This is a delightful dessert.  It’s a refrigerated dessert made in a graham cracker crust.  Make the filling by whipping cream cheese and Bavarian cream (or vanilla pudding) together.  Top it with fresh strawberries and a  strawberry sauce.

For the crust

1 2/3 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup butter, melted
3 tablespoons granulated sugar

  1. In a nine-inch springform pan, mix the graham cracker crumbs, melted butter, and sugar together.
  2. Press the mixture across the bottom of the pan and up the sides to form the crust.
  3. Put the crust in the refrigerator to set the butter while you mix the filling.

For the filling

2 8-ounce packages of cream cheese
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 cups Bavarian Cream (see substitutes)
1 teaspoon strawberry flavor

  1. In your stand-type mixer and with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese and sugar together until it is soft and smooth.
  2. Add the Bavarian Cream and flavor and continue beating, scraping down the sides until smooth.

For the topping

12-ounce package of frozen strawberries (see substitutes)
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup granulated sugar or to taste
3 tablespoons Instant Clearjel (see substitutes)

fresh strawberries to garnish

  1. Defrost and mash the strawberries.  Add the water.  Mix the sugar and the Instant Clearjel together in a cup.  Add the sugar mixture to the strawberries and stir until the sauce thickens.
  2. To assemble, spread the filling into the crust and smooth with a spatula.  Add the strawberry sauce over the top.  Add sliced strawberries on top of the sauce.  Refrigerate.  Peel the ring off the dessert when you are ready to serve.
  3. You will have more sauce than what you need.  That’s okay.  Save it for an ice cream or dessert topping or put it on your pancakes.  Leftover sauce can be frozen. 

Substitutes

  • You may substitute cornstarch for the Instant Clearjel.  If you do so, you will need to cook the sauce to thicken it.  Cornstarch requires cooking to thicken; Instant Clearjel thickens without cooking.  (Original Clearjel thickens when cooked.)
  • You may substitute vanilla pudding for the Bavarian Cream.
  • You may use fresh strawberries instead of frozen.

Recommended Equipment

  • Silicone springform pans.  Graham cracker crumb crusts are fragile.  Silicone is very nonstick and flexible.  When you are ready to serve, simply peel the silicone ring from the dessert.  It’s nice to be able to cut and serve from the glass base.  We have a number of glass-base springform pans.
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