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Red, White and Blue Cheesecake Dip

Here’s a delicious dessert idea for your fourth of July celebrations…Red, White and Blue Cheesecake Dip!

Red, White and Blue Cheesecake Dip. A no bake, super easy and impressive dessert for the fourth of July or any time you want to be a dessert "hero."
Red, White and Blue Cheesecake Dip
 

For those of you that have been following along, you might remember the Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake Dip I posted just a few months ago. And even further back, Caramel Apple Pie Cheesecake Dip. (You’ll see photos of them throughout this post, just as a yummy reminder of the different things you can do with this dip.)

Today’s lovely dip has strawberries and blueberries. And it has a star!

Red, White and Blue Cheesecake Dip. A no bake, super easy and impressive dessert for the fourth of July or any time you want to be a dessert "hero."
Red, White and Blue Cheesecake Dip

No lemon curd this time, because, you know, we can’t have yellow in our Red, White and Blue Cheesecake Dip. It does have some lemon zest, though. I love a little fresh lemon flavor in my cheesecake and it works so nicely with the fresh berries.

This recipe is such a fun twist on dessert. I love it! It’s a dip that looks like a pie! I think it works for both casual and fancy gatherings. And I have a million other variations I’d like to post in the future. #staytuned

Now, normally I wouldn’t post a new variation on a recipe so soon, but I’m making an exception today. Why? Because I thought this dip would be fun to use for my first video. Wait, what?!! :o

Red, White and Blue Cheesecake Dip. A no bake, super easy and impressive dessert for the fourth of July or any time you want to be a dessert "hero."
Red, White and Blue Cheesecake Dip

Yep. Video. That’s right. I finally bit the bullet and started producing videos.

I do actually have a few videos already on the site. They are more like quick tutorial videos. You can see them in my Fluffy Buttermilk Biscuits post and in my Italian Biscotti post.

I’ve planned to do more highly produced video for a long time now. There have been many stops and starts. Other business endeavors and life matters seemed to constantly present obstacles along the way.

And if you forget life’s challenges for a moment, just the sheer process of getting set up to create video has been a journey.

Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake Dip. No bake cheesecake layered with lemon curd and fresh blueberries. It's a dip that looks like a fancy dessert!
Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake Dip

I could have shot video with my phone. Had I decided to do that, perhaps you might have seen some video sooner from me. But no, I had to get the right equipment.

I needed to do research. I wanted to have the right set up. Figure out how to rig an overhead camera. Decide whether or not I wanted to take another step with the blog.

As a merchant, I remember working with the marketing division to plan our photo shoots. There was an enormous amount of preparation that went into each one. What was it going to look like?

Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake Dip. No bake cheesecake layered with lemon curd and fresh blueberries. It's a dip that looks like a fancy dessert!
Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake Dip

Did we have a theme or a message we were trying to convey? What product did we want to shoot? Which models would work best? How many would we need? Which photographer did we want to use? Location? Etc. etc. etc.

That was all before we got to shoot it. It would take all day and sometimes days to shoot what would end up being a spread of two pages in a magazine.

Teams from each division would work together to get those pages shot. And those were just still shots. That wasn’t the entirely different process we went through when we were shooting video for commercials.

Caramel Apple Pie Cheesecake Dip. No bake, easy to make, cheesecake dip topped with freshly made apple pie filling and drizzled with caramel sauce!
Caramel Apple Pie Cheesecake Dip

The bottom line is that it takes time. Just as it takes more time than it looks to shoot a commercial or a movie, (or publish a blog post), it takes time to shoot a recipe video.

More time than I expected. Apparently, it’s much easier when you have a full marketing team supporting you ;)

So, I picked a recipe to shoot and we shot it. We started editing the first video and…..I hated the footage we shot :/

Caramel Apple Pie Cheesecake Dip. No bake, easy to make, cheesecake dip topped with freshly made apple pie filling and drizzled with caramel sauce!
Caramel Apple Pie Cheesecake Dip

Of course, there were all kinds of problems, not the least of which was that the lighting that day made the food look unappealing. Ugh! Of course, there were tons of other lessons learned about how to shoot each step of a recipe more effectively.

So, we scrapped that video and I began again. This time, I did it alone. After all, the set up was… set up. Time to fly solo.

