World's Cheapest and Fastest Cheesecake

I found that Jell-o makes a cheesecake flavored pudding (am I just late on this one?). I got it with a coupon so I think it was $0.25 and all of the other things were supplies I had on hand.

The World's Cheapest and Fastest Cheesecake

Crust:

8 graham crackers (crushed0

1/4 cup melted butter

1/4 cup sugar

Filling:

Jell-o Cheesecake Pudding

1 3/4 cup milk 

Crushing the crackers took the longest out of the whole process. I put half in a plastic bag and smacked them thoroughly with my rolling pin and then did the other half. I combined all the crust ingredients and pushed them into a pie plate. I combined the filling ingredients and whisked for 2 minutes (per the box instructions). I poured the filling in and carefully covered the plate with plastic wrap. It said wait about an hour. It was delicious and stood up quite nicely. 

Total time: 5 minutes prep. 1 hour in the fridge

Total cost: <$1.00

Raspberry Key Lime Cheesecake Shakes

Thank you to everyone who has sacrificed for our freedoms this Memorial Day.

Last week, my husband and I both saw an article in the paper about milkshakes, and the same recipe caught our eyes: raspberry key lime cheesecake shakes. We knew we had to try that one! So one night after the kids went to bed, we gathered the ingredients (kind of) and got to work.

Raspberry Key Lime Cheesecake Shakes

Servings: 2

Original recipe: 3 ounces cream cheese 1 ounce (2 Tbsp) Key lime juice 1/2 cup fresh raspberries 1 cup vanilla ice cream 1/2 cup light cream

Our variation: 3 ounces cream cheese 1 ounce (2 Tbsp) lime juice 1/2 cup frozen raspberries 1 cup vanilla ice cream 1/2 cup light cream 1 tsp sugar (or xylitol) milk (to desired consistency)

In our variation, we didn't have fresh raspberries available as readily (or maybe cheaply) as frozen ones, so we substituted. That (or maybe the original recipe?) made the milkshake very thick--almost too thick--so I think we'd recommend adding some milk if you're not looking to get a hernia from trying to drink this through a regular straw.

Also, a chunk of cream cheese and a splash of lime juice do not a cheese cake or key lime pie make. Our first taste of the milkshakes were flat-out not sweet. No, not "not sweet enough"--not sweet at all. We added some xylitol, but we'd recommend adding sugar or the sweetener of your preference before blending.

Enjoy!

What are you having for dessert for Memorial Day?

Chocolate Marble Cheesecake

It's becoming apparent that nothing says Valentine's Day to me like chocolate. And today will be no exception: I made the chocolatiest cheesecake I've ever had, courtesy of Chocolate Never Faileth by Annette Lyon. Oh, and in addition to being the chocolatiest, did I mention it's also probably the easiest cheesecake I've ever made?

Oh yeah.

The recipe is made for an 11x7 pan, but I went with my 9+" round springform. I lined the pan with a circle of parchment paper cut slightly larger than the bottom of the pan to make it easier to pull out. With the springform sides, the paper doesn't have to go up very far on the sides.

The cheesecake starts with a chocolate graham cracker crust, held together with butter and an egg white:

Even with very crunchy graham crackers, this gave the cheesecake a thick and soft crust that was very tasty! (I'm also not a fan of Oreo crusts, so this was another bonus.)

The cheesecake itself was easy:

• 2 8-oz blocks of cream cheese (I always use Neufchatel; it's lower in fat), softened
• 1/2 c sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 c sour cream
• 2 large eggs (if you only have medium in the house, also use the yolk leftover from the crust)
• 1 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips

Cream the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until smooth. While that's working, melt the chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl (or double boiler, I guess, but seriously?), being careful not to burn them. Stir the sour cream into the cream cheese mixture. Beat the eggs into the cream cheese mixture one at a time, mixing well after each addition. 

