My Favorite Cheesecake with Strawberry Sauce

I first made this cheesecake in 1989 from one of my prized cookbooks, The Cake Bible.  It immediately became the family’s favorite cheesecake, usually served with strawberries or strawberry sauce.

• Servings: 10-12
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Two 8 oz. pkgs cream cheese
1 cup granulated sugar
1 Tblsp. cornstarch
3 large eggs
3 Tblsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
1-1/2 tsp. vanilla
¼ tsp. salt
3 cups sour cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

Pan:  One 8 inch x 2-1/2 inch or higher springform pan, greased and bottom lined with greased parchment or wax paper; outside of pan wrapped with a double layer of heavy-duty foil to prevent seepage.  One 10” cake pan or roasting pan to serve as a water bath.  Pan should not have higher sides than the springform pan or it will slow down baking.

In a large mixing bowl beat the cream cheese and sugar until very smooth – about 3 minutes.  Beat in the cornstarch.  Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition.  Add the lemon juice, vanilla and salt and beat until incorporated.  Beat in the sour cream just until blended.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan.  Set the pan in the larger pan and surround it with 1” of very hot water.  Bake 45 minutes.  Turn off the oven without opening the door and let the cake cool for one hour.  Remove to a rack and cool to room temperature (about one hour).  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Store one week refrigerated – do not freeze.

Serve slices of cheesecake topped with this wonderful, not-too-sweet Strawberry Sauce.

STRAWBERRY SAUCE

• Servings: (makes approx. 3-1/2 cups of sauce)
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½ cup granulated sugar
4-½ tsp. cornstarch
¼ cup orange juice (or 2 Tblsp. each of water and orange juice concentrate)
4 cups fresh strawberries, hulled and quartered
½ tsp. vanilla extract

In a medium pan, whisk together the sugar, cornstarch and orange juice.  Add the prepared berries and heat over medium high heat until mixture comes to a boil.  Stirring constantly, boil mixture for another two minutes.  Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.

Serve at room temperature or chilled over cheesecake.  If there are leftovers, refrigerate and spoon over ice cream, pound cake, or pudding. 

Clementine Cheesecake Pudding

We love Clementines but always seem to lose our enthusiasm before finishing the last few.  This is one way to enjoy the Clementine flavor in an easy pudding, using three Clementines.

• Servings: 4
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3 Clementine oranges, processed (see below)

1 egg
¼ cup granulated sugar
Dash of salt
2 Tblsp. cornstarch
1 cup milk
4 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 cup frozen dairy topping (Cool Whip), thawed

Wash and dry Clementines, remove stems and place in a microwave-safe dish.  Cover Clementines with cold water, put a lid on the dish and microwave on high for approximately 10 minutes.  Clementines should be quite soft and look something like fresh, ripe apricots.  Let cool in microwave – be careful, they get very hot.

Cut the Clementines in half and process as finely as possible in a food processor or blender (remove seeds if necessary but, yes, process both rind and flesh).

Makes about ½ cup.  Set aside.

Note:  Clementines can also be covered with water and boiled on the stove top for two hours.  Clementine puree can be frozen.

In a medium saucepan, place egg, sugar, salt and cornstarch.  Whisk until blended, add milk and whisk until smooth.  Place on medium-high heat and whisk constantly until mixture begins to bubble.  Lower heat and continue whisking for one minute.

Remove from heat and stir in processed Clementines.

Whisk in softened cream cheese until smooth.

Set aside to cool to room temperature, then whisk in thawed dairy topping.

Divide between 4 dessert dishes, cover and chill for at least one hour.
Makes 4 servings. 

Light Pineapple Cheesecake

On the Sunday after Thanksgiving, we have our traditional leftover dish – Turkey Tetrazzini.  I was looking for a dessert that would be completely different from the rich food we have been eating since Thursday.  I found this recipe on allrecipes.com and it fit the bill perfectly.  It is light-tasting and light in calories – 207 calories based on 9 servings.

