No Bake Peach Melba Cheesecake/Pie
Remember my last post, where we went to a cookout for Labor Day? I believe I mentioned that there were a few milestones that were being celebrated during that time. One of them was a wedding anniversary, to a couple who, after seven years and two adorable kids, still act like newlyweds. I had planned on making some type of cheesecake to take. Lordy, it’s peach season in Michigan, and it has been a year for delicious peaches! It just happens that, when I planned this, I also got my hands on a pint of fresh red raspberries. Double yum. Put them together and you’ve got yourself a peach melba in the making. Add cream cheese and how can you lose? Oh, yeah – you CAN’T. See how beautifully ruby-colored those peaches look in that picture? Just add raspberries…
No bake cheesecake is another of those things that have a number of versions floating around out there, and most of them are pretty good. Of course, I usually have something to say about tweaking this or changing that. One of the more popular ones is too heavy and sweet, the other is too fluffy and not sweet enough (that’s just my opinion). Sooo, of course, I had to work with the two to make something in between. This is super easy. You do have to bake the graham crust for about 8 minutes, and you do have to cook the topping a little, but that only takes a minimal effort, for a finished dessert that is amazing. And the bake time is short, which is perfect for summer.
Now, I took this to that gathering where there was a fair number of people, so I put it in a 9 x 13 cake pan. You could just as easily put it in a deep dish (probably 10 inch is best) pie pan. Whatever works best for you. This worked for us because, as you can see, we added a little sentiment to it. Again, I made the dish, my daughter took over for the decoration. In this case, since that is a fruit topping sort of like a pie filling, the decorating was a little touchier, but it worked out great. And she unknowingly used one of their wedding colors, blue!
I used peaches and raspberries for the top of this, but you could use whatever you want: cherries, strawberries, blueberries…..Chocoate and caramel would be awesome, especially if you were to add some pecans…..
Happy Anniversary Marcus and Veronica! May you have many, many more!
No Bake Peach Melba Cheesecake/Pie
- CRUST:
- About 1½ - 2 cups graham cracker crumbs
- 3-4 tablespoons sugar
- about ⅓ cup of butter, melted
- FILLING:
- 2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, softened (I used 1 regular and 1 light - DON'T use fat free)
- 1 can sweetened condensed milk, like Eagle Brand
- 1 regular size tub of whipped topping, like Cool Whip
- ¼ cup lemon juice, fresh squeezed is best
- 2 teaspoons good vanilla
- TOPPING:
- 4 cups ripe peaches (About 7-8 peaches, peeled and pitted)
- ½ - ¾ cups of sugar. This depends on the sweetness of the fruit. Just don't overpower the flavor of the fruit by oversweetening
- 1 pint red rasperries (1 cup) You could use frozen unsweetened if you can't get fresh
- 3-4 Tablespoons Corn starch or food starch, mixed with enough COLD water to make a thin slurry, a little thicker than water.
- Preheat oven to 350°
- CRUST
- Mix cracker crumbs with sugar, then pour in melted butter. Keep stirring and mixing together until all crumbs are coated. Press down into the pan to form a crust. Bake for about 8 minutes, until edges start to brown. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.
- FILLING:
- Mix the softened cream cheese until smooth. Stir in about ¼ to ⅓ of the can of sweetened condensed milk until smooth. Stir in the rest of the sweetened condensed milk unitl smooth. Add the vanilla and lemon juice. When all is smooth and blended, FOLD in the whipped topping. Once that is all mixed in, pour/spoon it over the cooled graham cracker crust. Refrigerate.
- TOPPING:
- Place the peaches and sugar in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Heat until sugar is dissolved and juice is beginning to bubble. Be you don't stir too much, or the peaches will break down, and you will have Melba Mash! 🙂 BE READY TO STIR QUICKLY SO THE CORNSTARCH MIXTURE DOESN"T LUMP. Stirring quickly, drizzle in about half of the cornstarch/water slurry. It should thicken very quickly as long as it is simmering. It should thicken about to the consistency of pie filling, or a little more. Stir in the raspberries. You may need to thicken a little more, depending on how juicy the fruit is. Once you have the consistency you want, set it aside to cool. Here, you could set the pan in some icewater to speed the process.
- Once it reaches room temperature or cooler, spread over the top of the cheesecake. Cover and return to the refrigerator to completely chill.
I do believe that this is the same cheesecake, topped with that fresh-sour-cherry stuff that Mom puts on it, that Brandon decided I was taking too long to eat and swiped out from under my nose…no I have not forgotten.
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