Lemon Raspberry Cheesecake Bars

Happy Easter everyone! We usually do not celebrate Easter and the dogs wouldn't be keen in looking for Easter eggs. Since my husband is currently deployed, I decided to crash my friend Ana's Easter instead. We're not doing the usual Easter dinner with ham and the works. Instead, my friend Noel jokingly requested for a nacho bar buffet. Noel is making deviled eggs and I've settled for dessert as usual. Cookies didn't seem fitting, but after talking to Noel, we've decided cheesecake would be fitting.

I've only made cheesecake twice in my life, but thankfully this was an easy recipe and it turned out delicious! I'm not a fan of graham cracker crust, so I switched it to buttery shortbread and it's even better!



Lemon Raspberry Cheesecake Bars
recipe from the bake chick

For the Crust:

1 1/2 cups shortbread cookies
4T butter

For the Cheesecake:

16 ounces cream cheese- room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Zest of a lemon
4 tablespoons milk
2 eggs- room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the Raspberry Swirl:

4 oz. of fresh raspberries (about 1/2 cup)
2 tablespoons sugar

Preheat oven to 350F. Line an 8x8 baking pan with parchment paper. Set aside.

For the crust:

In a medium sized bowl mix together the crumbs and butter with a spoon until moist. Press into the prepared pan and bake for about 10 minutes or until crust is set around the edges.

Make the filling:

Beat together the white sugar, and cream cheese until smooth.
Add the egg, milk, lemon juice, and vanilla and beat until smooth and creamy. Spread filling mixture over baked crust.

For the Raspberry Purée:

In a food processor or blender, purée the raspberries until smooth. Press through a fine mesh sieve, getting as much liquid out as possible. Discard the solids. Stir in the sugar.

Dot the raspberry mixture over the filling and use a toothpick or skewer to swirl together.

Bake for 30 minutes or until set around the edges and slightly jiggly in the center. Cool completely on a wire rack and then chill until cold before serving.

Lime Cheesecake with Toasted Coconut

I've been dying to make a cheesecake ever since i bought a springform pan. I found this New York style cheesecake recipe from Joy of Baking which looks really good and i pretty much had everything on hand already. I also had a bunch of leftover limes i wanted to use up and i added the toasted coconut to give it more texture. Before this recipe, i have never truly made cheesecake, except the box kind (don't laugh, i wasn't into the cooking back then) and no bake cheesecakes. I've heard of people overbeating the cream cheese or getting the crack when baking, and even i amazed myself when i pulled it out of the oven with no cracks to be seen *grins* Yeah, i'm pretty proud of myself :) Anyways, I added a bit of fresh lime zest and juice instead of lemon, regular graham crackers and i topped it with some toasted coconut. After i took it out of the oven, i did let it cool completely and put it in the fridge overnight and topped it with the coconut the next day. When i had a slice on the second day, the taste of lime was pretty faint, but if you let it sit in the fridge for a few days, the flavor starts to come out more. It was pretty darn good. It was very rich and creamy. I gave some to a friend last night and she texted me saying that it was Effing delicious! Of course that makes me a happy panda ♥






Lime Cheesecake with Toasted Coconut
Original recipe by Joy of Baking

Crust:

2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup granulated white sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

Filling:

4 - 8 ounces packagescream cheese, room temperature (use full fat, not reduced or fat free cream cheese)
1 cup granulated white sugar
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
5 large eggs, room temperature
1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
2 limes- zest & juiced
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Topping:

1 cup sour cream (not low fat or fat free)

2 tablespoons granulated white sugar

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract


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.

Marionberry Cheesecake Bars

Did you know that when i first decided to start a food blog, it was mainly more cooking than baking? Then i moved back home (good ole sunny Southern California) and it became more baking than cooking? For the past 8 months, i've stuck to mainly baking cookies. I've ventured out making madelines a few times, cake and cupcakes a few times, blondies a few times, but I always come back to the cookies. Except this time i decided to make bars. Cheesecake bars to be exact. I was surfing my favorites on Foodgawker the other night for some kind of a motivation and my belly were eyeing up these babies from Zoomyummy. She used Raspberry, but i think you can use whatever preserve/jam your little heart desires. The shredded coconut is optional and its easy to change up to your own personal taste. My mom LOVED these!! She didn't say that because she's my mom... she really meant it. She's usually very picky about the sweetness in my goods, but this one was just right. My friend Jenny says they're better than the S'more Cookies which was rated the highest of all my other yumyums.




Marionberry Cheesecake Bars
Original recipe from Zoomyummy

Crust:
1 1/4 cup all-purpose unbleached flour
1/2 cup oraganic cane sugar
1/2 cup chopped almonds
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temp

Filling:
2 8oz cream cheese, softened
2/3 cups oraganic cane sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp almond extract
2 TBsp all-purpose flour
1 cup marionberry fruitspread
1 cup shredded coconut, optional

1) In a large bowl combine the chopped nuts with the flour and sugar.

2) Add butter and using your fork, combine the mixture until it looks like crumbs. Set aside 1 cup of crumb mix.

3) Press the crumb mix into the bottom of a 13x9 baking pan.

4) Bake at 350F oven for 12-15 minutes until edges are golden.

5) Combine cream cheese with sugar using your electric mixer. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time. Add the almond extract and make sure you scrape down the sides.

6) Add 2 TBsp flour and mix again.

7) Pour cream cheese mix over the hot crust and spread it evenly.

8) Put in back into the oven to bake for about 15 minutes. Remove.

9) Pour the preserves/jam over the hot cream cheese mix, spreading it evenly.

10) For the topping, mix the shredded coconut with the reserved crumb mix. Sprinkle evenly on top of the cream cheese/preserve layer.

11) Bake for another 20 minutes or so. Remove and cool pan on wire rack. Chill in the fridge for at least 3 hours before cutting. Store leftovers in fridge.