Strawberry Shortcake No Bake Cheesecake

This is what I like to call "A delicious accident."  I had company the other night and wanted to make these cake batter no bake cheesecakes that I found on Pinterest but as I got started I found that I didn't have all the right ingredients and then in the process of trying to substitute ingredients plus my common tendency to not read the recipe directions fully, I soon realized that I was not making the recipe anything like it was originally written and so in the process I created my own delicious version of a no bake cheesecake.  Think of a moist slice of french vanilla cake with whip cream and strawberries; those are all the tastes that are packed into one little jar.

Here is the recipe: (this makes enough for 6- 1/2 pint jars)

Crust

1 1/2 cups of crushed graham crackers (this gives you enough to make a thick bottom crust-you can reduce this amount if you just want a thin crust)

1/4 cup butter-melted

2 tbsp sugar

Filling

3/4 of a package of whipped cream cheese (8oz size)

1/2 pint of whipping cream (whipped to stiff peaks with the addition of about a 1/4 cup of sugar)

3/4 cup dry cake batter (I used a french vanilla flavor)

Additional sugar if you want it a bit sweeter

Topping

1 lb of strawberries hulled and sliced

1/4 cup sugar

Start by slicing the strawberries and combining them with the sugar.  Set these aside and the sugar will help to create a nice syrup with the strawberries.  To make the crust, melt the butter and pour over the graham crackers and sugar.  Mix until combined.  Spoon into the bottom of the jars.  I used another little narrow jar to pack down the filling.  Don't bake-just set them aside.  Whip the whipping cream until it begins to thicken.  Add in the sugar (1/4 cup) and continue whipping until it forms stiff peaks.  Now to the same bowl with the whipped cream add the cream cheese and the cake batter powder and additional sugar.  Stir until combined and smooth.  Scoop into the jars.  I used a small cookie dough scoop and then smoothed them out with a spatula.  Then wipe the jar rims for a nice neat presentation.  This makes enough filling to fill the jars 3/4 of the way full.  If you are going to serve these right away, add the strawberries.  But if you are going to serve these later refrigerate them first and add the strawberries right before serving.  A dollop of whipped cream on the top would also be a nice addition.  These don't make a huge serving-had I had enough ingredients I could have trippled the batch and eaten WAY more than a decent sized portion of these.  This is just the perfect amount.  These are not sickening sweet (unless you decide to add additional sugar to each step).  They are creamy, they have that yummy cake taste and the strawberries with the simple syrup are the perfect finishing touch.  A yummy and refreshing summer dessert.  Add blueberries and you could make something really patriotic.  Enjoy.