I’m re-sharing two recipes today that I’ve already posted because they’re just way too tasty to only share once. I’ve been making these fruit cheesecake bars for most of our get-together this summer, and they’re always popular. Both need fresh fruit, so this is the best time of the year to plan on enjoying them.
I tried out an almond raspberry cheesecake a few weeks ago, which tasted great but I wasn’t quite happy with how it cooked up. Fortunately, this time I ran out of raspberry jam and substituted black raspberry jelly. Oh. My. Goodness. Black raspberries and cheesecake belong together.
The basic recipe is much the same as the last one, but I used dough hooks to make the crust instead of hand-kneading it and that worked well. I also didn’t swirl extra jelly into the top, hoping the cake would crack less. It was less, but still not perfect.
Crust
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup ground almonds
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
Preheat oven to 325° F. Line a 9-inch spring-form pan with aluminum foil. Using the dough hooks on an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar. Add ground almonds and 1/2 cup of flour, and mix well. Flour hands and press dough into the spring-form pan. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes.
Filling
3 (8-oz.) packages cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon almond flavoring
3 eggs
1/4 cup berry preserves
Beat cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla at medium speed with electric mixer until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing at low speed after each addition.
Mix 3/4 cup of batter with 1/4 cup raspberry preserves. Spoon 1/3 of the raspberry mixture over the crust. Pour the remainder of the cheesecake batter into the pan. Drop the remaining raspberry/cream cheese mixture by spoon fulls over the top of the cheesecake and smooth into the batter. Use a knife or spatula to swirl the berry mixture.
Bake cheesecake for 1 hour at 325° F or until center is almost set. Run a knife along the inside edge of the pan ring when it comes out of the oven. Cool before removing rim of pan. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.
I usually make a cheesecake when we’re heading anywhere that needs desert, so for the last potluck I went to I decided to try something new. I thought raspberries sounded good, and I needed an unleavened crust so I settled on a modified version of this Scottish shortbread. Then I thought almonds might be a good idea, so I threw some of those in as well. It tasted good, but as you can see from the photos it cracked while baking. I have an idea that just might take care of that problem, so I’ll probably be posting a “take two” after my next baking attempt.
Crust
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup ground almonds
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
Preheat oven to 325° F. Line a 9-inch spring-form pan with aluminum foil. Cream butter and sugar. Add ground almonds and 1/2 cup of flour, and mix well. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 5 minutes, adding flour to make a soft dough. Press into the spring-form pan, and bake for 12 to 15 minutes.
Filling
3 (8-oz.) packages cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon almond flavoring
3 eggs
1/4 cup, plus 2 tablespoons, raspberry preserves
Beat cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla at medium speed with electric mixer until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing at low speed after each addition.
Mix 3/4 cup of batter with 1/4 cup raspberry preserves. Spoon 1/3 of the raspberry mixture over the crust.
Pour the remainder of the cheesecake batter into the pan. Drop the remaining raspberry/cream cheese mixture by spoon fulls over the top of the cheesecake and smooth into the batter. Dot the top of the cheesecake with extra raspberry preserves, then use a knife to swirl the batter.
Bake cheesecake for 1 hour at 325° F or until center is almost set. Run a knife along the inside edge of the pan ring when it comes out of the oven. Cool before removing rim of pan. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.
I made this cheesecake for a potluck last week. It is my favorite cheesecake for fall, and also works well as a winter dessert. Since trying it with this oatmeal crust, I’ve stopped using graham crackers at all for this cheesecake. This crust works well for other fruit cheesecakes and can be used with a New York style cheesecake.
Crust
1-1/2 cups quick oats, uncooked
1/2 cup finely chopped almonds or pecans
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup butter, melted.
Combine, mix well and press into 9-inch spring-form pan.
Filling
2 (8-oz.) packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
Beat cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla at medium speed with electric mixer until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing at low speed after each addition. Pour over crust.
Topping
4 cups peeled apples, thinly sliced
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
Toss apples with combined sugar and cinnamon. Spoon apple mixture over cream cheese layer. Sprinkle with pecans.
Bake 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool before removing rim of pan. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.
Drizzle with caramel ice-cream topping just before serving.
I was shocked to discover I hadn’t blogged this recipe yet. It’s my mother’s favorite pasta, and it’s a deceptively simple recipe. I’ve been making it for company for several years, and it always gets good reviews. I like to serve it with salad and bread, or with green beans (which my Dad covers in Alfredo sauce). Having made it so many times, I can offer a few suggestions to make timing everything easier. Start water for the pasta boiling right before you start melting butter for the sauce. The chicken should be cooking by the time you are adding cream cheese to the sauce, then everything should be done about the same time.
1/2 cup butter
1 (8-oz) package cream cheese
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 cups milk
3/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1-½ teaspoons parsley
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
Melt butter in medium saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic powder then cream cheese, stirring with a wire whisk until smooth.
Add milk, a little at a time, whisking to smooth out lumps. Stir in Parmesan cheese and spices. Stir frequently until sauce reaches desired consistency.
Serve with spaghetti, penne, linguine, or fettuccine.
Chicken Alfredo
For chicken Alfredo, chop 2 chicken breasts into cubes. Cook chicken in olive oil, garlic powder, and black pepper until done. Add to sauce right before serving.
There’s an Amish family not far from my home who sells fresh produce. When peaches are in season, my family buys them by the crate. Usually they get eaten quickly, but if they are a bit older when we buy them, sometimes you have to bake with some. As is, this recipe turns out great, but the peach flavor was a little too subtle and it only used 2 peaches. I think I’d try doubling the amount of peaches next time.
2 cups ripe peaches
2 teaspoons cinnamon and sugar, mixed
2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ cups powdered sugar
1 cup butter, cold
1 (8-oz) package cream cheese, softened
1 (14-oz) can sweetened condensed milk
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla
Preheat oven to 350°F. Peal and thinly slice peaches. Place in bowl and toss with cinnamon/sugar mixture. Let fruit set.
In large bowl, mix flour and powder sugar. Cut the cold butter into the mixture. Reserve 2 cups for topping. In a 9×13-inch ungreased baking dish, press remaining mixture and bake for 15 minutes.
Beat the cream cheese until fluffy, then slowly add the condensed milk, baking until smooth. Add egg and vanilla.
Place peaches and juice on baked crust. Top with cream cheese mixture. Sprinkle reserved crumb mixture over the top. Bake 30-35 minutes or until the top is slightly brown. Chill and cut into squares.
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