Super Simple Cheesecake

I can hardly believe that I don't have this recipe posted on this blog. It is THE most requested recipe of anything I have ever made. My mom passed it onto me years ago, but I have no idea where she got it from or if it's something she made up herself. Either way, now it is yours too.



Super Simple Cheesecake
1 8 oz. block cream cheese
2 eggs
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 C. white sugar
1 Tbsp. white flour
Vanilla wafers

Topping Choices:
Serve plain or with a canned fruit pie filling of your favorite variety. We invariably use cherries. Recently discovered that Magic Shell is marvelous when drizzled across the top of chilled cheesecakes.

Bring the cream cheese to room temperature. By the way, neufchâtel works wonderfully. Combine cream cheese and sugar in a stand mixer (or with a hand mixer) until smooth. Add in eggs and vanilla; beat until combined. Sift in flour. And yes, sifting is necessary or you may get lumps. If you don't mind lumps, then do what you like. ;o)

Place cupcake papers in a muffin pan. Put one vanilla wafer in each paper, flat side down. This serves as a crust. Clever, eh? (I have also made real graham cracker crust and pressed it down with the bottom of a plastic cup. Creates a scrumptious result!) Fill each muffin cup about 3/4 of the way full. You may have some leftover.

For best results, bake at 325 for 30-35 minutes, then turn off the oven, prop the door open, and let the pan sit in the oven for another 20 minutes. If you're in a hurry, you can bake them at 350 for 13-15 minutes, but you may get some unsightly cracks on the top. (Which matters not when you're covering with pie filling anyway.)

Allow the cheesecakes to cool completely--preferably in the fridge overnight--before adding topping. This ensures that they have set properly before taking the weight of any fruit. Also, they just plain taste better cold.

As a side note, this recipe doubles fabulously, so feel free to be the mom who breaks the cupcake mold and brings 24 cheesecakes to the class party instead. The teachers will thank you!

There--now I have a link to send to people who want my famous cheesecake recipe. Yay!

Lemon Bars (of a sort)

For my daughter's class Valentine's Day party, I made individual lemon bars in cupcake cups. I doubled the recipe and put about 2 Tbsp. of crust in each cup, then pressed down with a small, plastic cup before pre-baking.There was more than enough crust yet the perfect amount of filling for 24, so I pressed the remaining crust into a smaller pan, baked it, then cut it into squares, making shortbread-ish type cookies.



Lemon Bars

CRUST
1/2 C. butter, softened
1-1/3 C. all-purpose flour
1/4 C. white sugar

FILLING
2 eggs
3/4 C. white sugar
2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. baking powder
3-1/2 Tbsp. lemon juice

Powdered sugar to sprinkle on the top

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

FOR CRUST: Mix together the first three ingredients with a fork until crumbly. You can also blend them in a food processor. Use pulses until it gets crumbly. This is a lot faster and easier, though clean up is a little more involved. (But that's why we love dishwashers.)

Press crumbles into an 8-inch square pan and bake for 20 minutes. The crust will still be white; do not brown!

NOTE: If you want to make sure that your lemon bars come out extra pretty, line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper first, then press the crumbles in. It wouldn't hurt to spray the sides either.

FOR FILLING: Combine the rest of the ingredients (except for powdered sugar) in a blender. (Yes, you can do this by hand with a whisk, but it's WAY easier in the blender, plus you'll get a smoother consistency in the blender.) Blend until well mixed. Pour over pre-baked crust.

Return to the oven and bake an additional 20 minutes. Once they're out, sprinkle with powdered sugar while warm. Let bars cool completely before cutting.