Layered Strawberry Dessert
Dessert with a shortbread crust, layer of cream cheese, and topping strawberries in red gelatin. This version has a shortbread crust. If you'd like to try a nut-free pretzel crust, it's in the notes.
Servings 8
Cost 5
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour (170 grams)
- ⅓ cup powdered sugar (40 grams)
- ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons salted butter, melted and cooled (140 grams)
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅔ cup finely chopped pecans, preferably toasted
Layer 2
- 8 ounces cream cheese, softened (reduced fat is fine too) (228 grams)
- ¾ cup powdered sugar (90 grams)
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla
- 2 cups of whipped topping (like Cool Whip)**
Layer 3
- 1 cup granulated sugar (190 grams)
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 pinch of salt
- 1 ½ cups lemon-lime soda OR lemon flavor sparkling water (I like the sparkling water best)
- 1 pack strawberry gelatin (3 oz size)
- ½ cup water
- 1 tablespoon fresh lime or lemon juice (optional)
- 4 cups or as needed sliced strawberries plus other fruit if desired
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x13 inch baking pan.
- Mix the flour and powdered sugar then stir in butter and vanilla. Stir in pecans. Press this mixture across the bottom of the pan and bake for about 18 minutes or until edges are brown. Let cool completely.
- Make the second layer. Beat the softened cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth, then fold in the whipped topping. Spread over the cooled crust and chill.
- Make the topping. Put the sugar, cornstarch and salt in a large saucepan. Add flavored sparkling water. Set over medium heat and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture goes from cloudy to clear. Remove from heat and stir in the gelatin powder. When gelatin is dissolved, stir in the cold water (this helps it cool quicker). You can also add a tablespoon of lime or lemon juice if you like, but that is optional.
- Let mixture cool off heat in the saucepan or pour it into another container if you want it to cool quicker. Let it cool to the point it's not too hot to pour over the fruit and cheese.
- Spread the berries over the cream cheese layer, then pour on as much of the strawberry mixture as you'd like -- just enough to coat and congeal. Chill for about four hours or until set. Cut into squares and serve with extra whipped topping (or whipped cream) and fruit if desired.
Notes
- The two cups of whipped topping is about ⅔ of an 8 oz tub of Cool Whip. If you want to use whipped heavy cream, you'll only need about ⅔ cup (a little under 6 oz). Whip it and fold it in with the cream cheese. Increase the powdered sugar by a teaspoon or two as desired.
- For a pretzel crust, mix 2 cups of salted pretzel sticks with ¼ cup of dark brown sugar and ¾ cup of butter, salted or unsalted. Press into pan and bake at 350 for about 10 minutes.