[2] Good news for lactose intolerant cheesecake lovers: Green Valley Organics makes delicious lactose-free cream cheese, as well as lactose-free sour cream and yogurt (photo © MyLilikoiKitchen.com.

This All American Strawberry, Banana, and Blueberry Cheesecake recipe was developed by Tom Fraker, Corporate Chef at Melissas.com.

You can use the decorating theme on a custard pie, cream pie, or cake.

Don’t want to turn on the oven? Purchase a plain cheesecake and add the fresh fruit.

Before you start, check out the history of cheesecake.
 
 
RECIPE: JULY 4TH CHEESECAKE IN RED, WHITE & BLUE

This recipe makes a tart-size cheesecake, meaning that it’s not as tall as a conventional New York-style cheesecake. The benefit: fewer calories per slice!

Ingredients For 12-14 Servings

1. PREHEAT the oven to 325ºF.

2. COMBINE the graham cracker crumbs, 3 tablespoons of sugar and the melted butter in a bowl. Press the mixture into a tart pan or springform pan.

3. ADD the cream cheese, 1 cup of sugar and vanilla extract to the bowl of a standing mixer. Split the vanilla beans in half lengthwise and scrape the pulp into the bowl. Whisk until well combined.

4. ADD the eggs one at a time, allowing them to completely incorporate before adding the next egg. Pour the mixture into the pan and smooth the top. Bake in the oven for 60-75 minutes, or until completely set.

5. REMOVE the cheesecake from the oven, let cool and then chill for at least 4 hours.

6. DECORATE the top: Run a row of the blueberries around the outside edge and then fill the center with alternating rows of strawberries and bananas. Before you slice the bananas, keep them from turning brown by squeezing the juice of an orange or other citrus fruit into a bowl. Slice the bananas into the juice. Toss gently with your fingers to coat all sides, and drain away the juice before topping the cake.
 
 

CHECK OUT WHAT’S HAPPENING ON OUR HOME PAGE, THENIBBLE.COM.

Even if you’re spending a quiet weekend at home, you can celebrate our Independence Day with a patriotic bite or two. Here’s a group of recipes to bite into, and we’ll be showcasing more between now and the 4th.

Some are so easy—no cooking—that all you have to do is put the pieces together.

JULY 4TH BREAKFAST RECIPES

 
JULY 4TH SIDE & MAIN DISH RECIPES

 
JULY 4TH SNACK RECIPES

COULDN’T BE EASIER: [1] Yogurt plus berries. For fun, cut star-shaped toast with cookie cutters (photo courtesy Smuckers). [2] American Flag fruit skewers (photo courtesy Stix Mediterranean Grill | NYC).

COULDN’T BE EASIER: [1] Red, white & blue pink lemonade (photo courtesy Blueberry Council). [2] Red and blue berries on store-bought cupcakes (photo courtesy Go Bold With Butter)

 
JULY 4TH DESSERT RECIPES

 
MORE JULY 4TH RECIPE IDEAS

Oregon craft brewer Rogue Ales toasts America with the annual release of its American Amber Ale.

It’s the brew’s 28th year, and has been our beer of choice for July 4th celebrations since we first came across it.

 
AMERICAN AMBER ALES

American Amber Ales are a beer category known for being balanced and refreshing, with toasted malt characteristics and a light fruitiness. (See the differences between beer and ale below.)

Rogue’s American Amber Ale is tawny amber in color and medium- to full-bodied. It has a toffee/caramel aroma, a nice malt accent and a pleasantly bitter, smooth finish.

Celebrating the “ideals of the Revolution,” Rogue brews the beer with “Rebel hops” (they’re actually Kent Golding and Cascade hops) and “Dare and Risk barley,” not to mention what the company calls “free range coastal water.” (Get it?)
 
Rogue’s American Amber Ale is now available in 22-ounce serigraphed bottles (the image is screened onto the bottle, a nice gift for party hosts or for a party favor) and 12-ounce bottles with the same label design on paper, and can be found draft at establishments that feature Rogue Ale.

Rogue makes world-class ale, kolsch, lager, mead, porter and stout, along with excellent spirits:

 
We haven’t had them all, but what we’ve tried, we really liked.

