Creamy Berry Pie

I found this recipe in "Parents Magazine" and thought it would be a good dessert for Easter dinner.  I am a big fan of cheesecake, and this looked so springy and yummy!



The Recipe:
There was a part of the recipe that included how to make your own graham cracker crust, but I skipped that step and just purchased a graham cracker crust at the store. 

Filling and berries:
1 unflavored gelatin

3 tablespoons water

1 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened

1 8-ounce container sour cream

1/3 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup strawberry jelly

1 6-ounce package raspberries

1 cup blueberries

1 cup strawberries, hulled and halved or quartered

1/2 ounce white chocolate

1/2 teaspoon vegetable oil

1.  In a small microwave-safe bowl, sprinkle gelatin over water. Let stand for 3 minutes. In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, sour cream, sugar and vanilla. Beat with an electric mixer until smooth.

2. Transfer softened gelatin to microwave; heat 15 to 30 seconds on HIGH. Stir until smooth. With mixer running, pour gelatin into cream cheese mixture and beat until smooth. Pour into chilled crust and smooth top. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 3 hours or overnight.
3. Melt jelly in microwave on HIGH for 10 seconds. Gently toss with berries in large bowl. Remove plastic from pie; top pie with berries. Microwave chocolate and oil on HIGH 20 seconds. Drizzle over pie. Slice and serve.

Modifications:
I used low-fat cream cheese and sour cream.  I used some Hershey Hugs candy that I had leftover from Valentine's Day instead of buying white chocolate.  You can see in the picture that my chocolate is darker than if you used only white chocolate.  I also didn't want to purchase all the separate berries so I purchased a small bag of frozen mixed fruit and then added more fresh strawberries.  I think next time I would stick to the fresh fruit, or else skip the jelly mixed in because frozen fruit has enough of it's own juice.  The beauty of this recipe is that you could top it with any fruit combination.

The Verdict:
SO YUMMY!!  See my "modifications" above regarding changes I made and would make.  I was amazed at how well this pie set in such a short time.  I am guessing that is due to the gelatin?  I have never added that to a cream cheese pie so I'm guessing that is what did it. 

I shared the deliciousness of this with my neighbors as well so that I wouldn't eat the entire thing by myself.  My husband is not a big fan of pie, other than chocolate cream pie, so I knew I would be on my own if I didn't give some away.  My mom and my sister tasted it and thought it was delicious too.  Definitely a repeat recipe for occasions when I will have others to help me eat it.