No Bake Dessert: Lemon and Blackberry Cheesecake Parfaits

September 24, 2018 No Comments A Well Crafted Pantry

Other than a few frozen treats in the freezer I try to not keep any desserts in our home. That way, if I want a dessert, I have to really want it enough to make it! A celebratory meal promoted the desire to make a sweet treat, but the heat made me really not want to bake a thing! Enter a couple of bags of delicious frozen Oregon blackberries, cream cheese, and some beautiful lemons to create this no-bake treat of lemon and blackberry cheesecake parfaits.

Lemon and Blackberry Cheesecake No-Bake Dessert | A Well Crafted Party

This post is in partnership with Oregon Berries. All opinions are my own. About Oregon Berries: The Oregon Raspberry & Blackberry Commission focuses on promoting caneberries to multiple audiences, and supports Oregon berry farmers by fostering plant research and farming education initiatives. Find Oregon Berry brands on the Oregon Berries website!

While I can absolutely enjoy lemons anytime, and all the time, it isn’t the most Fall-like flavor. Now that the weather is getting cooler and Fall is firmly beginning to take hold, you may want to substitute the lemon for more fall-like flavors. Read on to learn how to make this no-bake blackberry parfait with lemon and a few different fun seasonal variations!

Lemon and Blackberry Cheesecake Parfait

The name parfait is from French meaning “perfect”– I can’t say that I don’t agree. This dish layers a mixture of delicious cream, jam, and curd to create a delightful chilled, no-bake dessert. Layer in some delicious sponge cake to make a tasty trifle! I’ve layered everything how it made sense to me, but the best part of a parfait is that you can switch it up as you desire! In efforts to make this dessert a very simple no-bake treat, I used a pre-made curd rather than making one. No curd available? Sub in a delicious jam!

Layers of this Lemon-Blackberry Cheesecake Parfait

Walnut and butter crust
Blackberry Cheesecake Whip
Lemon Curd (this is where you can substitute any of your favorite fruit curds or jams!)
Vanilla Cheesecake Whip
Whipped Cream
Blackberry Syrup
Frozen Blackberry

Lemon and Blackberry Cheesecake Parfait Recipe

I made six, four-once parfaits with this recipe. Below are all of the ingredients, but again, this is something you can really mix and match as your tastes dictate! There seem to be a LOT of steps with this dessert, but they are all really easy and all-in-all are totally worth it!

Walnut crust:

Ingredients:

1 cup walnuts
1/4 cup melted butter
2 tablespoons brown sugar

Directions:

Pulse walnuts, melted butter, and brown sugar in a food processor. Don’t have a food processor? Pulverize the walnuts with a mallet.

Need a nut-free crust? Substitute some ladyfingers or sponge cake.

Blackberry Syrup:

Ingredients:

1 package of frozen Oregon blackberries (I used the Stahlbush Island Farms Marion Blackberries which has 10 oz of blackberries) – reserve 6-10 berries for garnish
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/8 cup water

Directions:

Put water, sugar, and blackberries in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir occasionally so that the sugar doesn’t burn.
Cook down and simmer until the mixture thickens. (About 10 minutes.) Continue to stir.
Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve reserving the liquid. Let the syrup cool in the fridge while you complete the rest of the steps.

Keep reading for the real secret to this delicious dessert!

Cheesecake Whip:

This part is my favorite because you are basically taking one step and turning it into three different layers!

Ingredients:

1 pint of heavy whipping cream
2, 8 oz packs of cream cheese (room temperature)
2 teaspoons of vanilla
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/8th cup of blackberry syrup

Directions:

Make whipped cream: Whip the heavy whipping cream with a hand mixer (or whisk) until peaks begin to form. Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla and 1/8th cup of sugar and continue whipping until peaks are well formed. Don’t overwhip as you’ll get sweet butter instead of whipped cream. Set aside two cups of whipped cream.
Whip cream cheese: Whip up the cream cheese with a hand mixer or whisk until softened. Mix the cream cheese with the remaining whipped cream. Split the mixture into two bowls.
Vanilla Cheesecake Whip: Take one of the cream cheese/ whipped cream mixtures add the remaining 1/8th cup of sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Mix well.
Blackberry Cheesecake Whip: Take the remaining cream cheese/whipped cream mixture and add in 1/8th cup of chilled blackberry syrup. Mix well. This mixture will be thinner than the previous mixture.
Chill: Place the whipped cream, vanilla cheesecake whip, and blackberry cheesecake whip in the fridge for 30 minutes before building your parfait.
Build: After the mixtures have chilled, build your parfaits. Layer in jam or pre-made curd to knock this dessert out of the park! Top the mixture with blackberry syrup and garnish with frozen blackberries.

Substitute a pear or apple jam for the lemon curd for a nice fall twist to this dessert!

Cocktails

Blackberry Lavender Lemonade + Cocktail Recipe

July 28, 2018 No Comments Cocktails

It has been a long time since I’ve shared a Saturday Spirits post. But, this past hot weather and a challenge from Oregon Berries to create a recipe featuring blackberries and edible flowers got me thinking about a deliciously sweet, cold blackberry lemonade that would be fun to sip on a long afternoon playing outdoors.

Oregon blackberries are perfectly in season at this time of year, but thankfully, you can capture the fresh berry flavor all year long with the use of frozen Oregon blackberries. This recipe makes a tasty non-alcoholic lavender blackberry lemonade and tips for an easy cocktail created with this base recipe.

This post is in partnership with Oregon Berries. All opinions are my own. About Oregon Berries: The Oregon Raspberry & Blackberry Commission focuses on promoting caneberries to multiple audiences, and supports Oregon berry farmers by fostering plant research and farming education initiatives. Find Oregon Berry brands on the Oregon Berries website!

In the past, I was not much of a fan of lavender in my foods or beverages. However, as I’ve gotten older, I’ve started to appreciate the subtle floral note as an addition to different drinks, meals, and desserts. The combination of tart lemons, sweet blackberries, and lavender is an especially good use of this edible flower.

Blackberry Lavender Lemonade

I started this recipe by making two different simple syrups. I made a lavender simple syrup and a blackberry simple syrup. Then combined the syrups with freshly squeezed lemon juice and water.

The simple syrups help sweeten the lemonade, but I do suggest sweetening to taste a bit as I tend to like things a bit more tart.

Lavender simple syrup:

I was able to find a beautiful lavender plant at our local farmer’s market. I’ll be planting it in my yard so that I can continue to make this simple syrup year after year.

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar
1 cup water
3 heads of fresh lavender

Directions:

In a small heavy bottom saucepan place all ingredients. Cook over medium heat, stirring until the sugar is dissolved.

Cook for about 5 minutes and take off the heat. I let mine sit for 10 minutes to cool a bit and allow the flavor to meld a bit more.

Strain, reserving the liquid.

Blackberry Simple Syrup

If you’ve never had an Oregon blackberry then you may think of blackberries a bit differently than I do. I always associated blackberries with lots of seeds and a berry flavor, but just not worth the effort to cook with/eat due to the seeds. However, after eating Oregon blackberries it has become my favorite berry by far! Juicy, bold flavor and not the same seedy feeling that I’ve had experienced in the past. I’ve learned that Oregon is an ideal growing environment for berries due to the great combination of how the Oregon soil, air, and water work together. The berries that are chosen for Oregon Berries products are picked at the peak of ripeness and are frozen within 24 hours of being picked to maximize taste, juiciness, and nutrition.

Ingredients:

16 oz frozen blackberries
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water

Directions:

Put all ingredients in a small, heavy-bottomed saucepan and cook over medium heat. Stir frequently so that sugar doesn’t burn.

Cook until the blackberries are cooked down and the sugar is dissolved. About 5-10 minutes.

Strain mixture, smashing all the blackberries and reserving the liquid.

Blackberry Lavender Lemonade

Makes approximately 1 64 oz pitcher

1 cup of lavender simple syrup
1 cup of blackberry simple syrup
Freshley squeezed juice of 12 lemons
4 cups water
Blackberries and lemon slices for garnish

Combine all ingredients in a pitcher and chill.

