No Bake Raspberry, Cheesecake...and Hungarian Game Plan

I've been blogging for ten months now, and I came a long way, just like all the other food bloggers did. I made a lot of friends along the way, and I truly value everyone's friendship. The best part about blogging is, that every blog is unique, every post, food, desserts, are different...but we all contribute and have something beautiful and interesting to offer. As for me, I have never done a guest post...nor did I have someone guest posting for me.

As a matter of fact, it has not even crossed my mind, probably because...I never offered, although I was asked from a couple bloggers, but since I have not guest posted, it seemed awkward to start. I have not asked either for someone to guest post for me. So, how do you even get started on guest posting for someone?...and what is the purpose of it?

Is it to promote their blog?...or are you promoting yours! As for certain bloggers, it seems to work fine. When you guest post for a popular blogger, it benefits you, to get you on your "feet" if you just started blogging, to get more followers... but then...have all these bloggers been asked?...or do they ask the popular blogger if they can guest post for them?...Well, that gets me off the "hook" because I have never asked if I could guest post...and if I did...I could not say: "I've been asked, when that's not the case!

I'm linking this to: Bianca-Foodie Friday@ Little Brick Ranch

I made this cheesecake, and originally posted it on August, 25, 2010

I decided to cut this recipe out from the back of the Nabisco Grahams, but did not use the 8x8 square pan, instead I used my  8x8 removable sides Wilton cheesecake pan. Used less raspberries and my own marshmallow creme, from scratch.


No Bake Raspberry Marshmallow Cream Cheesecake

1 pkg. (6oz.) raspberries

8 Graham crackers (1/2 box) crushed in food processor

2 teaspoons sugar

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

2 pkg. (8oz). light Philadelphia creme cheese at room temp.
1 jar  (7 oz) JET PUFFED Marshmallow cream, or

1 cup of home made marshmallow frosting/cream

grated zest of 1 lemon

juice of the same lemon, after grating

2 Tablespoons of seedless organic raspberry spread

Mix graham crackers sugar and melted butter. Press firmly with a back of a large spoon onto the bottom and up the sides, 1 inches in an 8x8 spring form pan. Chill, in refrigerator, until cream is assembled. In a large bowl, make marshmallow frosting, according to recipe. Take out 1 cup to use, and save the rest for frosting cup cakes, or cake, or divide recipe in half to use. Beat creme cheese and marshmallow frosting, adding zest of lemon, and juice. Beat until light and fluffy. Fold in half the raspberries, and gently swirl in the raspberry spread, Spread evenly over crust, and decorate with the remaining raspberries. Chill in refrigerator for at least 4 hours before serving. Makes about 8 servings.

Fresh Strawberry Tart, and Birthdays to Celebrate!

I decided to feature this photo of my lovely fresh Strawberry Tart, before slicing it, just when it finally set... with my homemade Strawberry "thick" glaze, or coulis, or sauce, but it really is a glaze, ... not your ordinary clear glaze, because instead of a cream filling, or maybe even a curd type of filling, I chose the thick glaze, which is so easy to make. I willing to bet no one has heard of this kind of tart with a light "Nilla" Vanilla Tart Shell, instead of a Shortbread type, or a Graham Cracker type tart. I'm not really a an avid baker, but I do get enthusiastic about easy things to make that does not require a lot of work...and I don't even want to get involved in "yeast dough" unless I have to. I leave all that to my daughter. She is always making yeast all kinds of things with yeast...especially, since I gave her the brand new Bread Machine, even with the instruction from my thrift find, at Goodwill, for $9.99. Now, I'm trying to find one for myself, which is difficult, and think people are getting more interest in "dough" making...and why not? You can't beat fresh homemade bread, rolls, and pizza dough!

Enough said...had a busy week with my daughter's lovely in-law's from Italy staying here for their vacation, and loving every minute of it. They are so sweet, down to earth, and are so adventurous trying out new foods, and desserts, so this is one of the desserts that anyone who loves fresh strawberries would love. Light, not too sweet and the vanilla cookie crust is a treat, just by itself!
I've always loved fresh strawberry pie, when strawberry is in season, and just simple, with a nice crust, glaze, and served with fresh whipped cream, and of course, Strawberry Shortcakes...another yummy fresh strawberry dessert.

The way I started to make this, is not having enough time to make a fresh pie dough, and not wanting to buy frozen...I didn't have graham crackers or crumbs in my cupboard for the crust, but I just bought a huge box of Nilla Vanilla wafers from Costco's that I wanted to make a nice Banana Cream Pie with it, and ended up making this quick dessert instead. I realize the glaze takes up a pint of strawberries, just like the whole strawberry pieces, but at
$1.75 a pint, not too expensive for two.

New York Style Cheesecake

I decided to re post my New York Style Cheesecake from this summer, just about when I started my blog. The actual reason I'm posting it is, because I lent my digital camera to my daughter, so she could upload her photos that she took with my camera. Yesterday, I made my good old fashioned meat loaf, and a yummy apple SALSA...

