Waaaaay back in the day, I remember mom in the kitchen whipping up a cherry cream cheese pie for one event or another. It always was a hit, and either went fast at the dessert social or was eaten quickly by friends and family at the house. I always wondered what made it so appealing, since as a kid it didn't look interesting enough to give a fair try. I am SO glad I grew up... ;o).
Ditch your usual serving dishes and grab some unique glassware to show off the layers.
I'm sure many families made a version of this dessert one time or another. Keebler Ready Crust Graham Cracker crusts were a simple 'go to', to fill any rich, sugary mixture into and have an easy, cold dessert ready for company in a snap. One day at Whole Foods I found Kinnikinniek's Graham Style Crumbs and Jo-Sef Square Chocolate Cookies, and YES, the sweetened condensed milk was already gluten-free ~ I was ready to create some gluten-free decadence of my own.
- 1 8-ounce pkg. cream cheese softened
- 1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
- 1/2 cup lemon juice
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 21-ounce can cherry pie filling
- 2-4 cups Kinnikinnick Foods gluten-free graham style crumbs
- 6-12 Jo-Sef square chocolate cookies crumbled
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In a medium bowl, beat the softened cream cheese until fluffy. Beat in sweetened condensed milk, lemon juice and vanilla. Batter should be free of lumps. Put the bowl into the refrigerator for about 45 minutes to chill and set.
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Beat all ingredients except the crackers and pie filling together, and chill in the refrigerator to set.
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Remove from the refrigerator when the above is nice and thick. Next, place the chocolate cookies between some wax paper and roll with a rolling pin to crumble. This part of the process is completely up to you - how large or small to break up the pieces is a matter of choice.
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Break up the cookies as large or as small as you'd like to line the bottom of your serving dish with. Smaller crumbles for the toppings.
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Now pull out some of the glassware you don't quite use enough of, the pretty small serving dishes your grandma passed down to you, or those trendy new Crate 'N Barrel cups you've been looking for an excuse to show off. Line each dish with some chocolate crumbles, layer those with graham style crumbs, spoon a good helping of the cream cheese mixture on top of that, and top with spoonfuls of the cherry pie filling. Repeat. In fact, repeat as many times as you'd like. You can get quite fancy and fun in a tall, slender glass with the layers!
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Pull out your favorite glasses to double as a dessert serving dish.
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In the end you'll have many individual serving sized desserts, in all different shapes and sizes, for guests to enjoy. How many does this recipe make? Hard to say as it depends on the size of your layers and glasses, however it makes approx. one 9-inch pie worth which is about 8 servings, at the least. I made approx. 12 individually sized desserts, some a little big, some a little small, mostly just right!
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Smilin' gluten-free cherry cream cheese yummmm-ness!
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And yes, I had to add this photo as it looks like a funny red nose, big, gooey round teeth, and goofy grin SMILING back at me. Use some imagination and have fun while creating your dessert masterpieces ;o).
Use a variety of pretty glasses to serve your colorful dessert in!
