The Blueberry Bites Mishap and What To Do Instead
We are all feeling the heat right now. Texas is continuously breaking our own records for high temps. Trust me when I say, we are trying everything we can to stay cool. I’ve been meal planning accordingly. We are making more salads, sandwiches, cool pastas, really anything that doesn’t require me to turn the oven on.
Last night we made a batch of No-Bake Blueberry Cheesecake Bites. A perfect cool-down treat. Although, I did run into a bit of an issue when making it this time. This was actually something out of my control, but it’s happened a few times with recipes that call for canned coconut cream.
A big THANK YOU to those of you who messaged me on Instagram and asked how to make these, even though I stumbled through them. Yes, they are still amazing. No, there is nothing wrong with the recipe. Sometimes, things just get a little wonky in the kitchen. Read on, my friends. Totally worth it.
For the No-Bake Blueberry Cheesecake Bites I used a recipe from The Colorful Family Table by Ilene Godofsky. I was one of the recipe testers for this book as it was written. I absolutely loved making all the seasonal dishes Ilene added to the book. Of course, you can find the recipe, and several others I post, in the cookbook HERE. However, Ilene has shared several recipes on her website as well as her Pinterest page. I don’t see an online version of the blueberry cups, but THIS recipe she posted follows it and also sounds wonderful**
Only exceptions:
· 1 cup blueberries (I used frozen) instead of avocado.
· Juice from one lemon instead of lime.
Now, the most important thing here is that the coconut fat MUST separate from the liquid. You do this by putting the entire can in the fridge overnight. Do not shake the can. The tricky thing is that some brands separate better than others and sometimes they just don’t separate at all. This was the case when I made my blueberry cups. No separation. Because of the fat to liquid ratio in coconut cream (and many plant-based milks), often there will be crystallization of the liquid when it freezes, as opposed to that creamy texture we want in our ice cream and cheesecakes. Sooooo, to combat this (especially if you are not plant-based), you could use either cream cheese instead of coconut cream or, what I’m doing next, use vanilla ice cream instead and blend the blueberries into the ice cream before filling the cups.
Either way, they are delicious and weren’t difficult to make at all.
Let me know if you make them, or anything else you like from the cookbook. It’s one of my most favorite cookbooks, wheather you are plant-based or not. Enjoy!
**As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases
