cheesecakes Archives - The Midnight Baker

No-Bake Lime Cheesecake

Judith Hannemann — Wed, 19 Jan 2022 00:00:30 +0000

A no-bake lime cheesecake that’s easy to make and divine to eat.

Do You Love Lime?

Then you are going to love this no-bake lime cheesecake!

It’s very easy to make and with things you might have on hand–if you’re a lover of lime flavored gelatin dessert then you have at least one of the ingredients.

I happened to have this on hand for the weirdest reason. My brother-in-law in England loves the stuff, meaning the American variety. So when my nephew visited a couple of years ago he bought a bunch of our gelatin mixes for his dad, but one of the lime ones was left behind. I am not into “jello” for dessert so it just went into the cupboard.

Cream Cheese

I always have this on hand–at least two large packages. However, I understand that there was a great cream cheese shortage over the holidays and it still may be hard to get in some locations. Last time I went to shop right after the New Year, my store had it on hand. If yours doesn’t just yet, then just save the recipe and make it when you can get it.

One caveat with the cream cheese is to use either the regular kind or Neufchatel, which is also known as “light” or “lower-fat” cream cheese. As an aside, it’s a cheese variety in itself and very close to cream cheese. Under no circumstances use a fat-free variety. It just won’t work out–and that’s something I know from experience. And it doesn’t work in baked nor no-bake cheesecakes.

The Crust

Pretty much any cookie will do here. Sandwich ones work the best. I used some leftover lemon sandwich cookies and that worked very nicely giving a delicious lemon-lime accent to the cheesecake.

If you don’t have sandwich cookies, then good ole graham crackers will do very nicely. Coconut would be good too for a tropical flair.

The Recipe

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No-Bake Lime Cheesecake

An awesome no-bake cheesecake

Prep Time30

Cook Time0

Chill Time4

Total Time4 30

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: citrus cheesecakes, no-bake lime cheesecake

Servings: 12

Calories: 535kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

Cookie Crust:

15 oz lemon sandwich cookies
3 tbs melted butter
1 tbs sugar

Cheesecake Filling:

16 oz softened cream cheese
1 tbs lime juice
1 cup sugar
1 small box lime gelatin size that serves 4
16 oz heavy cream
1/4 cup confectioner's icing sugar

Topping

1 sliced lime
Whipped cream if desired

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Cookie Crust

Pulse the lemon cookies in food processor, until crushed. Add melted butter and sugar. Pulse to mix. Press the crushed cookie mixture into the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan and and partway up the sides. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes until crust is firm.

Cheesecake Filling

Beat cream cheese, lime juice and sugar until well mixed. Set aside.
In another bowl, add 1 cup of boiling water to gelatin and stir to dissolve, then set aside to cool.
Whip the heavy cream with powdered sugar until stiff peaks form. Take care not to go to far, to a butter stage.
Once gelatin has cooled and begun to thicken, fold it into the whipped cream and mix gently.
Then, fold in the cream cheese mixture until evenly blended. Fill crust with the cheesecake mixture, spreading to even out if necessary. Top with lime slices and additional whipped cream if desired. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours or until firm.

Nutrition

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Sweet Potato Cheesecake

Judith Hannemann — Sat, 30 Oct 2021 23:00:14 +0000

And now for something different–sweet potato cheesecake!

Sweet Potato Cheesecake

We all know about pumpkin cheesecake and pumpkin pie, right? Why not be bold and substitute sweet potato?

Sweet potato pie is very popular, especially in the south, as a Thanksgiving dessert. Think out of the box and serve this sweet potato cheesecake as an alternate dessert choice for the holidays?

Since sweet potatoes will be featured for very low prices this time of year, I always stock up. What I do is bake them in their jackets and then freeze what I’m not using. This way you always have them on hand. They freeze well and they last for about six months provided they are wrapped properly.

Nope Not Chocolate

See that top? I know you are thinking chocolate; but it’s not.

It’s actually something better than chocolate. It’s the caramelized sugars of the sweet potatoes. I think it’s the best part of this cheesecake. It’s not burned even though it’s quite dark. That caramelized layer is full of flavor. This layer reminds me of the dark skin that forms on top of a baked rice pudding. If you’re a fan of that then you will love this.

Happily, if it doesn’t appeal to anyone, it is easily peeled off.

FYI, this cheesecake bakes at a much higher temperature than the usual. Doesn’t use a water bath either. The higher temps make the caramelization possible.

Garnet Potatoes

If you can get this variety, that’s what the original recipe stated. You will get a nice ruby-colored cake and top skin.

The use or garnets was the first suggestion, however, plain old sweet potatoes can be substituted. The only difference is color, but it won’t affect the taste in the slightest.

One thing I noticed is that even with the high baking temperature, this cheesecake did not crack on the top. Very curious but I was delighted.

