FROM MY PANTRY: Celebrating Father’s Day

I send my best wishes to all Dads, Husbands and Grandpas for a wonderful Father’s Day this Sunday. We may not tell you often enough how much you mean to us. I hope you will all be spoiled and given lots of hugs and kisses from your families. My Dad died when I was just fourteen. I wish he were here right now to be with my family. My love and prayers go to you now.

I will be repeating my recipe for a no-bake cherry cheesecake for you this week. The recipe was given to me by a very dear friend, Carol Foreman about 1970. If you have never made this, you are certainly missing out on a great dessert. It will be devoured by our family when we get together for Father’s Day. My grandaughter Jade made this for her Mum Jennifer’s birthday a few weeks ago. It makes me proud to see my grandchildren cooking and baking. and gardening. Another generation is following in our footsteps. And time goes on….

I will be looking forward to seeing you at the awards night hosted by the Seeker chicks this evening. Thank you to those of you who voted for me for best column and also for an existing business. It is an honour even to be considered. I love what I do for you here in my column and at my store. Thank you!

THE BEST NO-BAKE CHERRY CHEESECAKE

INGRE
DIENTS:

FOR THE BASE ( using a 9″ x 13″ pan)

• 2- 1/2 cups graham wafer crumbs
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup melted butter

FOR THE MIDDLE LAYER:

• 2 envelopes of Dream Whip dessert topping
• 1/2 cup of cold milk (do not use the amount of milk asked for on the envelope)
• 2 cups of sifted icing sugar
• 2- 8 oz. pkg. of Philadelphia cream cheese (I use brand name here. Make sure the cream cheese is very soft or you will have a lumpy filling when you whip this.)

THE TOPPING: You can use cherry, blueberry or raspberry pie filling to spread over the top. You can also use all three toppings and spread them in diagonal lines to cover the top of the cheesecake. You will need about 3 to 4 cups of pie filling. We carry this bulk in containers in my store, Sharyn’s Pantry.

METHOD: 
FOR THE BASE:

1. Grease a 9″ x 13″ baking pan with butter or spray with non-stick spray. Set your oven to 350 degrees F.
2. I know I said no-bake cheesecake but I was talking about the middle layer. -Combine the graham crumbs with the sugar. Mix well.
3. Stir in the melted butter. Mix well.
4. Remove about 1/4 cup of the crumb mixture and set this aside for now. You will sprinkle this as a garnish over the top of the pie filling before serving. – Sprinkle the remaining crumb mixture over the bottom of your prepared pan. Press the crumb mixture down firmly. I like to use the bottom of a flat-bottomed measuring cup to even out the crumb mixture.
5. Bake this for 10 minutes in a 350 degree F. oven. Then set aside to cool for a few minutes.

FOR THE MIDDLE LAYER:

1. Use an electric mixer and whip the Dream Whip with the 1/2 cup of cold milk. Note that you are not following the amount of milk asked for on the envelope of Dream Whip. Whip this until nice and fluffy.
2. Now add in the sifted icing sugar and whip this again. A hint here, use a rubber spatula to stir in the icing sugar first. I can tell you that in the past, I did not do this and had icing sugar all over me and the counter. When something like this happens, I say that it is God letting me do this wrong so I can tell you how to do it right. Whip this until nice and creamy.
3. Lastly, add the 2 packages of very soft cream cheese and whip again until nice and smooth and fluffy.
4. Spread this over the cooled baked graham crumb base.

FOR THE TOPPING:

1. Spread any pie filling (Cherry is our favourite) over the top of the cream cheese layer. We usually use a 4 cup container of Sharyn’s Pantry pie filling. This is bakery quality pie filling – the best!
2. Now sprinkle over the reserved graham crumb mixture to make a nice garnish. For Jen’s birthday cheesecake, Jade sprinkled the crumb mixture to spell JEN. Cute eh? Keep any leftovers refrigerated. It will keep for a week in your fridge. ENJOY!

SHARYN THOMPSON, Owner of SHARYN’S PANTRY – a family-run business for 35 years. 
 812 Pitt St, Unit 6, Cornwall, Ont 613-936-1998 OPEN: Monday to Saturday – 9 to 5