Is there anything you do in the kitchen each year that brings you joy?
That would have been a hard question for me to answer (as you all know, I love EVERYTHING in the kitchen…except cleaning up…I don’t like that at all!).
But a few years ago, my friend Jenn gave me some of her strawberry jam and, when she saw how excited I was to get my first jar of homemade jam, she said, “Wait, you don’t make your own jam?”.
It seemed weird to me as well….I mean, I’m Italian…we preserve anything that doesn’t move. But I guess jam just wasn’t Italian enough for my mom to make so I just never inherited it as a staple in my kitchen. However, once I got a taste of how good homemade jam was, I never looked back. Now, I try to make a big batch every year.
The strawberries this year were extra sweet (because of the heat) but, because all the kids were out of school and chopping at the bit to get out of the house (I call it Covid unrest!), it was hard to get my hands on enough to make a big batch. But, after many attempts, I bought enough and got to work.
Once the jam was made, I thought about what kind of dessert I could make to honor this beautiful concoction! Well, I don’t know where you are all living, but here in Ontario, it has been craaaazy hot! And so many of my followers were asking for recipes where they didn’t have to turn on an oven. That’s easy enough to do with main course (uhhh, hello salad!!), but not as easy with dessert. I know there’s always fruit, but I think we deserve a bit more “decadence”, don’t you? I mean, we are living through a world wide pandemic, right? Like, come on already!
So, I whipped up (literally) this no-cook version of cheesecake…except you make it in a glass (since we’ve gotten so used to individual portions because of covid, this one’s a keeper!).
You can top it however you like (for all you chocolate lovers, you can go right ahead and pour some of that hot fudge sauce right over the top of that cheesecake layer…you go right ahead and do that!!), but I’ve opted to make use of that luscious jam I made on the weekend!!
And, why not bring it to “next level summer goodness” by spooning on some fresh local berries? When you top it off with all that vitamin goodness, nobody (and I mean nobody) will question the fact that you are going to throw back an entire glass of cheesecake goodness. I promise!!
The best part of this dessert is that, unlike no-bake cheesecakes that are made in a pan, this doesn’t have to set. So you can make it the day before you are serving it or you can make it 5 minutes before.
You choose.
Either way, you are going to make lots of people happy!!
No Cook Strawberry Cheesecake Pots
Ingredients
- 2 cups graham cracker crumbs
- 2 tbsp butter, melted
- 2 8-ounce/250 g cream cheese
- 1 can sweetened condensed milk
- 1/2 cup strawberry jam
- 1 cup mixed berries, fresh
Instructions
- In a small bowl, mix graham cracker crumbs and butter until combined. Divide evenly into the bottom of 10 glasses.
- In the bowl of an electric mix, add the cream cheese and sweetened condensed milk to the bowl and whip together until light and fluffy. Divide evenly into cups on top of crumbs.
- Top each glass with a couple of teaspoons of jam, and then with some fresh fruit.
