No Bake Blueberry Cheesecake

I hadn't made a dessert in a while. Poor Pritchard Parker was stuck with store bought cookies and ice cream. He enjoys those things and he was not complaining, mind you, but homemade is always better.  After a trip to the grocery store, I started thinking about the blueberries, the first I had seen this season, that I glanced at as I walked on by them.  I decided to make a no bake blueberry cheesecake.

This recipe is based on one from the July 2003 issue of Bon Appetit magazine. The cheesecake is very light and a perfect summer dessert. I used about half the blueberries called for in the original recipe because of the high cost of the berries at my grocery store, but there was still plenty of juicy blueberry flavor.

Also, the recipe called for making the entire cheesecake in a food processor, which I don't own. If you do, go for it. I used my blender for the crust and my regular mixer for everything else.  Oh, and it is not entirely "no bake". You do bake the graham cracker oat crust. 

No Bake Blueberry Cheesecake
(adapted from Bon Appetit, July 2003)

Crust:
9 whole graham crackers
1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
3 Tbsp. packed brown sugar
1/8 tsp. salt
5 Tbsp. butter, melted
1 tsp. vanilla

Filling::
1/4 cup water
1 Tbsp. unflavored gelatin
12 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1 pint fresh blueberries

Topping:
1 cup heavy cream
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 pint fresh blueberries
2/3 cup blueberry jam

For crust, blend first 3 ingredients in blender until graham crackers are finely ground. Pour into a mixing bowl and add the butter and vanilla. Stir until well combined and moist crumbs form.  Press crumb mixture onto bottom and 1 inch up sides of a 9-inch springform pan.  Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven until deep golden brown, about 12 minutes. Cool.

For filling, 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. Mix cream cheese, cream, sugar, and lemon juice until smooth.  Add berries and combine well. Add gelatin mix and mix well.  Pour mixture over crust and chill overnight.  Next day, run a knife around sides of pan to loosen cake.  Release the pan sides and transfer to platter.

For the topping, beat cream and sugar together until firm peaks form.  Spread mixture over cheesecake. Place berries in a bowl.  Heat jam in small saucepan over low heat until just melted.  Pour jam over berries; toss to coat. Mound coated berries in center of cream, leaving 1-inch plain border. Chill cake at least 1 hour.

I am sharing this with Sweets for a Saturday #23 at the blog Sweet as Sugar Cookies

I am sharing this with Sweet Indulgences Sunday #10 at the blog, A Well-Seasoned Life