Fruit Salad Cheesecake

Fruit Salad Cheesecake is a unique, interesting, & very tasty way to serve fruit salad! This fruit-loaded no-bake treat is sure to please.

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When you think Fruit Salad Cheesecake, think upscale fruit cocktail wrapped in a creamy, light-and-fluffy cream cheese and whipped-topping blanket. And while it may sound a little bizarre, believe us when we say, the concept of fruit salad as a cheesecake is ohhhhhh soooo good.

A mix of fresh and canned fruits, Cool Whip, and cream cheese come together to create this uniquely different and tasty way to present fruit salad. Also made with unflavored gelatin to give it structure and body, Fruit Salad Cheesecake is one delicious no-bake treat that can be enjoyed as a fruit salad OR as a dessert. -- It works great either way.

My husband Mark is the one credited with finding this fun and tasty recipe. He was reading a magazine while visiting his mom one weekend, and the magazine had a page of recipes. Obviously knowing how much I love to try new recipes, he scanned for anything he thought would be of interest, landing on this Fruit Salad Cheesecake.

And of interest it sure was!

We immediately gave it a try, and it's been a go-to big hit ever since. No-bake, pretty easy to make, loaded with fruit and fabulous flavor, Fruit Salad Cheesecake is always sure to please.

Think upscale fruit cocktail wrapped in a creamy, light-and-fluffy cream cheese and whipped-topping blanket.

What's to Love About This Recipe?

• Light & fluffy deliciousness - With it's cream cheese and whipped topping base fabulously loaded up with fruit, Fruit Salad Cheesecake is pure light & fluffy deliciousness.
• Unique way to serve up fruit salad - No-bake cheesecake is one very unique, interesting, & tasty way to serve up fruit salad, for sure.
• No-bake - No need to turn on the oven for this fruit-studded beauty. Just a few minutes on the stove top is all the heat this tasty cheesecake takes.
• Always a hit - This fun dish is always a crowd-pleasing hit.
• Enjoy as a fruit salad OR a dessert - Fruit salad side dish or cheesecake dessert -- Fruit Salad Cheesecake works great either way!

Fruit Salad Cheesecake Ingredients:

This no-bake Fruit Salad Cheesecake comes together with pretty simple ingredients, including a mix of fresh and canned fruits to make up its "fruit salad" component. To whip up this tasty treat, you'll need: 

• Vanilla wafer crumbs + melted butter - Vanilla wafers and butter form the crust of the cheesecake. Give vanilla wafer cookies a quick whirl in a food processor to create the crumbs, then stir together with melted butter and press into the pan.
• Crushed pineapple + mandarin oranges + maraschino cherries - Serve as the canned fruit component of the fruit salad cheesecake, creating a wonderful mix of flavors in the dish.
• Halved seedless grapes - The fresh fruit component of the fruit salad cheesecake. We recommend green grapes for their color contrast with the mandarin oranges and maraschino cherries.
• Cream cheese - The foundation of the cheesecake. We recommend using regular full-fat cream cheese, rather than reduced-fat Neufchatel, for the best texture result.
• Whipped topping (such as Cool Whip) - Combines with the cream cheese to create the base of the cheesecake, bringing a wonderfully fluffy texture to the finished cake.
• Unflavored gelatin - Two envelopes of unflavored gelatin give structure and body to the cheesecake.
• Granulated sugar - The cheesecake's sweetener. Stevia sugar substitute can be used instead.
• Chopped pecans - Brings a nice textural element to the cheesecake.

How to Make Fruit Salad Cheesecake:

So, just how do you go about making this unique and fun fruit salad? It's really pretty easy. And no-bake, which is a plus in the ease department.

To get the Fruit Salad Cheesecake started, simmer together in a saucepan on the stovetop a mixture of crushed pineapple and sugar. Stir in unflavored gelatin, and then a block of cream cheese until the cream cheese is melted and the mixture is well blended.  

Allow the pineapple-cream cheese mixture to cool, and then stir in halved fresh grapes, mandarin orange slices, coarsely chopped maraschino cherries, and chopped pecans.



Fold in whipped topping, and then pour the mixture into a vanilla wafer crust that's been pressed into a springform pan.

Pop the cheesecake in the refrigerator to chill, and you're done! Pretty easy, right?

Now, I've tried the fruit salad cheesecake out in two sizes --

A full-sized cheesecake made in a 9-inch springform pan:

And individual mini cheesecakes made in muffin tins:

Both sizes worked, so size choice is just a matter of what presentation you want to make and how you'd like to serve the cheesecake.

