Cherry Cheesecake Parfait

Lately at work I've been on a parfait kick.

Everyday a different flavor.....

It's a sickness really

I just can't seem to help myself

I can't look at anything without thinking of how I can somehow turn it into a parfait.

I've made oreo, butterfinger, banana cream, strawberry shortcake, lemon and strawberry cream...you name it!

(I'll probably end up showing them all to you at some point)

And of course.......

Cherry Cheesecake!

Now I love cheesecake.....but it's a real pain in the ass!

Well, maybe not so much a pain in the ass as much as it is time consuming.

 It requires patience and this broad over here has no time for that.

I get impatient waiting for popcorn to pop

So the thought of going through the whole process of mixing and baking a cheesecake.....and THEN having to wait overnight for it to chill in the fridge makes me exhausted and I scrap the whole idea all together.

Which is why I've probably only made cheesecake about 4 times in my life.....ever.

2 of those times were in culinary school too.

This takes about 20 minutes tops to make and it you get to eat it right away

 Instant gratification is how I roll

Start by making your graham cracker "crust"

Now I never really follow an exact recipe.  I do it to my own taste

And the awesome part about making it to taste....is you HAVE to keep dipping your fingers in the sugary, grahamy goodness to make sure it tastes right.  Oh darn! =)

But here is a recipe I have written down that will give you a good starting point

1 1/2 C. Graham cracker crumbs

1/4 C. Sugar 

1/3 Melted butter

( I always use brown sugar....cuz I like my sugar like I like my men  ;)......and it's just yummier!

But you can certainly use white sugar if you want)

Next comes the cheesecake part

 (2) 8oz Packages of softened cream cheese

2 1//2 cups powdered sugar

1 Tb. Vanilla Extract

1/2 C. Heavy Cream

Mix the cream cheese with the vanilla, and slowly add in the sugar.

Then gradually pour in the heavy cream.

Start with 1/4 c. and slowly add it until you get the consistency you desire.

I usually use 1/2 c.

Layer alternately in a parfait glass with your topping of choice. 

I used canned cherry pie filling.....but if you're feeling froggy you can make it from scratch.

I do a layer of crumbs on both the top and bottom....because in my dream world allllll cheesecakes would have a top AND bottom crust.  It's my favorite part.

At buffets I'm known to get a slice of cheesecake just to peal off the crust.

Wasteful I know.

But your mind set about food and waste all kind of goes out the window when you walk through the doors of a buffet

It's also the only time or place I allow myself to dip my french fries in mashed potatoes lol

It pretty much goes against everything I believe in but that's part of the fun of being there

Back to cheesecake.............

Layer it up and eat it right away.

No waiting required!

^^^This is the home version^^^

And this here is what they look like when I sell them To Go at work

Swap out the toppings

Blueberry, strawberry, apple....whatever!

Oh and they look cute too!