No Bake White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake in a Jar

 I have been so incredibly busy the past few weeks, blogging, cooking and baking had to take a back seat to family and volunteer obligations. When my schedule finally let up a bit we got struck with a heat wave that lasted 3 days and had temperatures near 40 degrees with the humidity.... cooking was not something that interested me. Sipping a cold bevvie on the patio yes, but slaving over a hot stove, no thanks.

Of course the weather rarely has an affect on my sweet tooth. After barbequing one night I was desperate for dessert (probably cause my 8 month old ate half my dinner!) and ice cream just wasn't going to cut it. I knew I needed a no bake dessert, so I hit pinterest (my new obsession!) looking for inspiration. I came across a picture that linked to My Baking Addiction's Cheesecake in a Jar recipe (I seem to be drawn to her photography). Jamie never fails to impress the hell out of me.

What I loved about this idea was that they're individual little cheesecakes, you can just throw one in your lunch, or grab one to enjoy while your kids play in the sprinkler. But Jamie's recipe was a bake cheesecake (I will be trying it for sure once fall comes!) and I was looking for a no bake option. I've done no bake cheesecake before with a lot of success so I thought I'd invent my own recipe and see what happened.

 I combined cream cheese, fat free Greek yogurt and whipped cream to make a light and fluffy dessert that my friend Laurie described as "a cross between cheesecake and an amped up yogurt parfait". It's light, creamy, cheescakey and totally delish. You can make it in small mason jars, mugs, plastic cups or if you wanted to make one large one that would work too.

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No Bake White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake in a Jar

For the crust:
1 1/4 c graham cracker crumbs
1/4 c sugar
1/3 c butter, melted

For the Cheesecake:
8 oz light cream cheese, softened
1/3 c sugar
1 c fat free Greek yogurt (I used PC Greek Yogurt with Honey)
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 c white chocolate chips, melted and cooled slightly
1 pkg Dream Whip
1/2 c milk (1%, 2% or skim work best)

For the Raspberry Topping:
2 c fresh or frozen raspberries
2 tbsp sugar
1/2 c raspberry preserves

Instrcutions:

1. Put the raspberries in a bowl and sprinkle with the sugar for the topping and allow to macerate.
2. Combine the graham crumbs, sugar and butter and divide equally between 8 small jars (approx. 3 tbsp/jar). Pack down firmly.
3. In a stand mixer or deep bowl, beat the cream cheese and sugar until combined. Add the yogurt and mix until combined.
4. Melt the white chocolate in the microwave and allow to cool for a few minutes. Add to the cream cheese mixture and mix to combine.
5. In another bowl, whip the Dream Whip, vanilla and milk until stiff peaks form (approx. 8 minutes)
6. Gently fold the whipped topping into the cream cheese mixture.
7. Spoon the cheesecake equally into the jars.
8. Allow the cheesecakes to set in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours.
9. Drain the raspberries (reserve the liquid for a yummy pitcher of raspberry lemonade to go with the cheesecakes!) and add the raspberry preserves mixing to combine.
10. Top the cheesecakes with the raspberry topping and serve.


Tip: Keep the cheesecakes refrigerated or on ice until ready to eat.


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enjoy!

Amanda

Rustic Jam Tart

My grandma made the BEST pie dough. It was light, flaky, buttery, everything pie crust should be. And as good as her pies were, it was what she did with the scraps that I loved most.

She'd take all the little leftovers bits from trimming the edges and re-roll them into little shapes (she wasn't fussy enough to make sure they were round) and then she'd spoon on some butter, cinnamon and sugar, or some homemade jam, and pop them into the oven. In only a few minutes and we'd be eating warm jam filled tarts right from the oven.

I made strawberry freezer jam this week and remembered how good those little tarts were and so as an homage to my late grandma I threw together some pie crust dough (sadly, no where near as good as hers, but I have time to perfect it!) and loaded it up with jam and in no time I was tasting my childhood.

Now that's love from the oven.




Rustic Jam Tarts

Pie crust leftovers (however much you have will do), or store-bought dough sheets
1 cup Jam, any flavour
1 egg white
powdered sugar

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350˚F
2. Roll out your dough. Cut into portion sizes and place 1-2tbps of jam in the centre depending on the size of your tarts.
3. Crimp edges up so that the jam is contained.
4. Brush pastry with egg white.
5. Place on cookie sheet in oven for 1o-20 minutes (again, depending o the size of your tarts) or until your crust is golden brown and cooked through.
6. Remove from oven and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

enjoy!

Amanda

Creamy Raspberry Squares

It was a hot spring-almost-summer day and I woke up with a craving for raspberries. I had raspberry jam on toast for breakfast, some frozen raspberries stirred into vanilla yogurt for a snack and I'd even popped a few fresh ones in my mouth throughout the day. Nothing says summer's here like berries! When my husband told me my in-laws were coming for dinner I went looking for a raspberry dessert and found this in a copy of "What's Cooking", the Kraft magazine.

Cool whip, graham crumbs, cream cheese, jell-o and frozen raspberries come together to make a not-too-sweet, cool, fruity dessert that's great for after a BBQ on a hot day. My in-laws liked it so much they took 2 tupperware containers of it home!


Creamy Raspberry Squares from Kraft What's Cooking

2 c. graham crumbs
1/2 c. margarine or butter, melted
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 pkg. Philadelphia cream cheese, softened
1/4 c. icing sugar
3 c. Light Cool Whip, thawed
1 c. boiling water
2 pkg. sugar free Raspberry Jell-O
3 c. frozen raspberries

Instructions:

1. Mix together crumbs, cinnamon and melted margarine/butter.
2. Reserve 2 tbsp. Press remainder into a 13" x 9" pan.
3. Beat cream cheese and sugar until fluffy and then fold in 1 c. Cool Whip.
4. Spread mixture onto crust and refrigerate.
5. Add boiling water to Jell-O powder and stir for 2 minutes.
6. Add berries to Jell-O and stir until slightly thickened.
7. Pour over cream cheese mixture layer. Refrigerate 30 minutes.
8. Cover with remaining Cool Whip and reserved crumb mixture. Refrigerate 3 hours or until firm.