This no-bake blueberry cheesecake is light, thanks to a mix of cream cheese, mascarpone and whipping cream, delicious and not too sweet, with the right amount of tartness from the blueberry/lemon combination.

Back from British Columbia we are, with some great organic produce. In the trunk we had: regular and rainier cherries, blueberries, apricots, nectarines and peaches; grape tomatoes, sweet pea pods, yellow orange and red peppers, garlic; nectarine jam and a bottle of Gewurtztraminer wine. Not a bad harvest, eh? We felt like kids in a candy store, our minds full of ideas, are eyes still brightened by the beautiful landscapes we went through.

The regular cherries, apricots, peaches and sweet pea pods are already gone. They had a good short life 🙂 . The blueberries, amazingly good, were bought with the intent of making a cheesecake, so here we are sharing it "virtually" with you.

I am not a super fan of cheesecake, have never been, I find it too sugary, filling and pasty for my taste, so went on looking for some diverse recipes that didn't include tons of cream cheese and sugar and that were more on the "lighter" side. The no-bake version seemed to match these requisites, it seemed also more suitable -to me- for a summer dessert. I don't know, though, in true sincerity, if I can call it "lighter", since the filling is a mix of cream cheese, mascarpone and whipping cream, but certainly it tastes lighter in your mouth. Sooo light and deliciously not overly sweet, with the right amount of tartness from the blueberry/lemon juice/zest combination.

As for the cookies, I opted for digestive cookies, which I love. I bought those in Rome before coming to Edmonton, on my quest to find cookies from brands that did not use palm oil. I am still on that same page and even here I always look at the ingredients before buying any kind of groceries (and you'll be surprised at how many foods contain palm oil. If you want to know why I do not want to buy those foods, I'll quickly say that since palm oil is considered the cheapest cooking oil in the world, it is linked to major issues such as deforestation, habitat degradation, climate change, animal cruelty and indigenous rights abuses in the countries where it is produced, as the land and forests must be cleared for the development of the oil palm plantations).

But back to the cheesecake. It was a joint effort, Loreto's and mine. And other than a little inconvenience, it turned out pretty amazing. I washed the blueberries, he crumbled the cookies in the mortar and pestle, I measured the ingredients, he whipped the cream. He grated the lemon zest, I squeezed the lemon, he patted the base of cookies in the pan, I spread the filling mixture on top. Then we both relaxed since it stayed in the fridge overnight.

In the morning, bright eyed and bushy tailed, probably due to 2 large cups of Oso Negro and Catfish blend coffee, we were eager to complete the cheesecake. Pan on the stove, water, lemon juice and sugar in, followed by the blueberries, then the potato starch and water mix and finally the lemon zest. The required 3 tablespoons of cornstarch, though, were a little too much for just a ¼ cup of water, so we had to add more water to make it more runny. Then my husband's intuition started buzzing, thinking "will the crumb base be firm enough to hold this thing together?" This was a dilemma from the beginning, as he felt that the crumb mixture was not moist enough to form (but you know me and following exactly the recipe, plus adding more butter to what requested, is not an option 🙂 ). But his intuition was right, the base was a bit too crumbly and the blueberry compote started running over the sides.

The picture below is a testimony of the mess.

After a couple of hours in the fridge the look was better. The taste was still delicious.

Recipe adapted and modified from Sweetest Kitchen .

No-bake blueberry cheesecake

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Total Time: 14 hours

Instructions

Combine digestive (or graham cracker) crumbs, melted butter and brown sugar in a bowl and mix until the crumbs have been thoroughly coated with the butter.
Press firmly into the bottom and sides of an 8-inch springform pan. Chill for 30 minutes.
In a medium bowl, combine mascarpone, cream cheese, sugar, lemon juice and vanilla and whisk until smooth and creamy. Set aside.
Whisk cream in another bowl until stiff peaks form. Gently fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture.
Pour the filling into the prepared crust, using a flat spatula to flatten the top. Cover and chill several hours or overnight.
For the compote: combine blueberries, water, lemon juice and sugar in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring gently untilit reaches a boil. Reduce heat, add the potato (or corn) starch & water mixture and stir gently, as to not break the berries, for 3 minutes, or until sauce is thickened. Fold in lemon zest.
Pour sauce over the cheesecake and let sit in the fridge for a couple hours before serving.

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes