Tuesday, August 7, 2012

No Bake Blueberry Cheesecake


After our blueberry picking extravaganza, I put up about seven puinds of blueberries.  These will later be made into blueberry sauce, blueberry pancakes, blueberry muffins and blueberry smoothies.

I clean them

Dry them.
I then lay them out on baking sheets in a single layer and place them in the freezer.  This doesnt take long before they get packaged up and put in freezer bags.  Back they go into the freezer.
One more pic on the pretty blue plate.
But I had to make something yummy besides the usual blueberry eating!  My parents 60th Wedding Anniversary was this past week.  I made this dessert that totally called out to me.  All of its millions of creamy calories.  It's worth it.  Maybe a bite or two will do - feed a crowd with this cake.

First spotted on Pinterest. The recipe comes from Epicurous.  This recipe does not disappoint!

No Bake Blueberry Cheesecake.  But the recipe should really be called, Luscious Blueberry Cloud.  Or Creamy, Dreamy Blueberry Goodness.  You get my drift?

Luscious Blueberry Cream Dream
Recipe adapted from this recipe at Epicurious. I need to mention that I might only make my crusts this way from now on.  The addition of the oats i soutstanding.

Crust:
9 whole graham crackers
1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
3 tablespoons (packed) golden brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Filling:
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon unflavored gelatin (measured from 2 envelopes)

12 ounces Philadelphia-brand cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
3 cups fresh blueberries

Topping:
1 cup chilled heavy whipping cream
1 tablespoon sugar
4 1/2-pint baskets blueberries
2/3 cup blueberry jam or my vanilla blueberry jam

Preheat oven to 350°F. Blend first 4 ingredients in processor until graham crackers are finely ground. Pour into a 9 inch springform pan. Add butter and vanilla; mix. Press crumb mixture onto bottom and 1 inch up sides pan. Bake crust until deep golden brown, about 12 minutes. Cool.
Pour 1/4 cup water into small saucepan; sprinkle gelatin over. Let stand 10 minutes. Stir over very low heat just until gelatin dissolves. Set aside.This works real well in the microwave.

Blend cream cheese, cream, sugar, and lemon juice in processor until smooth. Add berries; puree until smooth (some blueberry bits will remain). With machine running, add warm gelatin mixture through feed tube and blend well. Pour filling into crust. Cover; chill overnight. Run knife around pan sides to loosen cake. Release pan sides. Transfer to platter.

Beat cream and sugar in medium bowl until firm peaks form. Spread cream mixture thickly over top of cheesecake. Place berries in bowl. Heat jam in small saucepan over low heat until just melted. Pour jam over berries; toss to coat. Chill blueberries before mounding the coated berries in center of the cream, leaving 1-inch plain border. Chill cake at least 1 hour and up to 1 day.



2 comments:

Lyndas recipe box said...

Your cheesecake looks fantastic! I've been craving blueberries this summer, so I think this will be in my near future. :)

grace said...

oats inside a graham cracker crust, eh? that's a great idea! the color of this pie is fantastic, lori!