 
Recipe...adapted from the JOY OF BAKING

New York Cheesecake:
Grease, or spray with Pam, a 9 inch (23 cm) springform pan.  Place the springform pan on a larger baking pan to catch any leakage while the cheesecake is baking. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) with rack in center of oven.
For Crust:
In a medium sized bowl combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and melted butter.  Press the crumbs evenly over the bottom and about 1 inch (2.5 cm) up the sides of the springform pan.  Cover and refrigerate while you make the filling.
For Filling: 
In bowl of your electric mixer place the cream cheese, sugar, and flour.  Beat on medium speed until smooth (about 2 minutes), scraping down the bowl as needed.  Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well (about 30 seconds) after each addition.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the whipping cream, lemon zest, vanilla extract and beat until incorporated.  Remove the crust from the refrigerator and pour in the filling.  Place the cheesecake pan on a larger baking pan and place in the oven.
Bake for 15 minutes and then lower the oven temperature to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C) and continue to bake for about another 1 1/2 hours or until firm and only the center of the cheesecake looks a little wet and wobbly.  Remove from oven and place on a wire rack.
Meanwhile, in a small bowl combine the sour cream, sugar, and vanilla extract.  Spread the topping over the warm cheesecake and return to oven to bake for 15 more minutes.  Remove from oven and carefully run a knife or spatula around the inside edge of pan

to loosen the cheesecake (helps prevent the surface from cracking as it cools).
Let cool before covering with plastic wrap and refrigerating.  This cheesecake tastes best after being refrigerated for at least a day.
Serve with fresh fruit or fruit sauces.
Makes one - 9 inch (23 cm) cheesecake.
To freeze: 
Place the cooled cheesecake on a baking pan and freeze, uncovered, until firm.  Remove the cheesecake from the freezer, wrap it in heavy duty aluminum foil and place in a freezer bag.  Seal and return to freezer.  Can be frozen for several months.  Thaw uncovered cheesecake in the refrigerator overnight.
Adapted from Cheesecake Extraordinaire by Mary Crownover.

Crust:

2 cups (200 grams) of graham wafer crumbs or finely crushed vanilla wafers or gingersnaps (process whole cookies in a food processor until they are crumbs)
1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated white sugar
1/2 cup (114 grams) unsalted butter, melted
Filling:
32 ounces (1 kg) (4 - 8 ounces packages) cream cheese, room temperature (use full fat, not reduced or fat free cream cheese)
1 cup (200 grams) granulated white sugar
3 tablespoons (35 grams) all purpose flour
5 large eggs, room temperature
1/3 cup (80 ml) heavy whipping cream
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Topping:
1 cup (240 ml) sour cream (not low fat or fat free)
2 tablespoons (30 grams) granulated white sugar
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Tips:  Sometimes the surface of the cheesecake cracks.  To help prevent this from happening do not over beat the batter, especially when creaming the cheese and sugar. 
Another reason for cracking is overbaking the cheesecake.  Your cheesecake is done when it is firm but the middle may still look a little wet. 
Also, make sure the springform pan is well greased as cracking can occur if the cheesecake sticks to the sides as it cools. 

No Bake Raspberry Marshmallow Cream Cheesecake

I've always wanted to adapt a nice no bake cheese cake, but I hesitated, until now. Forget the Jello no bake cheese cake. This version is fresh, light, and easy to make. If you don't want to use my marshmallow frosting/creme recipe with it, you could use jar of Marshmallow creme, but it won't be the same.

Showing off my milk glass plate which I mentioned before on my blog. What a lucky find...a real treasure. The raspberries are so refreshing in this cheese cake.You couldn't possibly fold in fresh raspberries into the baked version. This is why it's so light.

The whole pieces of  raspberries are folded into it...you can see the swirl of the organic raspberry spread folded in...Yumm!

I decided to cut this recipe out from the back of the Nabisco Grahams, but did not use the 8x8 square pan, instead I used my  8x8 removable sides Wilton cheesecake pan. Used less raspberries and my own marshmallow creme, from scratch.

Who would want to get ride of their Wilton cheesecake pan? I got lucky with this. I just love it, such good quality, can't complain about the price, either. Goodwill find $1.99

No sooner than cutting out the recipe from the back of the Graham cracker box, I stopped by at my other favorite thrift store...World Thrift, and came across this great book which has recipes from labels on jars, cans, boxes and I can actually recognize some of these recipes, from a hundred years ago..(just kidding)...from 1979. Wow, 31 years ago. It has some real good ones, but obviously I will be adapting them to a lighter, and healthier version. My daughter didn't like this book because it has no pictures of the foods in them. You don't need to have pictures, you can pretty much imagine what it's going to look like when you make it your own. I can hardly wait to reminisce with the "oldies" and make it up to date.By the way, how could you lose for $.95?

 No Bake Raspberry Marshmallow Cream Cheesecake

1 pkg. (6oz.) raspberries

8 Graham crackers (1/2 box) crushed in food processor

2 teaspoons sugar

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

2 pkg. (8oz). light Philadelphia creme cheese at room temp.

