Tag: Sweets

Poteet Strawberry Cheesecake with Chocolate Drizzle

I had asked some of my friends on social media the other day what kind of recipes they would like me to share on the blog and cheesecake was one of the few requested! I’m not much of a cheesecake fan myself, and I’ve actually never made one, so I was nervous and excited to try and pull this off.

Also a couple days ago, my aunt had come by with a pint of fresh “Poteet” strawberries that my grandpa had planted. I knew I was going to top them onto the cheesecake. I think I was more excited to eat the strawberries than the cheesecake honestly lol. If you’ve never had Poteet strawberries you are missing out. They are so sweet and juicy!!! In a couple of weeks, the city of Poteet throws a large festival called the Strawberry Festival, and it’s kind of a big deal around here. The food is the best part, you can find strawberry nachos, strawberry funnel cakes, margaritas, ice cream, wine, etc. just to name a few!

They don’t only have strawberry food items though, there’s also a lot of really really really good Mexican food, fried foods, turkey legs… omg I’m getting hungry thinking about it.

So like I said I knew I was going to top the cheesecake with these strawberries, but I didn’t know how. I was torn between making a sauce to go over it, like a classic strawberry cheesecake or by topping the fresh berries over the cake and drizzling chocolate over them. I went ahead and let my friends on Instagram decide. Thank you to everyone who voted and helped me decide which way it was going to go!

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8E94A169-6EF2-4700-A069-D4829D1F085D.jpegFor the crust:

- 1 to 1 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs 
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon 
- 6 tablespoons melted unsalted butter

For the cake:

- 4 eight oz packages of cream cheese (full fat)
- 1 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- lemon juice from half of a lemon
- 3 tablespoons flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 4 eggs
- 1 egg yolk
- 1/4 cup heavy cream

For the topping

- 1 pint fresh strawberries
- 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
- 1 tbs heavy cream

Instructions:

Set your oven to 350 degrees then start assembling the pie crust. Take a 9 or 10 inch springform pan and coat the inside with butter. In a food processor, pulse the graham cracker cookies till you make about 1 1/2 cup of crumbs. In a small-medium bowl mix in cookie crumbs with cinnamon. Pour in melted butter and combine with fingers. You should be able to form a soft clump if you squeeze the mixture with your hands. If your crumbs are too crumbly and won’t stick, add tad of water to the mixture until it starts to hold.

Pour the crumb mixture into the bottom of the springform pan. Take two fingers and pinch the crumbs down to the bottom of the pan until the crumbs form an even crust. Now take two pieces of foil and cover the bottom of the springform pan forming the foil up around the edges of the bowl, like pictured below, this is because later when we bake the cake, we submerge the pan in a water bath, and the foil is to protect from water seeping into the pan while it cooks. You will need a large baking dish that the springform pan can fit inside.

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Cook the crust in the oven for 8-10 minutes.

While the crust is baking, take a medium size bowl and begin whipping the cream cheese in a mixer. Once the cream cheese is creamy in consistency, add the vanilla and lemon juice.

In a separate bowl combine the flour, sugar and salt. Slowly combine the dry ingredients into the cream cheese mixture. Next, add your eggs and egg yolk, one by one making sure that each egg is thoroughly integrated into the cream cheese mixture.

Now take the mixture and pour evenly into the pan. Take your springform pan and set into the baking dish. Next you will take a few cups of boiling water and pour into the large pan, about an inch of the way up to the springform pan. This method somewhat steams the cake while it bakes. Now, carefully place the baking dish into the oven and bake for about an hour (could go up to one half hour depending on your oven). I had to go an extra twenty minutes or so, giving the total baking time about 80 minutes.

You’ll know when the cake is done because the outer 2-3 inches of the cake will puff up and be firm. The inside circle of the cake will slightly wiggle like jello if you gently shake the pan, that is normal.

When your cake is done, turn off the heat and crack open the oven door slightly, and allow the cake to cool up to one hour in the oven.

After one hour, take a slender knife and make sure the outside of the cake isn’t sticking to the pan. That can cause the top layer of the cake to crackle. Allow to cool on a wire rack. Once the cake is completely cool, refrigerate for several hours.

Once cake has chilled in fridge at least 3-4 hours, it is ready to serve.

Before serving, cup up the pint of strawberries into slices. Arrange berries over the top of the cake. In a small microwavable bowl, heat the chocolate chips and cream. Drizzle chocolate all over the top of the berries. Slice your cake and it is ready to serve!