Set aside 3/4 to 1 c of the cheesecake batter, and mix the chocolate chips into the rest of the batter. (Or, if you're illiterate like me, mix 3/4 to 1 c of the cheesecake batter into the chocolate chips. Comes out good both ways.) Pour the bigger batter batch onto the cooled crust. Drop the contrasting batter batch by small spoonfuls on top. Draw a butter knife--and careful not to mess up the crust--through the batter in swirling patterns to create a marbled effect.

Bake for 30-40 min at 325 F or until just set. Cool on a wire rack, then chill thoroughly. (It will be a little soft until chilled.)

The texture is smooth and rich, and has just the right amount of tang and sweetness. I forgot to get a picture until after I start cutting it in cheesecake squares, but I think it's still pretty tasty looking:

Yum!

Pumpkin Cheesecake Truffles

We recently started a cooking club at church. This month's "secret ingredient" (aka "theme") was pumpkin pie spice. Naturally, all of our food actually included pumpkin, too.

I wanted to make pumpkin cheesecake truffles. I found recipes for pumpkin truffles, pumpkin cheesecake, and cheesecake truffles, but no true pumpkin cheesecake truffles. I didn't care much for most of the recipes I found--I didn't want to use white chocolate chips in my truffle center--and, you know, I'm wayward and crafty.

I decided to actually make a pumpkin cheesecake and then make it into truffles. But, honestly, I didn't want to have to deal (read: gain the weight from) an entire pumpkin cheesecake. So I searched out a pumpkin cheesecake recipe that was already adapted for muffin tins (recalculating baking time = nightmare! for me).

I took Tante Marie's newsletter's muffin tin pumpkin cheesecake I found and halved it, eliminating both the crust and the cream topping, and baking in a water bath to prevent cracking (which, admittedly, isn't super likely in such small cakes) or burning. Then I followed the steps from Edible Garden to make crustless cheesecake into truffles.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Truffles

• 2-3 c. water for bath
• 4 oz. (American) Neufchâtel cheese, softened (or cream cheese)
• 1/4 c. canned pumpkin
• 1 egg
• 2 Tbsp light brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp maple syrup
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• pinch ginger
• pinch nutmeg
• 3-1.55 oz. milk chocolate bars

Preheat oven to 325 F and line 6 muffin cups with paper liners. Put water on to boil. Mix cream cheese and pumpkin in mixing bowl until well combined. Add egg, brown sugar, maple syrup, and spices (can substitute 1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice), and mix until combined. Pour into prepared muffin cups, dividing batter equally.

Place a jelly roll pan or deeper baking pan that's large enough to hold the muffin tin on the middle rack in the heated oven and pour the boiling water in the pan--be sure the water won't go over the top of the muffin tin! (As you can see, I added a kitchen towel in my water bath because of something I'd read on the Internet. Don't know if it helped, but it sure made me nervous!)

Place the filled muffin tin in the water bath and bake for 15-17 minutes, until centers are set. Remove from oven and cool. Once cool, freeze for at least 4 hours.

Once the cheesecakes are frozen solid, they're ready to dip in chocolate. Break the chocolate bars into a microwave safe bowl and melt them, heating for 30 second intervals (or over a double boiler, if you'd like). Remove the cheesecakes from the freezer, and peel the paper lining from the cheesecakes (paper liners aren't a picnic, but I think they'd be easier to remove than foil). Cut the cheesecakes in quarters.

Using two forks and working quickly, coat the quarters in melted chocolate. If necessary, reheat the chocolate. Seriously, work fast and be careful--not only does the chocolate solidify quickly on the surface, and have a bit of a hard time adhering, but also the condensation from the frozen cheesecakes can and will seize the chocolate if you're not fast enough.

Let the chocolates harden/cool on waxed paper (it won't take long). Store in the refrigerator or freezer (the crystals are noticeable in the frozen version, but the flavor is still great).

The result (when it worked out well!): a hard chocolate shell holding soft, smooth cheesecake. The cheesecake and pumpkin were both unmistakeable--it's a lot of flavor packed in a little bite!

I tried two variations of my truffles, and this one was far and away the favorite at my cooking club.

What's your favorite pumpkin pie spice recipe?