And guess what? I learned some lessons and shot a better video. #eternalstudent

Red, White and Blue Cheesecake Dip. A no bake, super easy and impressive dessert for the fourth of July or any time you want to be a dessert "hero."
Red, White and Blue Cheesecake Dip

Then, my solo flight ended because my trusty video production department (aka my husband), jumped back in to help me edit an hour plus of video down to a minute or two. (That was another lengthy process with tons of lessons learned.)

But, at long last, the video is complete! It’s our first and it’s not perfect, but it’s not supposed to be. It’s just supposed to be good enough to be the first. And that, my friends, it is.

Red, White and Blue Cheesecake Dip. A no bake, super easy and impressive dessert for the fourth of July or any time you want to be a dessert "hero."
Red, White and Blue Cheesecake Dip

Red, White and Blue Cheesecake Dip. Great for the Fourth of July or any other day you want an easy and impressive no bake dessert. In my book, that’s any day and every day of the summer. You’ll see…you’ll be a dessert “hero” :)

So here we go…. Lights! Camera! Action!

Red, White and Blue Cheesecake Dip

Red, White and Blue Cheesecake Dip

Yield: 8 -10 servings

Ingredients

For the Cheesecake layer:

  • 1 block, 8 ounces cream cheese (I used Philadelphia, 1/3 less fat)
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon lemon zest
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 cup heavy whipping cream

For the fruit topping:

  • Fresh blueberries and strawberries

Dipper ideas:

  • vanilla wafers
  • ginger cookies
  • lemon cookies
  • graham crackers
  • butter crackers

Instructions

  1. For the cheesecake layer, in a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese with electric mixer until smooth and creamy, about 1 minute. Add salt, sugar, lemon zest and vanilla and beat until well combined. While continuing to beat the cream cheese mixture, gradually drizzle whipping cream down the side of the bowl to prevent splashing. Beat at high speed until fully combined and mixture gets fluffy and thick. You should see the beaters leaving definite trails in the mixture. If you pull a spatula through the mixture, it should leave a clear path.
  2. Spread the cheesecake mixture in a thin layer on a large serving plate. My serving plate was 12" wide and I spread the mixture evenly stopping about 1/2" from the edge.
  3. Cut strawberries into small wedges. Pat dry.
  4. If you're making my star pattern, use a cookie cutter to make a star guide for the center. You can also just lightly draw a star with a tooth pick or search for a star image on the internet, print it out and trace around it.
  5. Arrange blueberries and strawberries in desired pattern on top of the cheesecake layer.
  6. Serve with dippers on the side, or use them to decorate the dip by sticking the edges of your dippers into the cheesecake mixture and overlapping them as you go around the edge of the plate. Do not do this step in advance or the edge of your cookies will soften in the dip. It will still be good, but you might need a spoon to scrape up the softened edges. Serve extra dippers on the side.

Notes

*I didn't specify the amount of berries because it will depend on the size of the serving platter you use and what pattern you decide to make as well as how you cut your strawberries. You don't have to do the star center. You can arrange in stripes or circles or mix the berries together and cover the whole top of the cheesecake layer. Just make sure you cut the strawberries into pieces that are small enough to scoop up. Then, insure you pat them dry with paper towels before placing them.

*If you want to make this a day ahead, I would make the cream cheese layer, spread it on your serving dish and cover with plastic wrap. Then place the berries on before serving. You could assemble the whole thing and refrigerate it (without any cookies in it) My only worry would be if your strawberries released any juice while sitting for an extended time in the refrigerator. Mine did not, but just know that it could happen. Blueberries are unlikely to do that. Definitely wait to place cookies around the edge until just before serving or they will soften and wilt.

*My favorite dipper with this was Trader Joe's Lemon Wafers.

*If you have any leftovers, the dip is great spread on bagels, pancakes, waffles, muffins or pound cake. I think it would also be delicious to stir into oatmeal for a special breakfast treat.

The Merchant Baker Copyright © 2017

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Ruth

Thursday 15th of June 2017

I think you did a great job with the video! AND, the dip looks almost too pretty to eat.........almost.

Ramona

Thursday 15th of June 2017

Ruth! Thanks so much for the kind words. It's nice to hear after all the behind the scenes work on it. It is a pretty dip...but so easy to make, there will never be a worry that it's too pretty to eat! :)

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