To create a tasty (and easy) cocktail with this mixture add in your favorite gin or vodka. This makes an easy summer cocktail for those who wish to imbibe.

See my other Oregon Berries recipes:

I love working with Oregon Berries because I already buy them and eat them on the regular. Getting to share my love with you is icing on the cake.

Can’t get enough blackberries? Check out the hashtags #oregonberries or #putaberryonit to see what others are doing with Oregon Berries!

A Well Crafted Pantry

Camping Food Hacks

July 26, 2018 1 Comment A Well Crafted Pantry

I’m currently dreaming about campfires, sleeping under the stars, and getting out in the beautiful Pacific Northwest outdoors. It is camping season! Camping for me is really a great way to reset and get away from it all. Some years we get on more camping trips than other years, but each time we make the whole process more streamlined so that next time we camp it is even easier and more relaxing. We have spent a lot of time and effort making camping easy, affordable, and fun each and every time. Last September I had the opportunity to share some tips on making your next camping trip a breeze!

In my nearly 20 years of working, I’ve worked in several restaurants. I’ve worked in many of the different positions from prep cook to bartender. My time in restaurants has taught me so many lessons that I use every day. I especially utilize these skills when camping.

Camping Hacks Learned from Restaurants:

Use a double bin system to wash dishes. This hack is actually one that I’ve gotten from a brilliant friend of mine and it is so simple that I can’t believe EVERYONE doesn’t do this! Working at a restaurant you learn to have a double sink (triple sink for many restaurants… but, for camping, two suffices). Go to your local dollar store and pick up two medium sized plastic containers with lids. Prep one of these as your soap basin with soap and water. The other as your rinse basin. You may have to change out the water a couple of times, but this way you’re not being wasteful and you get your dishes done in one go!
Make a menu. Restaurants work off of menus so that they know what to buy and prep. When camping you usually don’t have the opportunity to just run to the store when you want an ingredient. Planning a menu for each meal and sticking to it is the best way to make sure you have bought, prepped, and packed enough… but not TOO much food items. Don’t forget to plan for snacking!
Prep, prep, prep. Anyone who has worked in the back of the house of a restaurant knows that much of the day is spent prepping ingredients to actually use during the meal times. One of my first jobs including coming in early in the morning before we opened so that I could prep our freshly prepared onion rings. If we ran out of the prepped ones in the middle of dinner rush… well, we were out! When prepping for a camping trip I take my menu and think about how I am going to cook each item. If something needs to be sliced or chopped, and it won’t compromise the item to be cut early, then I’ll go ahead and slice those items and put them in a labeled container. If I only need a couple of cups of an item, but it comes in a large bag, I’ll go ahead and measure that out early and put in a labeled container.
Label well. It is super important to label your prepped items well so that you can find what you need while cooking a meal. Restaurants label EVERYTHING with what is in the container, the date, and usually the use by date. I similarily prep my camping ingredients with labels of what is in there and sometimes what date that I need to use those items (using my menu as a reference). That way if someone else is helping me cook, they know which items to grab! Similarly, make sure you have aluminum foil, plastic bags, and masking tape to properly wrap and label any unused or leftover food items.
Plan for leftovers. I try my best to make sure that we have just enough food for our party, and not too much… but, I also don’t want anyone to go hungry so I often will have leftovers. Many restaurants will use unused prepped produce/meat in a staff meal. I typically plan for a breakfast hash on one of the last camping days. I bring enough eggs for the meal, but then use any unused prepped produce/meat (hotdogs/brats are fantastic additions to a breakfast!) to accompany those eggs.

A Well Crafted Pantry

Lemon and Blackberry Cheesecake Parfait

Layers of this Lemon-Blackberry Cheesecake Parfait

Lemon and Blackberry Cheesecake Parfait Recipe

Blackberry Lavender Lemonade

Lavender simple syrup:

Blackberry Simple Syrup

Blackberry Lavender Lemonade

See my other Oregon Berries recipes:

Camping Hacks Learned from Restaurants:

Read other posts on camping: