Lemon-Berry Summer Dessert - No Bake!

 Good afternoon friends - Yes, it has been some time since I really sat down to chat with you all.  Life gets in the way many times of what we would wish to do, but today, after a long, hot week, we are back to cooler temps and cloudy skies, so I am catching up with a few things inside.

Once the weather gets nice, I am often outside working in my yard and gardens, pulling the weeds that seemed to grow, despite winter cold, and raking away the leaves from the oak tree, which never fall until winter.  I'm planning new garden projects, cleaning the chicken coop, clearing brush and browsing seed catalogs for Memorial Day planting.

Hubby has had some heart issues since the beginning of the year...lots of tests, monitors and appointments, and we still are not certain if he will be needing a pace maker.  Please pray for him and for his doctors.  Most of the time, he is feeling fine, so I do thank God for that, but we do need to get to the bottom of his issues.

I had three of our grandsons for most of last week.  The weather was hot and lovely.  We visited the zoo, played outside, planted potatoes and few flower seeds, went on a hike with their other cousins and our final outing on Friday was mini-golf and ice cream.  Saturday, we had our lovely friends, Paul & Eileen over.  We took another hike with them, went to a local yummy bbq place, and then came back to our house to sit on the patio and bask in the warmth.  I had made a tasty little treat for our dessert, and I would like to share the recipe with you now!  I did tweak the recipe that I found on Pinterest, based on what I had, and it still turned out very delicious.

No-bake Lemon Berry Dessert

For the crust:

2 c crushed graham crackers

4 T sugar

1 stick of butter, melted

Mix these ingredients and press into a pie plate or 9x9 pan. Reserve a little for decoration. You could also use a prepared graham crust in a pinch.

For the filling:

1 8 oz. pkg of cream cheese

3/4 c sugar

1/3 c or more of fresh squeezed lemon juice

1 c milk

1 box instant lemon pudding mix

Mix cream cheese and sugar, beating until creamy and smooth.  Add the lemon juice and milk, beat til blended, then add the dry pudding mix.  Mixture will thicken up quick quickly.  Pour this into the pie crust.  Chill for one hour.

Berry Topping

Use your choice of blueberry pie filling or make your own, as I had to do.

I had some fresh blueberries and frozen mulberries.  I measured out about 2 cups berries, added 1/3 c water and 2 T cornstarch, stirring over medium heat until thick and bubbly.  Let cool completely, then top the lemon filling, spreading to the edges.

Next, top with 2-3 c. freshly whipped cream or 2-3 c. of cool whip, if you are in a hurry.

Sprinkle on the remaining graham cracker crumbs and chill for another 2 hours.

This recipe went together very quickly and was enjoyed by all! 

 

Some recipes I found while browsing no-bake desserts, included double the cream cheese, but I really think that would be too much, and since I had only one brick of cream cheese, I used just one and it was very delicious!