Looking for something cool and sweet and full of refreshing summer flavors for these super hot days? These no-bake cheesecake jars are light, fresh, and perfect for enjoying on a hot summer evening – and they’re individual servings, too!
Have you guys heard about the idea of COVID pods? I read about them a couple months ago, and the idea is a great one. Basically, in this era of social isolation, you find your pod – your little group of people who are likewise isolated – and you socialize just within that pod. MIT’s tech review has a great overview of how that can work.
We figured out pretty early on that this was what we needed. We tried a couple of Zoom happy hour dates with our best friends and decided that wasn’t going to cut it. They recently moved to a bigger house – a mile and a half away – but they used to live about eight houses down from us.
We’ve been good friends for about ten years now. They were the first ones to find out about our little man being on the way {because we were at their house for dinner the same day we found out}. We’ve met most of each others’ extended families. We’re all super-cautious and borderline germophobic. So everyone is taking all the precautions – except we get together periodically for dinner and for sanity.
One of the things I love about us getting together is that I actually need to dust off some of my recipes for entertaining larger groups. And this last time, they had brisket on the smoker and plenty of sides, so I put together a salad and a dessert.
My dessert of choice for super hot and sunny summer days are these no-bake cheesecake jars, topped liberally with fresh fruit!
Because of the combination of cheesecake filling and whipped cream in the middle, they’re more like a mousse than a cheesecake. Add in a little lemon and vanilla for freshness, and they pair deliciously with fresh summer berries.
You can make a more deliberate topping, but I’ll tell you, the best food is always like the best mathematical model – as simple as possible without losing the key details.
[lt_recipe name=”Lemon + Berry No-Bake Cheesecake Jars” summary=”Looking for something cool and sweet and full of refreshing summer flavors for these super hot days? These no-bake cheesecake jars are light, fresh, and perfect for enjoying on a hot summer evening – and they’re individual servings, too!” servings=”12″ total_time=”30M” print=”yes” image=”https://homefrontcooking.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Cheesecake-Jars-1096-1024×683.jpg” ingredients=”For the crust:;4 tbsp butter, melted;2 cups graham cracker crumbs (about 16 crackers);For the filling:;1 cup heavy cream or heavy whipping cream;2 8-oz blocks of cream cheese, room temperature;2/3 cup granulated sugar;2 tsp lemon juice;2 tsp vanilla extract” ]To make the graham cracker crumbs, you can either pulse them in your food processor or place them in a Ziploc bag and roll them with a rolling pin until crushed. They don’t have to be perfectly fine, just no large chunks.;In a medium microwave safe bowl, melt the butter in the microwave. Stir in the graham cracker crumbs until the mixture is nice and crumbly. Spoon filling into each jar and reserve a little (about 1/3 cup) for topping later.;Using a stand mixer with paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese until it is creamy and smooth.;While the stand mixer is doing its thing, using a hand mixer with whisk attachment, whip the cream until you have stiff peaks, about 5 minutes. Set aside.;Add the sugar, lemon juice, and vanilla extract to the cream cheese in the stand mixer and beat until smooth and creamy. Make sure there are no large chunks of cream cheese.;Using a spatula, fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture until just combined. The whipped cream makes this recipe nice and fluffy, so you don’t want to beat all the fluff out!;Layer the cream cheese and whipped cream filling in the jars on top of the crust, leaving enough room on top for the topping.;Slice up the fruit and cover the filling until the jar is full. Sprinkle the remaining crust over the top and, if you want a little more sweetness, sprinkle with a little brown sugar.;Cover and refrigerate for about 30 minutes before serving.[/lt_recipe]
Delicious, fresh, and all the taste of summer you could cram into one 8-oz ball jar!
Happy Friday, friends!
