No bake cheesecake with a fresh blueberry and beer swirl. Piled high with fresh berries and served with a shortbread crust.
As most of you know, I attended the Food and Wine Conference this past weekend. I’ll post a recap from the event later this week, but as you can imagine, there was LOTS of food. By the time Sunday afternoon rolled around, I never wanted to eat again. Of course I did eat again. There was ice cream after all.
For the last month, I’ve been monitoring my calories and trying to eat more of the good stuff. Over the last month, I tried to workout more but it was only about twice a week. My goal was to lose some fat and tone. I also wanted to eat better and get more protein, veggies, etc. I only dropped 2 pounds during this time. So, I go to the food bloggers conference, eat nothing but fried, chocolate covered, everything, and think I’m going to come home weighing 10 pounds more than when I left Friday. Sunday night, I stepped on the scale and I was down 3 pounds from when I left?! How does this happen? I was eat healthy, avoid eating out, and make better food choices while I’m here, and nothing. I’m assuming all the food at the food blog conference was calorie-free.
I’m also adding this to the calorie-free recipes. It’s covered in berries which are good for you. Yea, the crust is 1/3 butter but it’s covered in healthy berries. Beer is good for you, too. This cake is also lighter than the traditional cheesecake. Most cheesecakes are heavy but whipping the ingredients gives them a lighter texture. It’s also perfect for a hot day.
For this no bake cheesecake with blueberry swirl, I’ve used a couple different beers. I originally made this a few years ago when I made a Key Lime No Bake Cheesecake. I’ve made this recipe 3 or 4 times over the last couple months for parties, and I’ve mainly stuck with fruit wheat beers. I’d avoid hoppy IPA’s. Chocolate or coffee stouts could be an interesting idea for a chocolate covered strawberry cheesecake. I didn’t test or try chocolate and stouts, so please do not be mad at me if it isn’t a winning combo.
Other Beers to Try:
- Strawberry Wheat- Lancaster Brewing Co.
- Sweetwater Blue- Sweetwater Brewing Co.
- Sea Dog Blueberry or Raspberry Wheat Ale- Sea Dog Brewing Co.
This was a separate batch I made without fresh blueberries on top. I didn’t swirl the blueberry sauce. I just poured it on top and piled on the strawberries. So good!
- CHEESECAKE
- 8 oz Heavy Whipping Cream
- 8 oz Cream Cheese- Softened
- 3 Tablespoons Sugar
- 2 Tablespoons Beer
- 1 Shortbread Cookie Crust- See notes
- ½ Pint Fresh Strawberries- Sliced
- ½ Cup Fresh Blueberries
- BLUEBERRY SAUCE
- 1 Cup Blueberries- Fresh or Frozen
- ¼ Cup Beer- See note above for recommended beers
- ¼ Cup Sugar
- Pinch of Salt
- In a mixer, whip the cold cream until it forms thick pikes. Place the whip cream in a large bowl. Combined the softened Cream Cheese, Sugar, and Beer in the mixer and stir on a medium low setting until the cream cheese is smooth.
- Once the cream cheese is smooth, using a spatula, softly fold in the whip cream. Take your spoon from the side of the bowl and through the middle to incorporate. Be careful not to over mix the filling.
- Add the mixture to a cooled shortbread cookie crust. Add spoonfuls of the blueberry sauce to the top and use a butter knife or fork to swirl the two.
- Top with additional berries and refrigerate for at least one hour.
- BLUEBERRY SAUCE
- Add all ingredients to a small sauce pan and cook over medium low heat until the berries pop and the sauce starts to thicken, about 10 minutes. Stir often to prevent the berries from sticking to the bottom.
- Strain the mixture through a fine strainer to remove the outside of the berries. Refrigerate until cool before adding to the cheesecake.
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