1 cup of home made marshmallow frosting/creme

grated zest of 1 lemon

juice of the same lemon, after grating

2 Tablespoons of seedless organic raspberry spread

Mix graham crackers sugar and melted butter. Press firmly with a back of a large spoon onto the bottom and up the sides, 1 inches in an 8x8 spring form pan. Chill, in refrigerator, until cream is assembled. In a large bowl, make marshmallow frosting, according to recipe. Take out 1 cup to use, and save the rest for frosting cup cakes, or cake, or divide recipe in half to use. Beat creme cheese and marshmallow frosting, adding zest of lemon, and juice. Beat until light and fluffy. Fold in half the raspberries, and gently swirl in the raspberry spread, Spread evenly over crust, and decorate with the remaining raspberries. Chill in refrigerator for at least 4 hours before serving. Makes about 8 servings.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Recipe for Raspberry Cheesecake Muffins (notecook.com)

New York Style Cheesecake

 I have made so many different kinds of cheesecakes in the past, but this particular recipe is the best by far. No need to change a thing , or adapting it your way, other than perhaps adding a fruit topping, such as berries. I prefer to have the berries on the side. I have made this exact recipe over the last 3 years and have not change a thing. If you follow exactly, it will turn out perfect for you. It is not a difficult process. I have memorized the recipe by heart, and made it in Italy when I was visiting my son-in-law's family. You can actually get Philadelphia creme cheese there also, but nothing beats he American brand, solid and creamy. The egg yolks in Italy are like pure gold, therefore the cheesecake turns out a bit of yellowish shade, but the texture and flavor are the same. Also, you cannot find graham crackers there, so I had to use vanilla cookies to crush, but the recipe, and the method of baking was exactly the same. I copied and pasted the recipe, it was way too long for me to type, and besides, this is NOT my original recipe. Courtesy, of "Joys of Baking."

New York Cheesecake:
Grease, or spray with Pam, a 9 inch (23 cm) springform pan.  Place the springform pan on a larger baking pan to catch any leakage while the cheesecake is baking. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) with rack in center of oven.
For Crust:
In a medium sized bowl combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and melted butter.  Press the crumbs evenly over the bottom and about 1 inch (2.5 cm) up the sides of the springform pan.  Cover and refrigerate while you make the filling.
For Filling: 
In bowl of your electric mixer place the cream cheese, sugar, and flour.  Beat on medium speed until smooth (about 2 minutes), scraping down the bowl as needed.  Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well (about 30 seconds) after each addition.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the whipping cream, lemon zest, vanilla extract and beat until incorporated.  Remove the crust from the refrigerator and pour in the filling.  Place the cheesecake pan on a larger baking pan and place in the oven.
Bake for 15 minutes and then lower the oven temperature to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C) and continue to bake for about another 1 1/2 hours or until firm and only the center of the cheesecake looks a little wet and wobbly.  Remove from oven and place on a wire rack.
Meanwhile, in a small bowl combine the sour cream, sugar, and vanilla extract.  Spread the topping over the warm cheesecake and return to oven to bake for 15 more minutes.  Remove from oven and carefully run a knife or spatula around the inside edge of pan

to loosen the cheesecake (helps prevent the surface from cracking as it cools).
Let cool before covering with plastic wrap and refrigerating.  This cheesecake tastes best after being refrigerated for at least a day.
Serve with fresh fruit or fruit sauces.
Makes one - 9 inch (23 cm) cheesecake.

To freeze:
Place the cooled cheesecake on a baking pan and freeze, uncovered, until firm.  Remove the cheesecake from the freezer, wrap it in heavy duty aluminum foil and place in a freezer bag.  Seal and return to freezer.  Can be frozen for several months.  Thaw uncovered cheesecake in the refrigerator overnight.
Adapted from Cheesecake Extraordinaire by Mary Crownover.

 

Crust:
2 cups (200 grams) of graham wafer crumbs or finely crushed vanilla wafers or gingersnaps (process whole cookies in a food processor until they are crumbs)
1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated white sugar
1/2 cup (114 grams) unsalted butter, melted
Filling:
32 ounces (1 kg) (4 - 8 ounces packages) cream cheese, room temperature (use full fat, not reduced or fat free cream cheese)
1 cup (200 grams) granulated white sugar
3 tablespoons (35 grams) all purpose flour
5 large eggs, room temperature
1/3 cup (80 ml) heavy whipping cream
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Topping:
1 cup (240 ml) sour cream (not low fat or fat free)
2 tablespoons (30 grams) granulated white sugar
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Tips:  Sometimes the surface of the cheesecake cracks.  To help prevent this from happening do not over beat the batter, especially when creaming the cheese and sugar. 
Another reason for cracking is overbaking the cheesecake.  Your cheesecake is done when it is firm but the middle may still look a little wet. 
Also, make sure the springform pan is well greased as cracking can occur if the cheesecake sticks to the sides as it cools.
Read more: http://joyofbaking.com/Cheesecake.html#ixzz0utDeKZWI

Another satisfied customer. Megan, the "all American girl, from Rimini, Italy. Ciao Bella!