This no bake orange creamsicle cheesecake is the perfect dessert for your next gathering. It's smooth and creamy and has all the orange dreamsicle flavors you love.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the whipping cream and whip the cream until soft peaks form.
In a blender, blend together the orange zest and orange juice until the zest is well blended. (this will ensure your cheesecake is nice and creamy and you don't have chunks of orange zest.) Set aside.
In a separate bowl, beat the cream cheese with an electric mixer until light, fluffy, and smooth. Add in the milk/pudding mixture. Beat until creamy.
Add powdered sugar, vanilla extract, and orange extract.
Gently fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture.
Pour mixture into the prepared Nilla Wafer Crust. Smooth out the top with the back of a spoon.
Refrigerate for a couple of hours or until the pie is set. Serve.
For the Nilla Wafer Crust
Use a food processor to mince your Nilla Wafers into crumbs. You will want about 1½cups of Nilla Wafer crumbs for a 9" pan. (This should be about 3 cups of whole Nilla Wafers).
Add the 1/3 cup of sugar to the Nilla Wafer Crumbs. Melt your butter and add it to the crumb mixture.
Toss the mixture with a fork. It does a better job of combining all the ingredients. The mixture should resemble wet sand. When you squeeze some in your hand it should keep its shape but crumble just a little.
Use the back of a spoon, the flat bottom of a measuring cup or your hands to press the graham cracker mixture into a 9" springform pan. Be sure to try and get the sides even first and then press the remaining crumbs into the bottom of the pie plate.
To finish the Nilla Wafer crust, to make sure it doesn't crumble and will hold it's shape while being served, bake the crust in a 350-degree oven for 12-14 minutes. You can also freeze the Nilla Wafer crust for about 30 minutes. This method works great too and just firms up the butter.