Woolworth's No Bake Cheesecake 

This is an old recipe from Woolworth's. The original recipe calls for you to start 2 days before you want to serve this classic dessert. However, if you don't want to wait that long, you can cut down the wait time by about a day. You just need to make sure that you chill the dessert for several hours before cutting and serving.  

Ingredients

2 c. evaporated milk
3 c. graham cracker crumbs
4 Tbs. c. confectioners sugar
1 stick butter or margarine melted
1 (8 oz) lemon gelatin
1 1/4 c. boiling water
1 1/4 c. cold water
1 (16 oz.) pkg. cream cheese
2 c. sugar
1 1/2 Tbs. vanilla extract

Directions

The day before making this dessert, about 24 hours, place the evaporated milk, mixing bowl and mixer beaters in the refrigerator. They need to be cold to achieve the best results.

The next day, in a medium bowl, dissolve the lemon gelatin in the boiling water.  Stir or whisk for 2 minutes, or until the gelatin is completely dissolved. Pour in the cold water and stir to combine. Set aside and allow the mixture to cool until it is lukewarm. Do not allow the mixture to congeal. 

In a medium bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs, powdered sugar and melted butter.  Remove 2/3 cup of this mixture and reserve it for the topping. Press the rest of the graham cracker crumbs around the sides and bottom of a 9 x 13-inch cake pan.  Place the dish in the refrigerator until you are ready to pour in the filling.

In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese, and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract and beat about 3 minutes more. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl at least once during the mixing time.

Remove the evaporated milk, mixing bowl and beaters from the refrigerator.  Shake the can of evaporated milk well, or stir it if it is already chilling inside the bowl. Beat the milk on high speed with your electric mixer for about 4 minutes, or until peaks form.  It should resemble meringue or beaten egg whites. 

Gently fold the lemon gelatin for about 30 seconds. Add the cream cheese mixture and gently fold in for another 30 seconds.   Pour into the chilled graham cracker crust. Sprinkle the 2/3 cup reserved graham cracker crust crumbs over the top.

Place back in the refrigerator and chill overnight before cutting and serving. 

If your evaporated milk does not seem to be stiff enough, add a package of instant pudding, or a package of unflavored gelatin to the evaporated milk.  

Another version of this recipe is to whip the lemon gelatin until light and frothy, just before adding it to the evaporated milk.  With an electric mixer, beat in the lemon gelatin and then the cream cheese mixture.