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Chill out with this easy no-bake cheesecake

Recipe: Fresh strawberry no-bake cheesecake just needs a fridge

Pink strawberry cheesecake on white plate with pink flowers and green leaves
No oven was turned on in the making of this fresh strawberry cheesecake. (Photos: Debbie Arrington)


It was too hot to bake this Mother's Day weekend -- and I needed to make a special dessert.

Newly vaccinated, our family was gathering for the first time in many months. I had all the ingredients for a conventional cheesecake (the original plan) topped with home-grown strawberries.

Instead of turning on the oven, I mixed the strawberries with the cream cheese for a light and delightful no-bake cheesecake.

This recipe was inspired by one featured recently in Relish magazine. (The magazine called it "Strawberry Cream Cheese Tart.")

Made in a springform pan, it looks like a baked cheesecake, but has a fluffier texture -- it has no eggs and only one package of cream cheese. It can also be made in a 9-inch pie pan.

Pile of fresh strawberries on a cutting board
Strawberries have done well this year in the garden.
Fresh strawberry no-bake cheesecake

Makes 1 cheesecake; 8 to 12 servings

Ingredients:
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 cube (8 ounces) butter or margarine, melted
1 pint fresh strawberries, hulled and halved, plus more for garnish
2 tablespoons sugar
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
2 teaspoons vanilla
2/3 cup sugar
1 cup heavy whipping cream

Instructions:
Grease 8-inch springboard pan or 8- or 9-inch pie pan.

In a bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs and melted butter. Press crumb mixture into pan. Put pan in freezer and chill at least 1 hour.

Put strawberries and 2 tablespoons sugar in food processor or blender and puree. Transfer strawberry puree to saucepan and bring boil. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until strawberry puree reduces by half. Remove from heat and cool.

With an electric mixer, beat cream cheese until smooth. Add vanilla and sugar, then beat until blended. Add cooled strawberry puree. Mix until smooth. Add whipping cream. Beat until soft peaks form.
Cheesecake on angled plate
Place the garnish just before serving.
Remove crust from freezer. Pour strawberry-cream cheese filling into crust. Cover top with plastic wrap and chill in refrigerator 5 hours or overnight.

Garnish with fresh berries just before serving.

Serve chilled.

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Garden Checklist for week of May 19

Temperatures will be a bit higher than normal in the afternoons this week. Take care of chores early in the day – then enjoy the afternoon. It’s time to smell the roses.

* Plant, plant, plant! It’s prime planting season in the Sacramento area. If you haven’t already, it’s time to set out those tomato transplants along with peppers and eggplants. Pinch off any flowers on new transplants to make them concentrate on establishing roots instead of setting premature fruit.

* Direct-seed melons, cucumbers, summer squash, corn, radishes, pumpkins and annual herbs such as basil.

* Harvest cabbage, lettuce, peas and green onions.

* In the flower garden, direct-seed sunflowers, cosmos, salvia, zinnias, marigolds, celosia and asters.

* Plant dahlia tubers. Other perennials to set out include verbena, coreopsis, coneflower and astilbe.

* Transplant petunias, marigolds and perennial flowers such as astilbe, columbine, coneflowers, coreopsis, dahlias, rudbeckia and verbena.

* Keep an eye out for slugs, snails, earwigs and aphids that want to dine on tender new growth.

* Feed summer bloomers with a balanced fertilizer.

* For continued bloom, cut off spent flowers on roses as well as other flowering plants.

* Don’t forget to water. Seedlings need moisture. Deep watering will help build strong roots and healthy plants.

* Add mulch to the garden to help keep that precious water from evaporating. Mulch also cuts down on weeds. But don’t let it mound around the stems or trunks of trees or shrubs. Leave about a 6-inch to 1-foot circle to avoid crown rot or other problems.

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