8.08.2014

MangiaMore: CHEESECAKE(s)

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RER 7.30.14
In honor of National Cheesecake Day last Wednesday, I went in.

My sister announced one of the most important days of the year by saying “july 30 = national cheesecake day. get on it.” She was so direct, but so correct. So I got on it. I couldn’t just make one plain cheesecake —it’s a celebration! Many mini cheesecakes. Done.
RER 7.30.14
RER 7.30.14
I’ve made cheesecake before. I went wild with a sinful salted caramel cheesecake pie for Thanksgiving last year. Not a super run of the mill, plain old cheesecake, that’s just not me.

This time, I dared to make four flavors with different add-ins or toppings using the Philadelphia Mini Cheesecake recipe.
RER 7.30.14
Blueberry Lemon
For this little gem, I added a little bit of fresh lemon juice to the filling. Um, yum. This made the heavy cake feel a little lighter and fresher, like summer. And the blueberry lemon compote topping took advantage of beautiful summer blueberries. The combination of the smooth cheesecake and that sweet and tart fresh compote was absolutely lovely.
RER 8.2.14
RER 7.30.14
Oreo Sprinkle
We had Oreos. And we had sprinkles. Boom. Oreo sprinkle cheesecake. My mother questioned my sprinkle addition, but I was baking and I wanted sprinkles. I saw them at the very top of one of our cabinets, next to the cookie cutters, food coloring and extracts, and I went with it. I wanted to add some fun and color to these babies. Even though they look a little funny and silly, they had just the right amount of chocolate to tone down the sweetness from the base, graham cracker crust, and explosion of rainbow sprinkles.
RER 7.30.14
White Chocolate Strawberry Swirl
I’m going to say right now, swirling is not my forte. I was hoping that these would turn out pretty and refined, but they didn’t. Boohoo, they still tasted bomb. Melted white chocolate chips went in the filling and heated strawberry jam (Bonne Maman is my jam!) was “swirled” in with a knife. Can’t say they look superb but they are pretty darn tasty.
RER 8.2.14
RER 7.30.14
Caramel Almond
Well, mostly just almond. I failed at the caramel. Oh well, t’was super delicious anyway. This little guy had some ground almond mixed in with the graham for the crust and some golden Disaronno in with the creamy filling. This might have been a favorite within my test group, for its simplicity. Just yum.

Do anything special for National Cheesecake Day? Like, I dunno, stuff your face with sexy cheesecake…
RER
7.30.14

1 comment:

food for thought...