For the individual mini fruit salad cheesecakes, I wasn't quite sure what would work best as a method for making them. So, I went ahead and tried a few different ways:

1.  Pouring the fruit salad mixture into muffin cups first, topping with three vanilla wafer cookies as the crust, with the plan of then inverting the mini cheesecakes once removed them from the pan.
RESULT: Not so great.  The vanilla wafers didn't "fit" well, and the cheesecakes just looked kind of messy when inverted.

2.  Placing a single vanilla wafer in the bottom of foil cupcake liners, and pouring the fruit salad mixture on top.
RESULT:  I didn't like the look of the ridges in the cheesecakes from the foil liner, but it wasn't too bad a method.

3. Placing a single vanilla wafer directly in the bottom of muffin tin cups, without any type of cupcake liner, and pouring the fruit salad mixture on top. My worry with this one was that I wouldn't be able to get the mini cheesecakes out of the pan -- but they actually came out pretty easily.
RESULT:  This was my favorite method.  I liked the look of the smoother sides, and -- 

The amount of "remnants" left in the pan when removing the cheesecakes was minimal. I simply sprayed the pan very lightly with nonstick cooking spray, and ran a knife around the edge of each mini cheesecake before lifting it out of the pan.

The vanilla wafer cookie doesn't completely fill the bottom of the muffin cup, so the bottom comes out looking like this:

But I don't think the single-cookie crust looks too bad. (Hey, and how many people will turn their fruit salad over to check out the bottom anyway?)

So, whether you make individual minis or a full-sized cheesecake, this Fruit Salad Cheesecake is sure one decidedly different, unique, interesting, and very tasty way to serve fruit salad! Give it a try -- it's sure to be a hit.

Check out these other super tasty fruit salad recipes:

• Strawberry Pretzel Salad
• Triple Berry Fruit Salad with Vanilla Simple Syrup
• Classic Pineapple Jello Salad
• Apple Pie Filling Fruit Salad
• Peach Pie Filling Fruit Salad
• Classic Ambrosia Salad
• Classic Blueberry Jello Salad
• 7-Up Cranberry Jello Salad
• Strawberry, Blueberry & Greens Salad
• Cantaloupe Salad with Maple & Cinnamon
• More salad recipes

Thank you for stopping by The Kitchen is My Playground. We'd love to have you back soon!  

no bake cheesecake recipe, fruit salad cheesecake recipe, fruit cheesecake recipe, no bake desserts

No-Bake Desserts

American

Yield: 10-12 servings

Author: Tracey | The Kitchen is My Playground

Fruit Salad Cheesecake

Fruit Salad Cheesecake is a unique, interesting, & very tasty way to serve fruit salad! This fruit-loaded no-bake treat is sure to please.

Prep time: 25 MinCook time: 5 MinTotal time: 30 Min

Ingredients

Crust:

• 1 1/2 c. vanilla wafer crumbs (I give vanilla wafer cookies a quick whirl in the food processor)
• 2 T. butter, melted

Filling:

• 1 (20 oz.) can crushed pineapple, drained
• 3/4 c. granulated sugar
• 1/2 c. cold water
• 2 envelopes unflavored gelatin
• 1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, cubed
• 1 1/2 c. halved seedless grapes
• 1 (11 oz.) can mandarin oranges, drained and cut in half
• 1 (10 oz.) jar maraschino cherries, drained and roughly chopped
• 1/2 c. finely chopped pecans
• 2 c. whipped topping (such as Cool Whip)

Instructions

For the crust:

1. In a small bowl, combine vanilla wafer crumbs and melted butter.
2. Press into the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan coated with nonstick cooking spray; set aside.

For the filling:

1. In a small saucepan, cook crushed pineapple and sugar over medium heat for 5 minutes or until heated through.
2. Place cold water in a small bowl and sprinkle with gelatin; let stand for 1 minute. Stir gelatin mixture into the warm pineapple mixture.
3. Reduce heat to low and add cubed cream cheese. Cook and stir until cream cheese is melted and the mixture is well blended.
4. Remove from heat and cool completely.
5. Stir the grapes, mandarin oranges, cherries, and pecans into the cooled cream cheese mixture. Fold in the whipped topping.
6. Pour into prepared pan. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

TRACEY'S NOTES:

1. For Minis: Instead of making vanilla wafer crumbs and butter mixture, place a single vanilla wafer cookie in the bottom of muffin tin cups that have been very lightly sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Fill muffin tin cups full with fruit salad mixture. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Similar Recipes

Classic Ambrosia Salad

Classic Blueberry Jello Salad

Peach Pie Filling Fruit Salad

https://www.thekitchenismyplayground.com/2012/09/fruit-salad-cheesecake.html

Adapted from Taste of Home, as published in Carolina Country magazine, May, 2012

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