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Coffee Cake with Crumble Topping

 

Thank you for reading! Welcome to my first blog post. First off, I’m not much of a writer, so I will make this short- or try to. If you’re even interested in this post, you’re probably looking for the recipe and not what I have to say about it, lol. And that’s pretty much the purpose of this blog, I just want an outlet to share my recipes with family and friends!

Typical coffee cake doesn’t have actual coffee in it, it could I guess, but it get’s to be called ‘coffee cake’ because you’re suppose to drink coffee while you eat it! When I first made it, I might have accidentally devoured two healthy portions. It’s a really moist cake because of the sour cream added into the batter. My favorite part is probably the crumble though. It adds nice texture and is not too sweet.

Coffee cake is good for breakfast on the go too. You could easily bag it and munch on it during your commute to work. Or for other stay at home mamas like me, it’s perfect for a make ahead breakfast for the week. I just made this cake yesterday so I will probably give pieces of it to my mom and Luke’s mom to take.

If you attempt making this cake, please read my notes on the recipe.

COFFE CAKE

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For the Cake
- 1 Stick of unsalted butter
- 1 Cup Sugar
- 2 Large Eggs
- 2 Cups Flour 
- 1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
- 1 Teaspoon Salt (omit this step if you use salted butter)
- 2 Teaspoons Mexican Vanilla 
- 1 1/2 Cup Sour Cream
For the Filling
- 1 Cup Brown Sugar 
- 1 1/2 Teaspoon Cinnamon
For the Topping
- 1 Cup Flour
- 1 Cup Sugar 
- 1 Cup Brown Sugar
- 2 Teaspoons Cinnamon 
- 1 Teaspoon Salt 
- 1 Stick of Unsalted Butter- Melted
Instructions

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

I started my crumble topping before working on my batter. To start, just combine flour, sugar, cinnamon and salt in a medium bowl. Melt your stick of butter and combine the melted butter to the dry ingredients. You can mix around with a fork, or your hands. Once everything is combined and kind of crumbly, stick the topping in the refrigerator and don’t bring out, until your cake is ready to stick in the oven.

Now to start on the cake batter. In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar, until well combined. Next beat in the two large eggs. A cup at a time, mix in the flour. Once well combined, mix in at once the baking soda, baking powder and salt. Again, you can omit the salt if you are using salted butter. Combine all ingredients with mixer and then add your vanilla and sour cream. Set aside your cake batter and start onto the filling.

This part can be omitted if you’re tired at this point. It’s just an extra added part of sugary cinnamon, a lot of coffee cakes don’t add this at all. But it’s also pretty to look at once you start slicing your cake. Simply combine the cinnamon and sugar in a small to medium bowl, then set aside.

Now it’s time to add your cake into the pan. I used a 7×11 pyrex, because I like my cakes to be thick, a 9×13 I believe is more traditional. I am strict on believing that coffee cakes should not be done in round pans lol. It has to be sliced and served in a square. Looking at my photo it kind of looks like it’s a triangle, but it’s not I promise. Grease your pan and pour half of the batter mixture in. Use a spatula to push the batter against the baking dish. Next spread your cinnamon filling over the batter, again use a knife or spatula to evenly cover. Then you pour the remaining cake batter over the filling. Once poured and evenly covered, it is time to bring out the crumble topping from the fridge. Sprinkle the crumble evenly over the entire dish.

Take your cake and stick into the oven for 50-60 minutes. Kind of a long cooking time, I think because of the sized dish I used.

Notes!!

You do not have to use Mexican vanilla for the cake batter. If you continue to follow my recipes, you will see that I use Mexican vanilla in just about every baking dish I create. However, regular vanilla is fine! My husband got me a large container of Mexican vanilla the last time he went to the valley for work, and i Loveeeee using it!

The 7×11 Pyrex is not a traditional size, a 9 x 13 is a lot more common and it will reduce your baking time by a lot I imagine. Whatever size baking dish you use, I would set your timer to 30 minutes. At some point between 30-40 minutes, my cake was perfectly brown, but it was NOT cooked on the inside all the way, so I covered the dish with foil to prevent it from browning more. This allowed the dish to not burn and to continue cooking on the inside! My entire baking time was 55 minutes with this dish. Again, set your timer to 30 minutes and keep an eye on how it’s looking. Insert a toothpick inside to see if it comes out clear or still wet. A clear toothpick will indicate the cake is done. I stab it a few times around the center to make sure it’s done.

Thanks for reading! 🙂