The Recipe

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Sweet Potato Cheesecake

Great for Thanksgiving

Prep Time1 15

Cook Time1 5

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: cheesecakes for Thanksgiving, gourmet cheesecakes, sweet potato cheesecake

Servings: 12

Calories: 421kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

2 lb sweet potatoes about 3-4 large
24 oz cream cheese at room temperature. DO NOT USE LOW/NO FAT!!!!
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
3 eggs
1/2 cup sour cream at room temperature DO NOT USE LOW/NO FAT!!!!!
1/2 cup heavy cream at room temperature
1 tsp kosher salt
2 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Preheat oven to 450 F/230 C. Place sweet potatoes on a baking sheet lined with foil and bake for about 1 hour or until a skewer easily slides into flesh. Remove from oven and let them cool slightly then peel off the skins and discard skins.
Place the sweet potatoes in a food processor and process until smooth. Let them cool to room temperature, at least 1 hour.
Lightly grease a 9-inch/23 cm springform pan and line the bottom with non-stick parchment.
Preheat oven to 425 F/220 C.
Beat cream cheese, sugar and brown sugar in a sturdy mixer until mixture is very smooth, about 3-5 minutes. With mixer still running, add 2 cups of the sweet potatoes gradually and beat until fully incorporated.
Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
With mixer on low speed, add the cream, sour cream, salt and vanilla. Turn off mixer and sift in the flour, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg. Turn on mixer to low speed and beat until just incorporated. Fold a few strokes by hand making sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl to make sure everything is mixed in.
Pour mixture into prepared pan and smooth the surface. Place pan on a tray and bake for 55-65 minutes. Top will be deeply brown (and resemble chocolate) and will have a slight wiggle in the center. Transfer to a rack and cool at least 1 1/2 hours.

Nutrition

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Lemon Sopapilla

Judith Hannemann — Wed, 24 Mar 2021 00:00:25 +0000

Got some crescent roll dough, cream cheese and a lemon hanging around? Then you’ve got what you need to make this delicious lemon sopapilla.

Few Ingredients But Big Taste

This has been said here more times than I can count, but I’m always amazed at how a few basic ingredients result in something awesome. Since that’s the case here, it’s worth repeating.

This lemon sopapilla is another example. It’s full of bright tart lemon flavor and anyone would think you fussed. It uses stuff you probably already have on hand. There’s not many of us that don’t have a tube or two of crescent roll dough, some cream cheese and a lemon hanging around in the fridge. This is a great dessert to use them in.

Less Fat? Sure!

If you want to reduce some of the fat in this rather rich dessert, you certainly can.

The regular cream cheese can be replaced with Neufchatel cheese. Some companies market this as “low-fat cream cheese.” However it’s a bit inaccurate because Neufchatel is a cheese in itself. It has considerably less fat than cream cheese and it tastes almost exactly the same. Steer clear of fat-free products because they do not give good results in most things calling for cream cheese.

They also sell reduced-fat crescent roll dough, so that can be substitute safely with no loss in texture nor flavor. I recommend getting the dough in sheets rather than the perforated type that is used for rolls. The sheets are easier to work with.

No Soggy Crust

It takes a little extra time but par-baking the bottom layer of dough will prevent this dessert from getting too soggy. It will create a seal, of sorts, that won’t absorb liquid as rapidly as when you don’t pre-bake. The extra prep time is worth it especially if the sopapilla will have to be stored if it’s not all eaten when you first serve it.

The Recipe

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Lemon Sopapilla

A dessert with a bright lemony flavor

Prep Time15

Cook Time45

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Keyword: desserts made from crescent roll dough, lemon cheesecake, sopapilla with lemon

Servings: 12

Calories: 336kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

16 oz refrigerated crescent roll dough 2-8 oz pckages, divided
2 lemons zested and juiced, divided
16 oz cream cheese (2-8 oz packages)softened
1/2 cup sugar
3 tbs butter melted
3 tbs sugar

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350F/180C. Line the bottom of a 9x13-inch baking dish with aluminum foil--let the foil overhang on the sides-- and spray with cooking spray.
Press 1 can crescent roll dough into the bottom of the prepared baking dish, stretching to the edges. Bake for 10 minutes then remove from oven and cool slightly.
Mix the zest of 1 1/2 lemons and 2 tablespoons of the juice. Beat cream cheese and 1/2 cup sugar into lemon zest mixture using an electric mixer until smooth and creamy; spread over crescent roll dough layer.
Layer the second sheet of crescent roll dough over cream cheese mixture, gently stretching dough to the edges. Brush melted butter over crescent roll dough layer. Mix remaining lemon zest and 3 tablespoons sugar together in a bowl; sprinkle over butter.
Bake about 30 minutes. Allow to cool for about 20 minutes. Lift dessert from baking dish using foil; transfer to a cutting board. Cut into squares, leaving on foil. Return dessert to the baking dish and refrigerate until chilled, at least 1 hour.

Nutrition

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