• Servings: 9
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Crust:

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 Tblsp. granulated sugar
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 cup butter or margarine, cut into small cubes

Filling:

• 8 oz. can crushed pineapple
• 8 oz. package low-fat cream cheese, softened
• 3 Tblsp. granulated sugar
• 1 Tblsp. all-purpose flour
• 1 egg
• 1 cup milk
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• Ground cinnamon for sprinkling on top

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

To make the crust:

In an ungreased 8-inch baking pan, combine the flour, sugar and salt.  Rub  in the butter with your fingertips until mixture is crumbly.

Press the mixture onto the bottom of the 8-inch pan.

Bake @ 325 degrees F for 12 minutes.  Cool on a wire rack.

To make the filling:

Drain the pineapple, pressing down to remove as much juice as possible, reserving the juice (there should be about 1/2 cup of juice); set pineapple and juice aside.

In a mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar and flour.  Add the egg and mix until smooth.  Add the pineapple juice.  Gradually add the milk and vanilla.

Sprinkle the drained pineapple over the baked crust.

Slowly pour the filling over the pineapple.  Sprinkle with cinnamon.

Bake @ 325 degrees F for one hour or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.  Cool on a wire rack to room temperature.

Cake is good served at room temperature or chilled.  Refrigerate leftovers.

Yield:  9 servings

Lunch with an Irish Theme

I was trying to think of something Irish to have for lunch this Sunday before St. Patrick’s Day.  My family doesn’t care much for corned beef and cabbage, but I thought, sauerkraut is a form of cabbage and combined with corned beef and Swiss cheese on rye bread it becomes something my family does like – what my youngest daughter calls “O’Reubens”.  So, we had these sandwiches (see recipe here)

along with a Bailey’s Marbled Cheesecake (see recipe here)

and a bottle of Guiness for those who wanted it.

Bailey’s Marbled Cheesecake

Happy St. Patrick’s Day with a view of an old-fashioned Irish kitchen.  This picture was snapped on a visit to a Folk Farm cottage in Ireland.

I was looking for a recipe for something extra-special for St. Patrick’s Day and found it on Razzledazzle Recipes.

I love Bailey’s Irish Cream and when I saw a cheesecake that included 3/4 cup of this lucious drink, I knew I had a good choice for a St. Paddy’s Day dessert.  The cake is large, thick, rich and can feed a big group, depending on the size of the slices.  The only change I made from the original was to use unsweetened chocolate squares because I didn’t have any semi-sweet on hand.  The cake turned out wonderful.

• Servings: 8-10
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Preparation time:  About 30 minutes

Total baking time for cheesecake:  1 hour, 5 minutes

Cooling time:  2 hours, 45 minutes

Butter bottom of 9″ springform pan.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Chocolate Graham Base

• 4 Tblsp. butter, melted
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 9 full graham crackers, crushed

Combine butter, sugar and cocoa powder in a small bowl.  Stir in graham cracker crumbs.  Press evenly over bottom of buttered 9″ springform pan and bake @ 350 degrees F for 10 minutes.  Remove pan to rack to cool for a few minutes, then butter the sides of the pan.

Turn oven heat up to 450 degrees F

Filling:

• 24 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3 eggs
• 3/4 cup Bailey’s Irish Cream
• 2 one-oz. squares of unsweetened chocolate, melted

Beat cream cheese until smooth.  Gradually beat in sugar.  Beat in eggs one at a time.  Blend in Bailey’s Irish Cream.

Pour one cup of the filling into a small bowl and stir in the melted chocolate.

Pour half of the plain filling mixture into the prepared pan on top of the baked crust.  Dot with half of the chocolate mixture.  Repeat with the remaining half of filling and half of chocolate mixture.  Make a marbled design by gently swirling the batter with a knife.

Bake @ 450 degrees F for 10 minutes.  Lower heat to 250 degrees F and continue baking for 55 minutes.

Remove pan to rack and allow to cool in pan for 15 minutes.  Run a knife around the edge of the cake and loosen the sides of the pan.  Allow to cool an additional 30 minutes in pan with sides loosened.  Remove from pan and cool about 2 more hours before serving.

Delicious at room temperature or chilled.  Refrigerate leftovers.

My oldest daughter brought me three gifts for St. Patrick’s Day – one of her hand-crocheted doilies, a tiny needle felting Irish cottage and a vintage Scottie planter in my favorite shade of green.  What a nice St. Patrick’s Day!