Blackberry Cream Cheese Pie

I had this friend in college. Her name was Vella and she made cheesecake. Not Jello-brand-from-a-powder-and-milk cheesecake, but real baked-in-the-oven-in-a-springform-pan cheesecake. Until this point in my life I had only known the former and actually had no idea that real people could even make the latter...So sheltered... Anyway, Vella's ability to make flavor after flavor of real, legitimate cheesecake fascinated me. I've thought about it just often enough over the years to buy a springform pan, but not often enough to take it out of the box.

It's really a matter of patience and commitment. I lack both. If I could just dumb it down and shorten the process, I'd be all over it.

On that note, I give you Cream Cheese Pie (courtesy of my friend Krista who I did not bother to ask about posting this recipe). It's not even close to Vella cheesecake, but light years above the Jello stuff in the box-- and it's so easy! First I'll tell you how Krista makes it, then I'll tell you how I make it. hahahaha

1/2 pint heavy whipping cream whipped on highish until foamy, add 3 oz. of softened cream cheese and mix well, but not too much. Add 1/2 cup of sugar and 1 tsp. of vanilla. Whip until fluffy and pour into a graham cracker crust.

My interpretation was pretty much the same except I wanted it to fill up the crust a little more. So I used 1/2 pint of whipping cream plus about 1/3 cup, the whole 8 oz block of cream cheese (if you use the kind with 1/3 less fat, it's already soft and you don't have to soften it more) and about 3/4 c. of sugar with 1 cap full of vanilla. But then I didn't actually measure any of my extras...

I've never claimed to be a photographer, but I also never make anything if I don't first know what it's supposed to look like, so here ya go:





And just as an added bonus, I had to document something that Seth likes that doesn't provoke itching, vomiting and puffiness. Yay pie filling.