4th of July Cheesecake

 

 

I love making this 4th of July Dessert, it's super easy and always a crowd pleaser. 

Ingredients:

 

Filling

• 8 oz. package of cream cheese (I use 1/2 the fat cream cheese)
• 1/2 Cup Sugar
• 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 2 Eggs

Toppings

• Extra Pie Crust for stars
• Strawberries (sliced)
• 1 Pint blueberries (washed)
• Whipped cream (can be canned or you can make homemade)

Glaze for fruit

• 2 Tablespoons raspberry or strawberry fruit preserves
• 1 Teaspoon of Cointreau or Triple Sec
• 1 Teaspoon water  
• 1/2 Teaspoon cinnamon

Click HERE for my Easy Pie Crust recipe and ingredients. You will need the extra pie dough for star cut outs. Bake those separately and place upon completion of the pie. You can also make a graham cracker crust for the cheesecake or even do mini crusts.

 

Refrigerate the crust.

Put the cream cheese and sugar in your mixer bowl and blend until smooth and creamy.

Bring mixer to a slow stir and add vanilla extract. Then add the eggs slowly, one at a time.

*Make double the filling recipe if you are doing a cheesecake without toppings.

Poor filling into cheesecake crust and bake for 25-30 min at 350 Degrees.  

While the cheesecake is baking, mix all the glaze ingredients together in a small bowl and set aside. Also slice up 6-8 Strawberries.

Once the cheesecake has cooled for 20 minutes, cover top with whipped cream (thin layer). This will help the fruit stay in place. What I did next was an outer row of blueberries, then a row of strawberries, then blueberries and a couple of strawberries for the center. Of course, the fruit placement can be modified however you would like.

Now pour the glaze over the fruit, add your stars and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.