
Adds acidity that brightens the sweetness of the filling.

The step that matters

Chill the yogurt-gelatin mixture to the consistency of unbeaten egg whites. Folding whipped foam into a mixture that is too liquid collapses the air bubbles, while a mixture that is too set will not blend evenly. Partial setting keeps the filling light and uniform.

Flavor stand-ins for the lemon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (gelatin, yogurt, sugar substitute, sugar, egg, milk, vanilla):

  1. Strawberrybetter flavor fit
  2. Peachbetter flavor fit
  3. Bananabetter flavor fit
  4. Lemonthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against gelatin, yogurt, sugar substitute, sugar, egg, milk, vanilla. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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