Chocolate Pretzel Cheesecake

I’ve was asked to make some cheesecakes as part of a fundraiser for a Relay for Life kick-off. I decided to go with a Boston Cream Cheesecake recipe for one of them and a Chocolate Pretzel Cheesecake for the other one.

 I have been getting more and more requests for cheesecakes as people see all the great types of cheesecake recipes available. Who knows, maybe I’ll have to get into the cheesecake making business!

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup ground almonds

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup cold butter 

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour, almonds and sugar. Cut in butter until crumbly then add the extract.

Shape dough into a ball and place between two sheets of waxed paper. and roll out into a 10-inch circle. Transfer to a greased 9 inch springform pan  gently pressing dough against the bottom and up the sides of pan. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

FILLING:
1 (8 ounce) package of softened cream cheese

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 egg

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

TOPPING:

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

4 cups thinly sliced peeled tart apples

1/3 cup slivered almonds

With an electric mixer beat cream cheese, sugar and cream of tartar until smooth. Add egg beating on low just until combined then pour over crust.

In another bowl, combine brown sugar, flour and cinnamon. Add the apples and stir until coated. Spoon over the filling then sprinkle with almonds. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes or until golden brown.

Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. With a sharp knife, lossen cake from the edges of the pan but don’t remove the rim. Cool to room temperature then refrigerate for at least 4 hours before removing the rim and serving.

Slice of Red Velvet Cheesecake

Last week I made a Red Velvet Cheesecake and it turned out well. It had some of the same characteristics of the cake version like the deep red color and a creamy vanilla topping. It had a smooth and creamy cream cheese layer over a chocolate cookie crust.

My family enjoyed it and I also gave several pieces to my friend and her family. They are all gracious enough to serve as guinea pigs for my cheesecake recipe experiments.

I hope they all don’t mind too much!

Cheesecake Factory~Washington, DC

Up until yesterday, I had never tried cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory. After a day of taking cherry blossom pictures and Washington DC pictures, my friends and I were ready for a nice meal and a great dessert. Since we had never been there before, we decided to try the Cheesecake Factory. I even did a Cheesecake Factory review to add to my web site.

I would like to caution you though that the portions are large and there isn’t much room left for dessert. We ended up taking half of it home but that meant we could enjoy it two days in a row!

Washington Monument peaking through the cherry blossoms

Also, don’t forget to sign up for my ezine newsletter, Cheesecake Chatter. You will receive a chance to win a free cheesecake mix at the end of the month of April.

This is a recipe from the Southern Living Homestyle Cookbook and sounded so delicious that I thought others might like to try it.

Ingredients:

1/2 package refrigerated pie crust or 1 nine inch deep dish pie crust.

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate morsels (or dark chocolate if preferred)

3 tablespoons whipping cream

1 (8 ozunce) package of cream cheese, softened

4 large eggs

3/4 cup sugar, divided

2 teaspoons vanilla extract, divided

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup light corn syrup

3 teaspoons butter melted

1 and 1/2 cups pecan halves

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350  degrees.

Unroll the pie crust, fit into a nine inch pie plate according to the instructions on the package. Fold edges under and crimp.

Microwave the chocolate morsels and whipping cream in a small glass bowl at 50% power 1 to 1 1/2 minutes until the morsels begin to melt. Whisk until smooth and set aside.

Beat the cream cheese, 1 egg,1/2 cup sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and salt at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Pour the chocolate mixture in the pie crust spreading evenly. Pour the cream cheese mixture over the chocolate layer

Whisk together the corn syrup, the remaining three eggs, remaining 1/4 cup sugar, and the remaining vanilla. Stir in the pecans and pour over the cream cheese layer.

Bake at 350 degrees for 55 minutes or until set shielding the pie after about 45 minutes to prevent excessive browning. Cool completely on a wire rack. Drizzle each slice with chocolate syrup or hot fudge if desired.

White Chocolate Amaretto Cheesecake Mix

I am giving the above cheesecake mix away to a reader who signs up for my newsletter. Earn one or more chances to win depending on how many times you get the word out.

Step #1

If you would like to win a pack of White Chocolate Amaretto Cheesecake Mix…sign up for my newsletter above. The winner’s name will be published in the April 30th edition of my newsletter.

Step #2

For more chance to win, get the message about the contest out there on the web and I will enter your name again for each time you do!

All you have to do is:

~Mention the contest on your blog or website or…

~Tweet about the contest on Twitter or…

~Re-Tweet the contest!

Send the link to me here and show me how you told others about the contest, and I will make sure to keep adding your name!
Good Luck!

Many thanks to Debbie for getting back to me.

Vicky Bullett

Vicky Bullett recently shared with me that her favorite cheesecake is a plain one like a New York Style Cheesecake.  Vicky is a former pro basketball player and Olympic Athlete. She  earned  a gold  medal in the 1988  Olympics and  a bronze medal in the 1992 Olympic games.  Thank You for sharing Vicky!

Today I was pleasantly surprised when one of my friends brought a cheesecake recipe book to work for me. It was something her mother gave her years ago and she told me that she hoped I would take the hint and continue making cheesecakes to bring to work. I was quickly assured that everyone at work would be happy to help me out by sampling the results of  any  new recipes I wanted to try!

Sampling a cheesecake

Kathy…thank you for the recipe book!