Fall is upon us and that means one thing....time to put away the swim trunks and bikinis and start packing on a few pounds to survive the upcoming winter cold! Now I do realize not everyone spends Fall weekends watching ball games and chugging beer so how else can you celebrate sweatpants and hoodie season? Desserts...that's how! Every once in a while you can feel a little less guilty about those extra post-meal sweet calories, especially if you add in a bunch of fresh fruit. I'm not here to preach to you how to enjoy life, but I will tell you that today's recipe, Blueberry Cheesecake Dessert Salad, will make even the most depressed, sad, thrown together last minute bland Fall casserole meal finish with a bang and put a smile on your face! And if your nutritionist asks, you can 100% say you had a blueberry salad with zero guilt on your conscience! This one is pretty quick and easy, folks, so grab that pumpkin spice latte and start sipping as I show you how anyone can gain a few pounds in a matter of minutes....Let's get cooking!
I'll begin this recipe with a disclaimer of sorts.....it is not technically a cheesecake nor a fruit dip/fluff but a semi-hybrid of both making it extra easy and delicious! Now that all the keyboard warriors have to hold their attacks till the next technicality, we can begin by pulling out the stand mixer. You can get away with using a handheld mixer if you don't have a stand mixer, but unless you have He-Man/Incredible Hulk/Popeye arms we are definitely going to need some electric mechanical assistance to cream some of the ingredients. That being said, add half a block of softened cream cheese, the powdered sugar, sour cream, and lemon juice to your mixer bowl and let her rip. Hopefully I don't need to say this, but I'm sure there is someone out there needing it......Start off slowly so you don't recreate every ridiculous baking scene in every lame romantic comedy ever produced and shoot ingredients all over the ceiling and kitchen! Let the mixer do the work and slowly increase the speed until these first ingredients come together to form a smooth and creamy batter-like mixture. This is pretty much the base of the recipe so give it a few minutes to come together properly and become the "cheesecake batter" of our dreams!
Believe it or not, that was pretty much the hardest part of this entire recipe! Now take a container of whipped topping that has slightly softened and fold it into the "cheesecake batter" mixture. You can use the mixer, but at this point your human-powered arms can pretty much combine the two parts. Mix until everything is well incorporated and pretty much a single homogenous cheesecake fluff.
Now this next, and pretty much final, step requires just a bit of finesse so take it easy. Take a little over 2 pounds / 36 ounces / 6 cups / 3 pints of blueberries and gently fold them into the cheesecake fluff so as not to smash or bust them up. It seems like entirely too much, but trust me and add all the fruit. Speaking of fruit, yes any fruit or berry will pretty much work in this recipe so use your personal favorite or whatever is currently in season. I wouldn't try using watermelon or kiwis, but any standard berry will certainly fit the bill! Just think of cheesecake and all the various toppings you have seen or heard about....blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, cherries, etc etc.
And that is it, folks! Cover the container and let it set up in the fridge for an hour so before serving. It is quite delicious at refrigerator-level coldness, but pop it in the freezer for a bit before serving to semi-harden up to soft serve ice cream-type thickness for an added bonus! Quick, simple, delicious, and pretty much fool proof! As long as you don't eat a metric bucket load for dessert, the berries help offset some of the other calories making it reasonably not too unhealthy, lol. Give it a try and let me know what berries or fruit you used in your own version. If you want to nail those Instagram pics, a little sprig or 2 of mint looks pretty and actually pairs well flavor-wise so even you can look fancy in front of all your friends! Get off the couch, throw on those sweats, and mosey into the kitchen and make this simple yet delicious dessert.....Just Keep Cooking!
BLUEBERRY CHEESECAKE DESSERT SALAD
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