Here I go again, posting a cheesecake recipe even though I've come right out and said that cheesecake is not something that makes me swoon. I still find it tolerable at best.
Just in case my notion of improving cheesecake by incorporating elements of pie was a fluke, I tried again. I am was a scientist, after all; I know that you need repeated successful results to prove a hypothesis.
...and a few more things that are nice*.
I know I'm not the only person who thought Stacey's maple bacon cheesecake on The Next Food Network Star sounded amazing, right? Bacon in dessert applications seems to be the way to go these days.
Stripes. Layers. Gradations. Stratification. Any way you say it, I'm delighted by the effect.
You can't go more than a few minutes this week without stumbling onto something reminiscent of Ireland, and I'm happy to contribute to the occasion.
Get it? Fans of Woody Harrelson, Wesley Snipes, and/or the game of basketball know what I'm talkin' about.
I know you've seen these somewhere over the rainbow internets recently. If not, I'm thrilled to be the one to bring such a delight to your attention!
Let's be honest--cheesecakes take a lot of work to make, especially when compared to a batch of cupcakes. You've got the endless beating of the cream cheese before and after adding your sugar and eggs. You've got the repetitious scraping of the bowl. You've got the foil and the water bath and the hour of baking and the hour of cooling and the hours of refrigerating. For someone who appreciates a little instant gratification, a cheesecake is not an apt choice!
It's all about proportions for me. I like 2 parts frosting to 1 part cake (and no, I didn't accidentally write that backwards). I like 3 times more chocolate chips in my cookies than what's called for in a typical recipe. When it comes to apple pie, there exists a perfect bite, consisting of 45% innards, 20% crust, and 35% vanilla ice cream.
I'd like to thank the maker of muffin cups, who brilliantly made the base the exact size of many types of cookies--Oreos, 'Nilla Wafers, and the like. They're the perfect ready-made crust for many treats.
, which has yet to steer me in the wrong direction. If you want a cool, creamy bite that's quick and easy to make and tastes everything like Oreos and very little like cheesecake, give this one a go.Presto-change-o? Nah.
)I'd like to change things up today and divert your attention to Natalie's exceptional blog, Perry's Plate. She asked me to do a guest post, and I rarely turn down an invitation for attention like that. If you have any interest in a butyraceous cheesecake, take a peek.
Are you an Almond Joy person or do you prefer Mounds? Or, as a tragic option, do you eschew both, claiming that coconut is gritty and gross (I'm looking at you, Little Brother...)?
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| Zagnut. |
No, not a mime wearing lipstick, an embarrassed zebra, a sunburned penguin, a chocolate sundae with ketchup on top (which, might I add, sounds absolutely disgusting), a crossword puzzle done in red ink, or, the sneaky answer, a newspaper.
If you look back through my post titles, the first thing you'll probably note is that they're absolutely useless if you're trying to figure out the recipe being featured (I know this from frustrating personal experience). The second thing you might notice is that I adore alliteration.
Post titles, recipe names, my random comments describing the posts and recipes of others--I like to make use of this totally titillating tool as often as possible. That said, when I learned that today was National Cherry Cheesecake Day (thanks, Louise!), I instantly became giddy. Yes, although I don't really care for cheesecake (or non-homemade cherry pie filling, but does anyone?)(no offense if you do--more power to ya), I know some people who are pretty fond of the creamy treat, so I whipped one up.
Don't you just love the look of bold red on creamy white? I do. Except when it's red ink all over my calculus homework back in high school. My beloved teacher (a major Civil War buff) always said our papers looked like the Battle of Antietam. Doh.
My goodness, the sacrifices I make for the sake of alliteration. But it's a deserving device, wouldn't you say?
Cheery Cherry Cheesecake
(based on this recipe)
Crust:
1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
3 tablespoons sugar
Pinch of salt
1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted
Cheesecake:
2 pounds (four 8-ounce boxes) cream cheese, at room temperature
1 1/3 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 1/3 cups sour cream
1 (15 oz) can cherry pie filling (optional)
Make the crust:
Butter a 9-inch springform pan that has sides that are at least 2 3/4 inches high.
Stir the crumbs, sugar, and salt together in a medium bowl. Pour over the melted butter and stir until all of the dry ingredients are uniformly moist. Turn the ingredients into the buttered springform pan and use your fingers to pat an even layer of crumbs along the bottom of the pan and about halfway up the sides. Put the pan in the fridge while you preheat the oven.
Center a rack in the oven, preheat the oven to 350°F and place the springform on a baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes. Set the crust aside to cool on a rack while you make the cheesecake. Reduce the oven temperature to 325°F.
Make the cheesecake:
Beat the cream cheese at medium speed until soft, about 4 minutes. Add the sugar and salt and continue to beat another 4 minutes or so, until the cream cheese is light and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla. Add the eggs one by one, beating for a full minute after each addition. Slowly beat in the sour cream. Scrape the batter into the springform pan. Put the springform pan on a roasting pan, place it in the oven, and pour enough boiling water into the roaster to come halfway up the sides of the springform pan.
