Cheesecake with Berry Lemon Topping – Not Perfect, but Delicious!!!

Tags

baking, berry lemon topping, lemon zest, mixed berries, tyler florence, Ultimate Cheesecake, vegetarian

So this food blogging girl had never made cheesecake before. Don’t ask why! I just never got around to it until recently. As you can see from the picture, it didn’t turn out perfect, but it sure tasted fantastic! I think this recipe is still solid and I made some mistakes that you can easily correct and make a perfectly great cheesecake! I cannot take credit for this recipe though. This was from Tyler Florence of the Food Network.

So my mistake was that in trying to keep this low-fat, it didn’t firm up as much as it should. It did still taste great and have a nice texture though, so if you care more about fat content than the beauty of your dish, you can follow my notes below.

I also cheated and used a pre-made graham cracker crust. I had one leftover from my Canteloupe Pie and that’s what inspired me to try making cheese cake. I was happy with the crust, so if you don’t have a springform pan or just want to save a little time, the pre-made crust worked just fine! I did still follow the baking instructions of adding water to a baking pan and setting the cheesecake in that.

The Ultimate Cheesecake by Tyler Florence

Ingredients

Crust: (My note: I used a pre-made crust with success)

2 cups finely ground graham crackers (about 30 squares)

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 stick unsalted butter, melted

Filling:

1 pound cream cheese, 2 (8-ounce) blocks, softened (My note: I used reduced fat cream cheese, but I think this contributed to it not setting up completely.)

3 eggs

1 cup sugar

1 pint sour cream (My note: I used fat free sour cream and this probably also contributed to it not setting up completely.)

1 lemon, zested

1 dash vanilla extract

Warm Lemon Blueberry Topping, recipe follows

Warm Lemon Blueberries:

1 pint blueberries (My note: I had a bag of frozen mixed berries. I thawed them out and then cooked according to this and it was delicious!!!)

1 lemon, zested and juiced

2 tablespoons sugar
Filling:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

In a mixing bowl, combine the crust ingredients with a fork until evenly moistened. Lightly coat the bottom and sides of an 8-inch springform pan with nonstick cooking spray. Pour the crumbs into the pan and, using the bottom of a measuring cup or the smooth bottom of a glass, press the crumbs down into the base and 1-inch up the sides. Refrigerate for 5 minutes.

For the Filling:

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese on low speed for 1 minute until smooth and free of any lumps. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, and continue to beat slowly until combined. Gradually add sugar and beat until creamy, for 1 to 2 minutes. Add sour cream, lemon zest, and vanilla. Periodically scrape down the sides of the bowl and the beaters. The batter should be well mixed but not over-beaten. Pour the filling into the crust-lined pan and smooth the top with a spatula.

Set the cheesecake pan on a large piece of aluminum foil and fold up the sides around it. Place the cake pan in a large roasting pan. Pour boiling water into the roasting pan until the water is about halfway up the sides of the cheesecake pan; the foil will keep the water from seeping into the cheesecake. Bake for 45 minutes. The cheesecake should still jiggle (it will firm up after chilling), so be careful not to overcook. Let cool in pan for 30 minutes. Chill in the refrigerator, loosely covered, for at least 4 hours. Loosen the cheesecake from the sides of the pan by running a thin metal spatula around the inside rim. Unmold and transfer to a cake plate. Using a spatula spread a layer of Warm Lemon Blueberry topping over the surface.

Slice the cheesecake with a thin, non-serrated knife that has been dipped in hot water. Wipe dry after each cut.

Warm Lemon Blueberries:

In a small saucepan add all the ingredients and simmer over medium heat for 5 minutes or so until the fruit begins to break down slightly. Leave to cool before spreading on cheesecake.

Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/the-ultimate-cheesecake-recipe2.html?oc=linkback

Enjoy!!!

The Great Food Truck Race – My New TV Addiction

Tags

Cooking, cooking show, Food, great food truck race, TV, tyler florence

  
OK, I’ll admit it. I have a new addiction. I just finished watching the latest season of The Great Food Truck race and I’m hooked! Then they had to go and load previous seasons on Netflix. Can you say binge watching!?!

I’m not exactly sure why, but I have been really enjoying this show. Maybe it’s because it’s part cooking show and part travel adventure, like the Amazing Race. The show starts with numerous teams of three people and each team is given a food truck that has been decorated based on designs the team submitted. The teams travel to a different city each episode, sometimes more than one city and they have cooking challenges along the way. Sometimes they have to cook with a certain ingredient or they have to sell a certain amount of something before they can move to the next location. Each of the trucks has a different food theme/point of view, so this also makes for an interesting show.

In most of the seasons, the folks have never worked in or driven a food truck before, so watching them try to drive and park these monstrosities is amusing! Let’s just say that in one town a city light pole got knocked over and that’s just one example of property damage. As big as the trucks are to drive and park, they are a mighty small kitchen for 3 people! And some of these people can’t even figure out how to get the equipment working.

The host, Tyler Florence, is a chef and restaurateur. He actually has a few restaurants in the Northern California area; Wayfare Tavern (San Francisco), Rotisserie & Wine (Napa), El Paseo (Mill Valley). I find him to be very charming and well, easy on the eyes. Hey a good looking guy that can cook! Sounds like a keeper to me!

Anyway, if you’re a fan of cooking shows I highly recommend this one. It’s a fun watch. As I mentioned earlier, the newest season just wrapped up, but you might be able to find it on OnDemand. This newest season has the contestants travelling along Route 66. This was a pretty cool trip to see! The show is a Food Network production. And don’t forget there are 3 seasons available on Netflix. It’s listed as 21 episodes of one season, but it is actually 3 separate seasons.

Happy binge watching!