One of my favorite events of the year is the Tavern Night at Morgan Log House. It's a fundraiser for a local historical site in Towamencin, PA where guests purchase tickets and then get to eat and drink all sorts of locally made delicious things. For me, I get to support a beautiful historic home (historic buildings are one of my great loves), while chatting with both guests and other local food/beer/cider businesses, and enjoy one of the last summer nights of the year.
Instead of just setting out our spreads for guests to sample, for the last two years I've teamed up with The Grand Fromage in Skippack, PA. Dianna and I spent some time creating three perfectly paired combinations of cheese and SBK spreads. Just like last year - the hit of the night was a blue cheese paired with our Brandied Pear Spread.
I also make a few desserts to help showcase a few different ways to use up our spreads. This year, I made a bunch of mini-desserts. Our go-to Balsamic Strawberry Spread Shortcake, just pound cake layered with Balsamic Strawberry Spread and whipped cream, was a hit as always, but my new FAVORITE dessert is the no-bake cheesecake with Sour Cherry Spread.
I wanted to share the recipe for the cheesecake because it was SO easy and delicious. This could be made with any of our sweet flavors (Balsamic Strawberry or Blueberry Basil) but the tart sour cherry and the creamy vanilla cheesecake combo was amazing.
No-Bake Cheesecake with Sour Cherry Spread
Makes about 24 shot glass sized desserts (can be packed into larger jars as desired)
Ingredients:
3/4 graham cracker crumbs (could also be made with vanilla cookies or spice cookies)
Note: You can add 2 Tablespoons of melted, unsalted butter - but I left it out and it worked just fine.
8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup heavy cream
8 oz Sour Cherry Spread (or Balsamic Strawberry Spread or Blueberry Basil Spread)
Directions:
1. Divide crumbs evenly between serving dishes.
2. In a large bowl, combine cream cheese and sugar. Beat with a mixer until smooth. Stir in vanilla.
3. Using an electric mixer with the whisk attachment, whisk heavy cream until soft peaks form.
4. Using a spatula, fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture.
5. Spoon Sour Cherry Spread (just less than a teaspoon) into each dish. Top with cream cheese filling (I used a piping bag, worked very well) and then top with the remaining Sour Cherry Spread (just less than a teaspoon)
6. Cover and chill for at least two hours before serving, up to 2-3 days. Top with whipped cream for serving if desired.
