I absolutely love cheesecakes! Any kind, flavor, brand of cheesecake. You name it, I will devour it with a big grin on my face. Seriously, my friends will attest that I make a kilig face after taking a bite of one.

Unfortunately, the household is not equipped with baking materials to make or bake anything: no baking powder, yeast, vanilla extract, beater, pie pans, not even an oven. So when Paula posted a no-bake cheesecake recipe link, I knew I had to try this.

For ingredients, I had a choice to buy from Landmark Trinoma and SM Hypermart North EDSA. Either way, I ended up bleeding my wallet dry. Here are the price ranges for your references.

Note: If price unstated, I already had these at home and I assume that you have them as well.


Crust:
* 1 cup crushed graham cracker crumbs: 1 pack of MY San Crushed Graham for 27.
* 2 tbsp unsalted butter: small bar of Dairy Creme
* 1/2 cup brown sugar

Filling:
* 2 (8 oz) pack cream cheese, softened: 2 packs of American Heritage cream cheese for 107 ea.
* 1/3 cup sugar: I used brown sugar here as well. They claim it's healthier.
* 1 tsp vanilla extract: Ferna Vanilla Flavor for 28. If you can afford it, McCormick costs 52.
* 2 cups cool whip topping, thawed: Random whipped creams cost between 200-230.
* 1 jar of blueberry preserves: 1 can of either Oregon (174) or Wilderness (179) blueberries.
* 1 tsp unflavored colorless gelatin: Queen clear unsweetened gelatin for 21. Alsa is 30-ish.
* 3 tbsp water

Misc Equipment:
* whisk: costs between 59 to 259. Mine costs 69.
* 9-inch pie pan: costs between 69 to 300.
* measuring cups and spoons
* fork, bowls (I didn't have mixing bowls that time so I settled for a kawali XD)

All in all, this session cost me 829 pesos. Le gasp X_X Don't worry, it will be cheaper for the next sessions since I don't need to buy the whisk, pan, vanilla and gelatin. And you can try other cheaper fruits instead of blueberries.

Procedure (from the link + additional stuff):

• Combine all the crust ingredients with a fork until well blended. If you feel it's still too powdery or it won't hold well, add more butter. Press in a 9 inch pie pan, and when they say press, they really mean it... to avoid falling apart when you take a slice. Chill in the fridge for about 15 minutes.
• Beat the cream cheese and sugar in a bowl with an electric mixer. Manually beating it will do if you don't have an electric mixer. Just make sure you stir it well and evenly, prepare to be very exhausted after this step. Add in vanilla extract.
• Dissolve the gelatin in the water and add in the cream cheese mixture. Beat until well blended and cream cheese fluffy.
• Add in the cool whip and fold gently. How to fold video. Sorry! I really didn't know how to.

• Spoon over crust and let chill in the fridge for about 3 hours or until set. Top with some lots of blueberries. Add whipped cream on the sides if desired.

TADA! Yes it's messy and yes I should've taken it off the pan, but cut me some slack. It's my first time to make anything this yummy!

I gave this to my mom as a birthday present last Friday ^_^ It was all worth it and I can't wait to do this again ♥

Credits: chboogs for the recipe, Paula for sharing it and Bamba for additional tips and instructions.

Labels: hobbies