I came up with this creamy, fruity and incredibly easy-to-make cheesecake for my friend Cheryl’s birthday celebration.
I saw a recipe from pastry chef Christina Tosi for an icebox cake made with Ritz crackers, Cool Whip and grape jelly. I didn’t make that recipe, but I did come up with one of my own. I call it my Ritzy 2 by 2 Cheesecake.
Ritzy, comes from the buttery Ritz cracker crust, while the 2 by 2 comes from the ingredient list. It’s super-simple to remember because it is all in twos.
You will need:
2 sleeves of Ritz Crackers
2 8-ounce packages of softened cream cheese
2 8-ounce tubs of Cool Whip, thawed.
2 12 -ounce jars of fruit preserves. (any fruit you like, I used cherry here. Please make sure to use preserves here, we want the pieces of fruit.)
2 tablespoons of melted butter
2 tablespoons of sugar
2 teaspoons of vanilla
Start by blitzing the crackers and sugar together in the food processor. Alternately, you could put them in a plastic bag and bash them into crumbs.
Make sure there are no chunks of cracker left. You want crumbs.
Add the melted butter and press into a 10 inch spring form pan. You could also choose a 13 by 9 pan. Bake the crust for about 15 minutes in a 400 degree oven until it turns golden brown.
Put your preserves in a microwave-safe bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Microwave the preserves 30 seconds at a time until the preserves melt, but don’t get them too hot. Stir them every 30 seconds. You’ll then want to let them cool to room temperature.
