Fresh Cherry Cheesecake Triangles

When cherries are in season, I get a bit giddy at the grocery store. I picked up a few pounds with the intent to bake, and they were gone in 2 days! I may or may not have eaten over half of them myself, but I blame the rest of the family for gobbling them down. Another trip to the store and 2 large bags were in the fridge, one for snacking, one for baking. Problem solved! (as long as I used them ASAP.) I picked a cherry cheesecake bar recipe and instead of the pie-filling it called for, I threw in a cup of fresh, sweet, black, pitted and halved jewels, ahem, I mean cherries. Did I mention these are low-fat/low-sugar and still rich with flavor??!

Cherry-Cheesecake Triangles

Adapted from Delish.com

Ingredients

    Crust

1-1/2 cups graham-cracker crumbs

6 Tablespoons (unsalted) butter or margarine, melted

2 Tablespoons sugar

   Filling

1-1/2 packages (8oz each) light cream cheese (Neufchatel), softened

1/2 cup sugar (I used Splenda, no problems)

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons freshly grated lemon peel (I omitted this)

1-1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 cup fresh pitted, halved, ripe black cherries (or 1 cup lite canned cherry-pie filling if you aren't lucky enough to have fresh.)

  Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-inch square baking pan. Line pan with foil, extending foil over rim; grease foil.
2. Prepare crust: In bowl, with fork, stir graham-cracker crumbs, butter and sugar until blended. With hand, press mixture onto bottom of prepared pan. Bake 10 minutes. Cool completely in pan on wire rack.
3. Prepare filling: In small bowl, with mixer at medium speed, beat cream cheese until smooth. Gradually beat in sugar (or splenda). Beat in eggs, lemon peel and vanilla extract just until blended.
4. Pour cream-cheese mixture evenly over cooled crust. Sprinkle cherries evenly over mixture, gently pressing a few of the cherries into the the cheesecake.
5. Bake until a toothpick inserted int he center comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Cool completely in pan on wire rack; refrigerate until ready to serve.
6. When cold, use foil overhang to lift cheesecake out of pan; place on cutting board and peel foil away from sides. Cut lengthwise into 2 strips, then cut each strip crosswise into 2 squares. Cut each square diagonally into quarters.

Peachy Keen Crisp

Peachy Keen - def. (N)- Super duper, just perfect, hunky dory, jim dandy, two thumbs up.

I love peach desserts!! Cobblers, crumbles, cream cakes, pies, and ice cream. Crumbles are my favorite, so I had to share this delicious recipe. From "In the Kitchen THE COSTCO WAY"

Peach Crisp                                              

 Filling:                                  Topping:

4 large peaches                       1 stick butter or margarine                  

1-2 teaspoons cinnamon           3/4 cup flour

3 tablespoons brown sugar       2/3 cup sugar (I use 1/2 Splenda, 1/2 sugar)

1/2 cup water                        Sprinkles of brown sugar and cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

 Tip: I blanch the peaches to peel them easily by dropping them in boiling water for 5 seconds. The skin easily comes off without taking the flesh with it. 

To prepare the filling, wash, peel and slice peaches. Place in a buttered 9x9 inch baking dish and sprinkle with cinnamon and brown sugar. Pour 1/2 cup water over peaches.

 To prepare the topping, cut cold butter into the flour and sugar. (This mixture should be grainy and chunky, not smooth.) Cover the peaches with this mixture. Sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon to taste. 

Bake for about 50 minutes, or until the topping is golden brown. Serve warm, and top with vanilla ice cream or Cool Whip. Serves 8.

Are you hungry yet?!

Rainbow Cupcakes

A fun baking project for the kids and I to do together, and what's more enchanting than cupcakes in all colors?! I'll add some flavorings next time to make lime, lemon, orange, raspberry and.....blue? flavored cakes. Eating only one could become a much bigger problem for me!

I mixed a Betty Crocker White cake mix, 3 egg whites, 1/3 cup oil, and 1-1/4 cups water. Dividing this between 5 small plastic cups was about the perfect amount of batter/cup ratio. I let the kids color their own, even though I REALLY wanted to do this myself. The kids had a great time, and the colors turned out nicer than I expected. 

I use silicone cupcake forms because I'm always out of paper liners, but this worked out well to show of the colors of the cupcakes after they were frosted. Bake at 350 deg. for about 16-18 minutes, not too brown and not doughy. 
I wanted a fluffy and extra creamy frosting, so this is my little concoction.


Easy Fluffy Vanilla Frosting:
3/4 cup Marshmallow Creme Fluff
6 Tbsp butter, softened
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 can Classic Vanilla Frosting

• Mix the first 3 ingredients on high for about 3-4 minutes until light and fluffy. 
• Add the whole can of frosting and continue to mix on med-high for 2 minutes.

• Place in a ziploc or frosting bag. (I'm a fan of Wilton disposable bags, strong and easy to pop any tip in there.) I used the 1M tip from Wilton, a larger star tip that makes beautiful cupcake tops. You'll have enough to frost about 30 cupcakes. 

Gingerbread Rollin' in Spiced Cream Cheese

Gingerbread Roll with Spiced Cream Cheese

I love the classic Pumpkin Roll with cream cheese filling, but I'm so glad my foodie husband for suggested a Gingerbread Roll. I adapted a gingerbread recipe and spiced up the filling. Mmmm, it was a hit, but as you can see in the picture, not nearly enough filling. I've fixed this in the recipe below.

Gingerbread Rollin' in Spiced Cream Cheese

4 eggs

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

1/4 cup water

3 Tbsp. butter, melted

3 Tbsp. molasses

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1-1/4 cup all purpose flour

2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

Powdered sugar

Filling:  

2 - 8oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened

6 Tbsp. butter, softened

1-1/2 cups powdered sugar

1-1/4 tsp. ground ginger

1-1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1. Line a greased 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pan with waxed paper; grease the paper and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, beat eggs for 3 minutes. Gradually add sugars, beating until mixture is thickened. Beat in the water, butter, molasses, and vanilla. Combine the flour, pie spice, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt; fold into egg mixture. Spread batter into prepared pan.
3. Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly touched. Cool for 5 minutes. Invert onto a kitchen towel dusted with powdered sugar. Gently peel off waxed paper. Roll up cake in the towel, jelly-roll style, starting with the short side. Cool completely on a wire rack.
4. For filling, in a small bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter until smooth, then add powdered sugar and spices and mix until smooth. Add 1-2 Tbsp of milk if mixture is not of spreadable consistency. 
5. Unroll cake; spread filling over cake to within 1/2-in. of edges. Roll up again. Place seam side down on a serving platter. Dust with powdered sugar if desired. 

I like to wrap in plastic wrap, then foil and freeze for an hour or so before serving. It can also be stored this way for about 2 weeks.