Saturday, July 31, 2010

Homemade Cheesecake with Strawberries and Whipped Cream

Today has just been great! Went for an interview this morning, came home and within a couple of hours I got a call from the company I interviewed with saying, "I got the job! WooHoo!!!!" I figured that called for a little celebration, right? Since homemade cheesecake is one of mine and Nate's all time favorite desserts I decided it was a great day to make one. So here it goes..............



WHAT YOU WILL NEED


Crust




  • 1 box of honey gram crackers


  • 1 stick (1/2 cup butter), melted


  • 1-1/2 teaspoons of vanilla


Filling





  • 3 packages 8 ounce cream cheese


  • 1-1/2 cups sugar


  • 4 whole eggs


  • 1/2 cup sour cream


Topping





  • 2 cups sliced strawberries Or any kind of berry)


  • 1/2 cup sugar


  • 2 tablespoons water


First you want to preheat your oven to 350 degrees.



Place gram crackers into a food processor and pulse until the crackers become crumbs. Then add butter and vanilla and pulse again until the mixture is combined. Dump mix into a 9-inch spring form pan and press down with the bottom end of a measuring cup until the crust becomes flat.







For the filling, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth.



Then add the eggs one by one, making sure each one is combined before you add the next. Add sour cream and mix again.


Pour filling over top of the crust and smooth out with a spatula. I like to gently pick up the pan and drop it a couple of time from about 1-1/2 inches off the counter to let some of the air bubbles out of the cheesecake.





Place cheesecake into oven and bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes. Once it's done baking gently open the oven door and let the cake rest in the oven for 15 more minutes.


Remove and let cool.


For the topping, add berries, sugar and water to a saucepan and bring to boil over a medium-high heat and cook for 4 to 5 minutes. Turn it off and let cool.



And then cover the top of the cheesecake with your berries and place in refrigerator for at least 2 hours before serving.

I also like to make whipped cream and put a little on top, you will see what I mean from my picture below.





Friday, July 30, 2010

Raspberry Jam and Jalepeno Jelly

So today I made Raspberry Jam and Jalapeno Jelly, I know what your thinking Jalapeno Jam!!!! But it's really delicious and not hot at all, you take out all the seeds and ribs from inside the pepper, which is what makes them so HOT!! I only eat it on top of cream cheese and with a wheat thin...YUMMY!!!!

So I started by going out to our garden and picking the jalapenos, the raspberries I got from the farmers market, there locally grown there and oh so scrumptious!!!!

If there's one tip I can give you to making these two very delicious jam/jelly let it be this: DO NOT, I REPEAT DO NOT CUT THE JALAPENOS AND THEN RUB YOUR EYES, IT MAKES FOR A VERY CRAPPY REST OF THE DAY :(

So after following the recipe on the back of a fruit pectin box(I know, I know, but it's just soooooooooooooo good and soooooooooo easy to make) and putting them all in individual jars here's what I got!