By our reckoning, our deck is around forty years old, and is a beloved home to many wasps.
We’ve got a plan for that mess, though, which starts with the creation of this mess:
I’d like to report that I helped, but in the battle of wasps versus Heather, wasps win, and so I remained inside. Instead, I thought I’d ease the process by throwing together a couple of Tony’s favorite flavors: lemon and cherries. I figure if I couldn’t participate in the gritty destruction, I could at least create a light at the end of the tunnel.
I love this kind of dessert, because it can be altered to suit practically anyone’s tastes. I made lemon-flavored “cheesecake” and cherry topping, but I’ve also done pistachio for the “cheesecake.” Pretty much any fruit that’s in season would work well for the topping. Up here, near the Cherry Capital, it’s pretty much a mandate that we create cherry desserts…one with which I happily comply.
Ingredients
~1/2 box Nilla Wafers
1 package cream cheese, softened (I used reduced fat)
2 3.4-oz boxes cheesecake flavored instant pudding
2 1/2 cups milk (I used 2%, but any kind should work)
1 teaspoon lemon extract (lemon zest would be better, but I didn’t have any lemons)
~4 cups pitted Montmorency cherries
~1 cup sugar (alter depending on sweetness of your cherries)
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon almond extract
Steps
Toss cherries, sugar, cornstarch, and almond extract together in a medium-sized pan. Cook over medium/low heat until mixture simmers then congeals. Turn off heat and let cool.
Whisk cream cheese until fluffy. Stir in pudding mix. Slowly whisk in milk and lemon extract.
Crumble cookies in the bottom of a medium trifle dish, until you reach desired thickness.
Pour 1/2 the cheesecake mixture over cookies. Add another layer of crumbled cookies, and then add the rest of the cheesecake mix. Top with cooled cherries.
Cool in the refrigerator for at least four hours.
Was the dessert enough of a reward for that deconstruction? Probably not. But combined with swimming in Torch Lake at sunset? Perhaps 😉
Adventures in Michigan's Up North 
Well the dessert looks delicious! And the deck, probably much safer for you now…c ya soon!
It reminds me a lot of the no-bake cherry cheesecake you used to make…I just use local cherries 🙂 And, yes, see you soon! 🙂
First this is jody…loved your presentation of the finished cheesecake. Your basket in the back, on the cherry pattern napkin & the stray fruits..you sure paint a good picture. I am feeling better each day because I have longer & longer periods of boredom! Ready to get out there & run but not allowed!!! Can’t wait to see your new patio. Can you ship fresh cherries?
Thanks Jody! Isn’t that pattern cute? I saw it up here somewhere and thought I needed it for something 😉 I’m glad you’re doing well, but I hate that feeling of being tethered! I’ll post pictures when we make some progress. As for the cherries – I would assume so, but I’d think you’d want to overnight them. I think there will still be some in season around reunion time, and we’ll be sending some back home with Mom and Dad for Kade.
Looks delicious, but even better is the sunset at Torch Lake, and the idea of swimming in it at sunset.
I have yet to find a time when Torch Lake isn’t beautiful, but it is especially inviting after a hot day with the setting sun off to the NW. We are so very fortunate to have it nearby, and I hope I never lose that perspective.
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