Lemon and Blueberry Jelly Cheesecakes

We all have our favourite ways to unwind. Yours might be to curl up with a book (I like that, too). Another person might go for a long walk (I also like that, too). I, for one, first head into the kitchen. There's nothing like shutting yourself off from the world for a while and indulging in your creativity. The scene is perfected if you have someone keeping you company who you can talk to or if you have some of your favourite music playing (what I like to play when I cook is some Chopin or Mozart, Arabian or Latin lounge music works too, though). 

This week I'm on spring break. That means nine days of not attending class and also, in my case, not looking at anything remotely academically related. I think we all need to tune out for a while; it helps re-energize and motivate. 

After seeing this beautiful post I was inspired to create something with the same jell-o technique which I find absolutely gorgeous. But I made it cheesecake style. Because I had also seen a picture of  individual no-bake cheesecakes in jars on Pinterest. So voila I combined the two. And what better flavor combination than lemon and blueberry? Ok there's raspberry and white chocolate and pumpkin and sage and caramel and apple. But you get my point. The lovely thing about this is that it's so versatile- you can experiment with so many different fillings. 

I had to make my own jello as all the supermarkets were out of lemon-flavored jello, but it was healthier (if that's possible!) since the flavors were real and not artificial like the ones we get in sachets here. The result was fabulous at the end but I would've loved to have a deeper yellow for the jelly. 

Also, only after eating it did the ditz in me realize that gelatin is not vegetarian-compatible. And I was at 5 days short of 6 months of being vegetarian. 

Anyways, the past is in the past. Let's move on and get to the recipe. This makes 10 servings. I made four and turned the rest into a trifle.

for the lemon jello

2.25 tbsp unflavored gelatin

1/2 cup cold water

750ml lemonade

Juice and zest of one lemon

2tsp sugar

Soak gelatin with water. 

Boil the lemonade and pour over gelatin.

Add lemon juice and zest with sugar and stir through. 

for the cheesecake

300ml sweetened condensed milk

500g cream cheese

Juice of half a lemon

2 tsp vanilla essence

1/4 cup blueberries

Beat together the sweetened condensed milk, cream cheese, lemon juice, and vanilla essence. 

Gently mash the blueberries and stir through the cheesecake mixture. 

Refrigerate until needed. 

Just before using, beat once more.

for garnishing

40g crumbled digestive biscuits

blueberries, extra

1 tsp lemon zest

Assembly

Place a quarter cup of liquid lemon jello in a 250ml glass. 

Place the glasses in a loaf tin at a slant angle and refrigerate until set. 

Once set, fill the other half of the glass with the cheesecake mixture.

Sprinkle the crumbled biscuits as a topping and garnish with some lemon zest and blueberries.

 This is what I did with the leftovers: made a trifle!

And this is post-munching status.....