Today's recipe is my grandmother's cheesecake recipe. Now, it's not the typical cheesecake. No cooking for 2 hours, cooling in the oven overnight. No cracks to cover up. Just simple, light, and yummy! When I said I was serving cheesecake, my friends were worried...they were full from dinner and we all know how rich classic cheesecake is. However, the lightness of this was just perfect and the lemon flavor was refreshing. In fact, Justin said that he was glad it didn't have the traditional cheesecake texture or he wouldn't have been able to eat it. As weird as it may be, I think that was a compliment! So, if you have a sweet tooth and are still recovering from Christmas foods, try this lemon cheesecake.Granny's Cheesecake
Crust: 1/3 lb + 2 sheets graham crackers, crushed
3/4 stick of margarine, melted
1/4 cup sugar
(I added some cinnamon)
Filling:1 8 oz. cream cheese (I use 1/3 less fat), softened
1 cup sugar
1 3oz. lemon jello (you could probably use sugar free, but I haven't tried yet)
1 cup hot water
1 tall can PET evaporated milk, chilled (I use skim)
2 Tablespoons lemon juice (I added some lemon zest as well)
For crust mix graham cracker crumbs and sugar. Add melted margarine. Reserve some crumbs for the top and press the remaining mixture into the bottom of a 13X9 pan or 3 8-inch pie pans. Chill.
For filling: Dissolve the jello in the hot water. In a large bowl, blend cream cheese and sugar well. Slowly blend in dissolved jello. Chill. In a small bowl that is very clean (even chilled), beat milk until stiff. Add lemon juice and beat again. Fold into the cream cheese mixture. Pour this into the chilled crust. Chill. Just before serving, sprinkle with reserved crumbs.
That looks soooo good, Claire. Sadly I'm allergic to citrus so won't be able to try this one.
ReplyDeleteGreat looking recipe, Claire! I'm going to tag it to make when it warms up.
ReplyDeleteToday, however, I think I'm making cookies. :-)
I love no bake cheesecake type desserts. This looks delicious!
ReplyDeleteI love cheesecake but haven't made one in years because of the work and mostly the calories. This one looks great and I'm definitely going to print it off for my ever-increasing "to-try" pile. Yummy!
ReplyDeleteCan't wait for the chicken roll-ups... I make some that are really easy. Haven't made them in a while though, so I should do that soon with some soup. :)
Have a good day (are you watching the Colts game right now, we are!) :)
RDM - Sorry that you are allergic to citrus. That is no fun. You probably could make this a different flavor by changing the jello flavor and omitting lemon juice...maybe even use vanilla or another extract (just less of it).
ReplyDeleteAlisha - This is a great easter time dessert. I would love to make some cookies!
Kristen - Thanks! This is so easy.
Stacy - let me know how it turns out. The chicken roll-ups recipe is up! BTW, Colts are up by 6 with 2 minutes left...can they do it?
This sounds really good and I like the idea of no need to bake dessert!
ReplyDeleteHowever, I am not a big fan of jello in some desserts, sometimes the jello flavor ends up way to pronounced. So i was thinking about the flavors here and after reading "Red Dirt Mummy"'s post I thought about making this with vanilla pudding instead of the jello (and omitting the lemon flavor, of course). Do you think it might work or am I being to crazy here??
I guess the water could be subbed by milk then, and vanilla pudding (or another flavor) used instead of the jell-o... hummm, maybe I will give it a try.
What is your opnion on this one?? Now I am not sure if this would be edible or sort of a crazy idea! :o)
I like your blog!!
Ana
Ana - The jello doesn't congeal to a full solid in this recipe, it just provides a little substance for the air of the evaporated milk. I'm afraid that the pudding might weigh down the fluff. BUT it never hurts to experiment! Let me know if you try it, either way. Thanks for dropping by! I'll check you out soon.
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