Bake the cheesecake for 1 hour and 30 minutes, at which point the top will be browned (and perhaps cracked) and may have risen just a little above the rim of the pan. Turn off the oven and prop the oven door open. Allow the cheesecake to sit in the water bath for another hour.
After 1 hour, carefully pull the setup out of the oven and lift the springform pan out of the roaster. Let the cheesecake come to room temperature on a cooling rack.
When the cake is cool, cover the top lightly and chill the cake for at least 4 hours, although overnight would be better.
Before slicing and serving, pour cherry pie filling or whatever fruit topping floats your boat over the cake.
...I'd be all over this.
Wouldn't you say that's pretty easy on the eyes?
Sadly, it has two things going against it in my book--a)it's cheesecake (which, as you may recall, ranks pretty low on my list of cake preferences), and b)it's flavored with pumpkin, which I've never particularly liked. Regardless of the fact that it's not my cup of tea (or slice of cake, as the case may be), I know from various samplers that it's magnificent. It was made as a special birthday treat, and everyone (except me) gnawed away at it with their eyes glazed over. Apparently it was particularly decadent with some peach preserves spooned over the top.
Who says pumpkin has to be limited to the fall? That's like saying eggs should be limited to breakfast and cinnamon only belongs in desserts. Utter drivel. Gobbledygook. Nonsense. Hogwash.
Pretty Pumpkin (wince) Cheesecake (double wince)
(based almost entirely on this recipe)
Crust:
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup pecans, finely chopped
1/4 cup brown sugar, tightly packed
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
Filling:
1 1/2 cups canned solid-pack pumpkin
3 large eggs
1/2 cup brown sugar, tightly packed
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon bourbon
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, at room temperature (I used one full fat and two low fat)
Topping:
2 cups sour cream
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon bourbon
To make the crust: Grease up a 9-inch springform pan.
Stir together the graham cracker crumbs, chopped pecans, sugars, and butter in a bowl until combined well. Press this crumb mixture evenly onto the bottom and about 1/2" up the side of the pan. Chill the crust for 1 hour.
To make the filling: Preheat the oven to 350°F and put a rack in the middle position.
Whisk together the pumpkin, eggs, brown sugar, milk, vanilla, and bourbon in a bowl until combined.
In a large bowl, stir together the granulated sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and salt.
Add the softened cream cheese to the dry ingredients and beat with an electric mixer at high speed until creamy and smooth, about 3 minutes. Reduce the speed to medium and add the pumpkin mixture; beat until smooth.
Pour the filling into the chilled crust, smooth the top, and either put the springform pan into a shallow baking pan or place a pan on the lower rack in case the springform leaks. Bake until the center is just set, 50 to 60 minutes. Transfer to a rack and cool for 5 minutes, making sure to leave the oven on.
To make the topping: Whisk together the sour cream, sugar, and bourbon in a bowl, then spread on top of cheesecake and bake 5 additional minutes.
Cool the cheesecake completely in a pan on the rack for about 3 hours.
Cover and chill the beauty until cold, at least 4 hours. Remove the side of the pan and bring the cake to room temperature before slicing and serving.
Have you ever eaten turtle? Turtle soup? Fried turtle?
I haven't, and probably never will. (I'm fickle like that.) I have, however, eaten turtle cheesecake, and that's turtle enough for me.
These little beauties have been specifically requested by the bride (for any newbies to my blog (welcome!), I've been asked to make desserts for the reception), and they're a delightful choice. I personally think caramel may be the very best thing to pair with chocolate, and come on--it's cheesecake!
These were actually a breeze to put together, and although there was some cratering...
...it was effectively covered up by the luscious caramel...
(who knew caramel was so reflective?)
...and pecans.
One of my main concerns (aside from keeping them cool in outdoor early-July heat) was wrapper removal. Would they peel right out? Eh, almost, but not quite.
I skipped the crust because I had planned to use vanilla wafers and they wouldn't fit into the mini muffin cups--doh! Say, maybe that would aid in wrapper removal. And there we have it folks--I've found an excuse to make a second batch. :)
Miniature Toitle Cheesecakes
(based on this recipe by More Than Burnt Toast)
Yield: 24 baby turtles (hatchlings, if you will)
8 oz cream cheese, softened to room temperature
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
4 oz dark chocolate, melted
1/4 cup sour cream
1 egg
caramel sauce and pecans, for topping
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
Line mini muffin tin with paper cups.
In a large mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla. Beat together until light and creamy. Add the flour and blend until smooth. Pour in melted chocolate and sour cream and mix well. Add the egg and mix. Spoon the filling into cups and bake for 12-15 minutes, until the center is almost set. Let cool at room temperature for at least 10 minutes, then refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight. Before serving, drizzle on some caramel sauce and top with a pecan.
So yesterday was Mother's Day and International Eat What You Want Day. Coincidence? I think not. This one's for you, Mammicus!
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