Blueberry Cheesecake Parfait – An Elegant Appetizer

August 27, 2010 by Mansi

Blueberry Cheesecake Parfait – Weekend Breakfast

When it comes to breakfast, whole grains and fruits are your best bets for something that is healthy and filling at the same time. So a Blueberry Parfait seems like just the right thing for a quick grab-and-go breakfast on a busy weekday morning. But if its a weekend, you certainly have more time on hands, so why not jazz up your everyday breakfast to make it indulging? Swap yogurt for some low-fat cheesecake filling, and the granola for a delicious cookie base, and voila – you have a smoothie or parfait that can pass on to be a dessert by itself!

Recently, I purchased a carton of the delicious Lovin’ Blueberry Pie Ice cream, and I have to tell you, everyone in our family has fallen in love with it! Lovin’ has some amazing ice cream flavors, so if you haven’t tried them yet, I would highly recommend you to do so. Next on my list is the Raspberry Cheesecake flavor – yumm!! This Blueberry Cheesecake parfait, adapted from a recipe at the Vegan Feast [photo by Janet Hudson], is an elegant representation of the recipe. You could make small servings in shot glasses, or mini dessert cups and flaunt it with a plate of Hors’ Doeuvres when entertaining guests. or you could just bake the cheesecake and serve it topped with some whipped cream!

Blueberry Cheesecake Parfait

Ingredients
Makes 4 parfait servings

Filling:
1 cup lime juice
2 tbsp agar agar
2 cups whipped topping
8 ounces low-fat cream cheese
1/2 cup fine sugar

Crust:
2 cups Nilla vanilla wafers
1/2 cup vegetable margarine
1/2 cup powdered sugar
fresh Blueberries – for topping

Method

Making the Cheesecake
Place the cookies, sugar and margarine into a food processor and make into a dough. It should all collect together into a ball, just like pastry dough. Pat the dough into bottom of a greased pie-dish. Prick the dough with a fork, You don’t have to be very particulate about the shape. Its going to be crushed within the parfaits anyways!. Now bake for about 7 minutes at 350 degrees F, till it becomes lightly golden. Once done, allow it to cool completely on a wire rack while you prepare the filling. You can even refrigerate it if you like, until its time to assemble the pie.

Bring the lime juice to a simmer, and dissolve the agar-agar into the juice. Now let it settle and allow it to cool completely.

Meanwhile, mix together the cream cheese and sugar and beat well. Slowly add the lime juice mixture to this and stir everything together with a wooden ladle or spatula. Once it all comes together, add the whipped creme and fold into the batter.

Pour the cream mixture over the baked crust and allow the cheesecake to set in the fridge for about 3 hours. Top with blueberries. Now you can serve your cheesecake as is, if you like. but for a fun twist, we break it up and convert it into a parfait.

Assemble the Parfait
Crumble the cheesecake into pieces. Whip up some vanilla yogurt and layer the cheesecake crumbs with the yogurt alternately in parfait glasses. top with some fresh blueberries, a sprig of mint, a thin slice of lime and some grated lime zest, if you like. Serve immediately.