For more information about Rogue products, visit Rogue.com.
 
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF BEER, visit THE NIBBLE’s BEER GLOSSARY.
 
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BEER & ALE

Top: Toast to the U.S.A. with American Amber Ale (photo courtesy Rogue). Center: Liberty Ale from Anchor Brewing Company (photo courtesy HiConsumption.com). Bottom: The Statue Of Liberty graces the cans of Hell Or High Water (photo courtesy 21st Amendment Brewery).

Ales tend to be fruity-estery in aroma and flavor, while lagers are clean-tasting and crisp. These differences are created by:

[2] Compote as the main event, topped with mascarpone (photo © Recipes101.com).

[3] A modern variation of the fancy stemmed compote dishes of centuries past (photo © Williams-Sonoma).

[4] Blueberry compote and brie on crostini (photo © CFAA).

With summer fruits proliferating, here’s an alternative to berry, cherry or peach pie: compote. It’s like eating homemade pie filling—hold the crust.

You can also use it as pancake or oatmeal topping; with plain yogurt, cottage cheese or ricotta; as a toast spread, on cheesecake or angel cake, and so on.
 
 
WHAT’S A COMPOTE?

Compote is a cooked fruit dish that was very popular in medieval European.

People of means served it from special stemmed compote dishes.

A compote is a mix of fruits cooked in a syrup. In fact, the name derives from the Latin compositus, mixture. It is also referred to as poached or stewed fruit.

Compote denotes a mixed fruit recipe, but if you have a bumper crop of one particular fruit, you can bend the rules. One of our favorite combinations is blueberries with peaches and/or nectarines and cherries.

Compote faded out of style in the mid-20th century. Bur with an emphasis on two-to-four* fruit servings per day, it’s time to bring it back.

Compote also makes a chunky, chilled summer soup.

It’s like eating homemade pie filling, warm or chilled. With ripe fruit, you can easily cut back on the sugar. We make ours with no sugar at all.
 
 
RECIPE #1: SUMMER FRUIT COMPOTE

This recipe takes just 20 minutes on the stove top and is equally delicious warm or chilled. Enjoy it plain or garnished with:

 
Ingredients For 4 Cups

 
Preparation

1. COMBINE the fruit, sugar, zest, water and optional nuts and spices in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. The fruit should be soft but not mushy.

2. COOL slightly and serve, or refrigerate. Compote will keep in the fridge for a week, in a sealed container.
 
3. TO SERVE: Beyond a conventional dessert bowl, you can show off your compote in a glass dish, a goblet, or a pretty porcelain tea cup. In earlier times, special compote dishes were used.
 
Variation: Add a tablespoon or two or orange juice along with the water.

You can slightly sweeten plain ricotta to garnish a compote (spice optional), or can make a smooth cannoli cream with more layers of flavor. This recipe has been modified to use it as a dessert topping instead of a conventional cannoli filling.

Ingredients For 2 Cups

 
Preparation

1. WHISK the ricotta until smooth in a medium bowl. Add the powdered sugar, cinnamon and allspice and mix to thoroughly combine.

2. BEAT the heavy cream in a separate bowl until almost stiff. Gently fold it into the ricotta mixture, using a rubber spatula. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

3. STIR in the lemon zest, or sprinkle it on the top of the compote.
________________

*USDA guidelines recommend two servings of fruit per day for adults. The American Heart Association recommends four to five servings of fruit per day.

We love to flavor water with fresh fruit, and to add fruit to ice cubes.

Here’s a twist on conventional ice cubes: Use frozen fruit instead of ice cubes.

We have long made “party ice cubes” with a strawberry or other fruit (plus herbs, or savory ice cubes like cherry tomatoes and basil) embedded in an ice cube, but with frozen fruit only, there’s no surrounding ice to dilute the drink.

The only advisory:

 
THE “RECIPE”

 
MORE ICE CUBE IDEAS

Top: Freeze fruit to substitute for ice cubes (photo courtesy California Pizza Kitchen). Bottom: The more conventional way: Add fruit or herbs to the water before freezing the ice (photo courtesy Zespri| Facebook).