10th Annual Easter Cheesecake

This is year #10 that I’ve baked a cheesecake for Easter and it was one of my favorites! I try to make a different flavor each year (minus the first two years…)

For recipes, click the year: 2008 & 2009 Apple Caramel, 2010 Amaretto, 2011 Dark Chocolate Raspberry, 2012 Chocolate Peanut Butter, 2013 Pumpkin Spice Latte, 2014 Carrot Cake Cheesecake, 2015 Chocolate Baileys, 2016 Almond Joy

We went blueberry picking last weekend at Starkey Farms in New Port Richey and came home with over 2 pounds of berries. So this year, I did a white chocolate blueberry cheesecake. 

The recipe I followed used a pre-made pie crust, but I did a homemade crust instead which turned out great.  My only complaint about this cake was that I wish there was more. It was pretty thin, so if I make it again I’d double the filling for a thicker cheesecake.

Lance and I hosted Easter at our house. We had 16 people and it was amazing! We did it potluck style so we ended up with lots of food.  The cheesecake was devoured. 

Lance’s mom always makes bunny-shaped pears for Easter.  She also made a family recipe of candied bacon and a corn casserole. We also had fruit, mac & cheese, two different egg casseroles, and pineapple bread pudding.

Lance made crockpot maple sugar ham and it was so easy (recipe here).  The ham was so big we had to split it between two crock pots though. All you do is rub the outside in brown sugar, put it cut side down, and cover it in pineapple juice and maple syrup. Cook it 4 hours and every hour baste it with the juices. 

We did a DIY mimosa bar with cranberry, orange mango, and grapefruit juice along with raspberries, blackberries, and strawberries. I found cute tags for the juices from the Target dollar section.

We used the chevron runners and vases from our wedding and bought tulips & daisies from Trader Joe’s (love their flowers).

We had a really great Easter. Hope you all spent the day with people you love!

White Chocolate Blueberry Cheesecake (adapted from Cooking Classy)

Crust Ingredients:

·        10 full sheets of cinnamon graham crackers

·        6 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted

·        1/3 cup granulated sugar

Filling Ingredients:

·        1 Tbsp granulated sugar

·        1 1/2 tsp cornstarch

·        1/2 cup cold water

·        1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries

·        2 tsp lemon juice

·        12 oz. cream cheese, softened (1 1/2 pkg.)

·        1/3 cup granulated sugar

·        1 egg

·        1 egg white

·        1 tsp vanilla extract

·        1/2 Tbsp lemon juice

·        1 cup white chocolate chips (vanilla chips)

·        1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

·        About 1/2 cup more blueberries for garnish

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 300.

2. Grind graham crackers in a food processer, Mix with the melted butter and 1/3 cup sugar. Spray the bottom of your cheesecake pan with cooking spray (I use Trader Joe’s coconut oil spray) and press the graham cracker mixture firmly to the bottom with some going up the sides of the pan.

3. Bake the crust for 8 minutes, then remove from the oven to cool.

4. Increase the oven temperature to 325 degrees.

6. In a small saucepan, whisk together 1 Tbsp sugar and cornstarch until well blended. Stir in cold water, blueberries and 2 tsp lemon juice. Cook over medium heat whisking often until mixture begins to boil lightly. Boil 30 seconds whisking constantly.

7. Remove from heat and force mixture through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl (to remove blueberry skins), set mixture aside.

8. In a large mixing bowl, with an electric mixer, beat together cream cheese and granulated sugar until fluffy, about 1 minute. Mix in egg and egg white. Add vanilla and lemon juice. Set mixture aside.

9. Combine white chocolate chips and cream in a microwave safe bowl and microwave mixture on 50% power in 30 second intervals, stirring after each interval until chocolate is melted and smooth. Add melted chocolate mixture to cream cheese mixture and blend until smooth.

10. Pour 2/3 cup cheesecake mixture into the graham cracker crust and spread evenly over bottom. Drizzle with 2 Tbsp blueberry sauce. Slowly ladle remaining cheesecake mixture over the drizzled blueberry sauce, covering all of the blueberry sauce. Carefully giggle the pan to even out the top.

11. Drizzle 1 1/2 - 2 Tbsp blueberry sauce over top (reserve remaining blueberry sauce in refrigerator). Take a knife and swirl it through the cheesecake to marble blueberry sauce.

12. Bake cheesecake in center of the oven for 40 minutes, then turn oven off and leave cheesecake in the oven for 5 more minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool. 

Add blueberries to the top for garnish, then refrigerate cheesecake for 6 hours, until set. Serve slices with remaining blueberry sauce (we actually forgot to serve ours with the sauce).

Happy Easter!

Patriotic Cupcakes

 

Our friends Tony & Katie hosted a 4^th of July potluck at their place this year, and I baked cupcakes!  The cupcakes themselves weren’t super sweet – more like a muffin – but I liked them that way since some cupcakes can be sickly sweet once you add the frosting and toppings. 

They were really easy to make, but it was a kind of chaotic morning.  I bought the ingredients a few days ago to avoid the rush of people at the grocery store that day, but realized I forgot cupcake liners (I know you don’t really need them, but they come out so much cleaner – plus my cupcake pans have so much permanent caked on food they’re pretty gross…)

I get back, only to realize that I’d left my baking pans at my parents’ place when we baked for our engagement party a few weeks ago.  So I stopped the oven from preheating again and ran by their condo to pick them up.  Then on the third try, I had all the ingredients put out, only to open the baking powder and realize it was empty.  I knew if I skipped it, I’d probably mess up the recipe.  My patience was wearing thin when a scooter going 15 miles an hour was in front of me all the way to the grocery store. 

Anyways, once I got all the ingredients, I was good to go!  I was excited for another excuse to use my KitchenAid mixer.  I topped them with blueberries, raspberries, and coconut in the shape of a flag.  While it was very pretty, it would have been nice to have mixed a few up and topped with all three toppings.  I’ve created a similar flag dessert before with blueberries and strawberries on cake (you can check out this post for a bunch of July 4th recipes!)

Patriotic Cupcakes (adapted from Good Housekeeping)

Ingredients:

• 2 c. all-purpose flour
• ½ t. baking powder
• ½ t. baking soda
• ½ t. salt
• 1 c. granulated sugar
• 1.5 sticks butter (12 T)
• 1 lemon
• 3 large eggs
• 1 c. buttermilk (I never buy buttermilk – instead, fill 1 cup almost all the way with regular milk, then add a few squirts of lemon juice.  Let it sit for about 5 minutes before using it). 
• 8 oz. cream cheese
• 1 c. confectioner’s sugar
• ½ pint blueberries
• 1 pint raspberries
• 1 c. sweetened coconut flakes 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°.  Line 20 cupcake pan cups with liners.   

2. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl and set aside. 

3. In a large bowl or with your KitchenAid mixer, beat granulated sugar and 8 T of the butter for about 5 minutes on medium speed until pale and fluffy, scraping the bowl with a rubber spatula.    

4. Grade 3 tsp of peel from the lemon.  Reserve 1 tsp and set aside.  With the mixer on medium speed, add 2 tsp peel and beat about 1 minute. 

5. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping the bowl. 

6. With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture, until just blended. 

7. Divide the batter evenly among the cupcake liners.  I used a mini ice cream scooper to easily put the batter in the cups (a trick I learned from the Cupcakes & Cocktails class at the Epicurean last month).  

8. Bake 18 – 20 minutes, or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Cool on a wire rack.  The cupcakes can be stored, well wrapped, at room temperature for 2 days, or in a freezer up to a month.  

9.  While the cupcakes cool, prepare the frosting.  Blend the cream cheese, confectioner’s sugar, remaining 4 T of butter, and remaining 1 tsp of lemon peel on low.  Increase the speed and beat 3 – 5 minutes until pale and fluffy.   

10. Spread the frosting on the cooled cupcakes.  Top with blueberries, raspberries, and coconut.  

Trader Joe’s Cheeses

We went on a grocery run to Trader Joe’s last night.  They have such an amazing selection of cheeses at a bargain, so every time we go, we buy a kind we haven’t tried before. 

So far we’ve have loved every single one we’ve tried.  The Smoked Gouda is one of our favorites (you can see it in this post).  Their Toscano cheeses are amazing (they have one coated in black pepper and one soaked in Syrah).  The Unexpected Cheddar is a crumbly cheese with bits of Parmesan mixed into the white cheddar.  Lance’s favorite is the Red Leicester with Chili and Red Bell Pepper, which is a mix of sweet and spicy.  I think my favorite so far has been the English Farmhouse Cheddar with Caramelized Onions (it was amazing in this salad, but also perfect for snacking with crackers). 

Last night we tried two new varieties – Blueberry & Vanilla Chevre Goat Cheese and Creamy Danish Havarti.  For dinner we snacked on a plate with these two cheeses, Kalamata olives, Italian salame, “More Than a Mouthful Trek Mix”, olive tapenade, Raisin Rosemary Crisps, and Fig & Olive Crisps. 

Both cheeses were fantastic – the Blueberry Chevre tasted like it should be a dessert.  And the Havarti is a nice basic cheese that would pair with anything. 

The Raisin Rosemary crisps are my go-to cracker at Trader Joe’s (I found a recipe for them in this post).  The Fig & Olive crisps were a bit chewier – still nice flavor, but I like the Raisin Rosemary better. 

The Trek Mix is a blend of dried cranberries, dark chocolate sea salt & Turbinado sugar almonds, pumpkin seeds, and Greek yogurt coated pretzels.  It was very good, but I think I’ll stick with just buying the dark chocolate almonds since they're the best part of the mix.  The sea salt & Turbinado sugar are a perfect sweet & salty combo - they are one of my favorite sweet treats. 

We buy the salame almost every time we go – the peppered kind is my favorite.  We also bought fresh garlic & herb pizza dough and Creamy Tomato Basil Pasta Sauce on this trip, so we're planning to use the rest of the salame as a pizza topping. 

I love that we can go to Trader Joe’s and make several impulse buys, and yet the total bill always ends up being much lower than I anticipate.  It’s like getting Whole Foods or Fresh Market quality foods for Publix prices.  So happy we have a Tampa location now! They’ve been spreading quickly, with 15 open or soon-to-open Florida locations. 

Trader Joe’s Tampa is located at 3808 W Swann Ave, Tampa, FL 33609 and is open 8am – 9pm every day.