I love cheesecake and, if you serve smaller portions after dinner, everyone will absolutely love this one.
- 1 1/4 cups chocolate cookie crumbs
- 1/3 cup butter, melted
- pinch of cinnamon (secret ingredient)
- 8 oz. dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
- 2 pkg. Philadelphia cream cheese, softened
- 1 cup sugar
- eggs
- 1 tsp. pure vanilla
Assemble 9 inch springform pan with base lip-side down. Stir crumbs with the melted butter and cinnamon until moistened and with the back of a spoon, press the crumbs evenly in the bottom of the pan.
Cover the bottom and sides with tin foil. Press on to adhere and bake crumb base in the oven of 325 degrees for 5-6 minutes and set aside.
Filling
Set a metal bowl over a pot of simmering water and melt the chocolate until smooth and let stand to cool to room temperature.
In your mixing bowl, add the cream cheese with sugar and beat for 3 minutes until silky smooth. Beat in the eggs, one at a time and then add the vanilla. Stir one half of this into the melted chocolate and gently scrape onto the cookie base. Smooth the top and then gently pour the remaining filling on top of that.
Bake in a 325 oven for 60-65 minutes. Turn oven off and let sit in the oven to cool down for one hour. Be sure to put a pan of water in the bottom of the oven to allow for moisture and omit a cracking top. Do not open the oven door when cooling the cheesecake down or it will crack.
Chill in the refrigerator, uncovered until chilled. To keep longer, cover at this point and store no longer than 2 days.
Glaze
1 pkg. frozen raspberries (or blackberries)
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp. unflavoured gelatin
Press the berries through a sieve to make 3/4 cup juice. In a saucepan bring the juice and sugar to boil, stirring for 30 seconds until the sugar has completely dissolved.
In a small bowl, whisk together 1/4 cup of the glaze and gelatin and let this sit for 1 minute. Stir in the remaining raspberry mixture and refrigerate, stirring often for at least 60 minutes until it becomes like liquid honey. Pour this over chilled cake gently spreading to cover the top evenly. Refrigerate for another 60 minutes for this to set.
Good Grief! Not only is this pretty to look at, but it tastes as good as it looks.
Yummy!
Chilled Summer Fruit Gazpacho
The sun is beaming, the clouds are scarce and it is time to eat. Well, set the table on the deck/patio and get ready to enjoy the coolest gazpacho you have ever had. Play on words? Perhaps…..
- 3 1/2 cups fresh raspberries (blackberries would be a good choice, as well)
- 20 oz. unsweetened frozen raspberries, thawed
- 3 tbsp. berry sugar
- 2 cups sparkling water, lime flavoured (try Costco’s Sparkling Ice lime flavoured water)
- 5 kiwi fruit, peeled
- 2 1/2 tbsp. fresh lime juice
- 1 cup finely diced honeydew melon (to match the colour of the kiwi)
- 1 cup finely diced watermelon, seeds removed *
- Zest from 1 large lime
Blend the raspberries and sugar until smooth. Strain through a sieve to catch all the seeds. Lightly press through the sieve making sure not to break the seeds up. Pour into a large bowl and add the sparkling water. Stir to blend well. Cover and place in the fridge while you continue on.
Process the peeled kiwis (remove the centre white ‘core’) and lime juice in the blender and puree until smooth.
Set out 6 pretty soup bowls and pour equal amounts of the raspberry puree into the bowls. Now, here’s the fun. CAREFULLY pour eual amounts of the kiwi puree into the CENTER of the raspberry puree.
Sprinkle the honeydew melon pieces on the raspberry puree and the watermelon over the kiwi. Scatter a little bit of the lime zest on top.
Make sure the purees are cold and the soup bowls are thoroughly chilled.
*I much prefer the gold kiwi and this would really work with the blackberries as far as flavour and contrast would be. The gold kiwi are not as tart or sometimes even bitter as the green kiwi.
If you can get the yellow watermelon absolutely go for it. They have much more flavour, are a bit sweeter taste and oh, so good. Your taste. Your choice.