Usually during Christmas and Easter time, I get emails from you asking what's my special menu. Because of my blog, people assume that I'll be cooking up a feast for Christmas and Easter. Well, let me tell you a secret… most of the time, I hardly cook anything during festive season. Either we celebrate it with friends or we go out. I've this weird habit.. I dont like to cook during festive occasion, I just wanna enjoy the day without worrying about the menu!
The only exception to that, is I make something sweet, a cake or a dessert. It's my back up plan, just in case somebody drops in to wish us. So this is what I made this year.
It's a very easy dessert to put together. It's an ideal dessert, if you're planning a party for a large group. You can whip up a fabulous looking and tasting dessert without much effort, sounds great, right? I got this recipe from my dear friend and neigbour Sonia. She made this dessert for us one Christmas and we both, Jose and myself were instant fans of this dessert!
I love these kind of recipes, where there is no cooking or baking involved. Just put together some wonderful ingredients and you are good to go!
Here is the recipe…
Add the melted butter to biscuit crumbs. Layer the serving dish with this crumb and butter mixture. Press it down using your fingers. Keep it aside…
Dissolve the lemon jello in 2 cups of hot water. Stir well. Keep it aside. Combine cream cheese, thick cream, sugar and vanilla essence using a whisk…
Fold in the jello mix to the cheese mixture until it's combined well. Pour this mixture over the crumb base. Refrigerate it till it sets, around 4-5 hrs. Spread the blueberry filling on top of the set dessert…
Ingredients
- 3 packets (85 gms each) Lemon Jello
- 200 gms Salted butter
- 2 cups Hot water
- 3 cups Digestive biscuit crumbs (refer notes)
- 325 gms Cream cheese (full fat or fat free, refer notes for substitute)
- 750 ml Thick cream (refer notes)
- 1 cup Sugar
- 2 tsp Vanilla essence
- 1 can (595 gms) Blueberry topping / filling
Instructions
- For the base
- Melt the butter. Add the melted butter to biscuit crumbs. Layer the serving dish with this crumb and butter mixture. Press it down using your fingers. Keep it aside.
- For the cheesecake
- Dissolve the lemon jello in 2 cups of hot water. Stir well. Keep it aside. Combine cream cheese, thick cream, sugar and vanilla essence using a whisk. Fold in the jello mix to the cheese mixture until it's combined well. This mixture is liquidy.
- Pour this mixture over the crumb base. Refrigerate it till it sets, around 4-5 hrs. You can set it overnight also.
- Spread the blueberry filling on top of the set dessert.
If I want to use vegetarian gelatin instead of lemon jelly.. what quantity should u use
You can sub same qty of veg gelatine.
Hi Maria, thanks for the receipe, shall surely try it. Is it ok if I use condensed milk instead of sugar ?
Yes, you can :)
hi, this is a question regarding the using amul cheese spread as a substitute for cream cheese, can i use it to make cream cheese frosting???
Hi Jay,
Though I haven’t tried it myself, I guess you can do that.
Cheers
Maria
Amul has recently launched its whipping cream, I guess you can try it. I was satisfied with the shine and volume it produced.
Thanks Mansi for sharing the info here.. I’m sure Indian readers will find it helpful :)
For those in India, Brittania has a cream cheese product which is very much similar in taste to the ones abroad. I tried the cheesecake recipes with the Brittania cream cheese (in place of Philadelphia) and Amul fresh cream (in place of whipping cream) and it was yummy!
Thanks Sarah :) I shared your cheesecake pic in FB page, hope you saw it.
Cheers
Maria
Thanks Maria! Saw it on FB just now :)
hi i love ur space i would like to make this for a getogther i hav a doubt can i replace lemon jelly with mango will it b tasty
Hi,
I havent tried this recipe with mango jelly, but if you like the flavour you can do that. However I’ve posted a no bake Mango cheese cake recipe also, please have a look at it.
https://mariasmenu.wpcomstaging.com/desserts/eggless-no-bake-mango-cheesecake
Cheers
Maria
I tried this but was watery. Is it 750 ml or 250 ml heavy cream?
Hi Maria
Jello means lemon jelly or gelatin and 3 packets means 3 tablespoons right .. Thanks veena
Hello
This is more info on cream cheese available in India. we get Britannia cream cheese (Rs150/- for 180 gm), and Amul creami cheese spread (Rs 63 for 200 gm) Britannia is the best but amul is worth the price. I use both and so far my kids hv not said the difference.
For whipping cream , we get Blue Bird Whipping cream powder (Rs 40 per pack) and follow instructions on pack. It is more likely available at Tata Star Bazaar.
Hope it helps ..
-Tres
Thanks a lot Tres for sharing the details here. I’m sure it would be of great help to Indian readers :)
Cheers
Maria
Hi maria,
i would like to know the lemon jello you have used is a pudding mix or a jelly mix.
And your recipes are awesome. i have tried only a few, all came out good. thanks for your recipes.
Hi Reena,
I’ve used a jelly mix. Thanks for trying out the recipes. Nice to know that you liked them :)
Cheers
Maria
Wow Maria! This sounds superb! Will surely try it out now that my summer vacations are on! :D
Thanks Rini! I do hope you get to try it soon and like it too..
Happy hols :)
Cheers
Maria
Thanks Rini! I do hope you get to try it soon and like it too..
Happy hols :)
Cheers
Maria
Thanks Rini! I do hope you get to try it soon and like it too..
Happy hols :)
Cheers
Maria
Wow Maria! This sounds superb! Will surely try it out now that my summer vacations are on! :D
Is the Blueberry topping readily available?
Yes, it’s readily available.
Yes, it’s readily available.
Is the Blueberry topping readily available?
Hi Maria! Thank you for posting such mouth watering recipes!! I have a question for you…In India( Chennai specially, that’s where I live) getting Cream Cheese is difficult & also an expensive affair…in that case what would be a good substitute for it? I have always shelved my plans of making a cheese cake due to this…
You are welcome Sarika! You can use Amul cheese spread in recipes that calls for cream cheese. Anyways, I’ve updated the recipe with notes on how to make cream cheese at home, please check out the notes section.
Hope it helps..
Cheers
Maria
Thanks Maria for the speedy reply….this option does comfort me!!! I My shelved desire to bake a Cheese Cake has some hope…..will update you once I experiment. Take care.
Thanks Maria for the speedy reply….this option does comfort me!!! I My shelved desire to bake a Cheese Cake has some hope…..will update you once I experiment. Take care.
You are welcome dear :) Hope you get to experiment cheesecake sometime soon.
Cheers
Maria
You are welcome dear :) Hope you get to experiment cheesecake sometime soon.
Cheers
Maria
Wow.. This sounds very interesting.. Less pains & more gains :)
Yes Chitz, its exactly less pains and more gains ;)
Yes Chitz, its exactly less pains and more gains ;)
Yes Chitz, its exactly less pains and more gains ;)
Wow.. This sounds very interesting.. Less pains & more gains :)