Raspberry Cheesecake

I made this cheesecake for Easter. Raspberries were on sale, so this was the perfect way to use a couple of delicious pints. I used my regular cheesecake recipe, but used the topping recipe from the wonderful Tide and Thyme.  This dessert is perfect for spring and summer berries.  I used homemade strawberry jam for the topping, it worked beautifully with the cheesecake.  Miss F waivers in her love for cheesecake.  I am never sure whether she will enjoy it or not.  She loved this version!

Raspberry Cheesecake

Crust:
1 ¼ cups graham-cracker crumbs
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
4 tablespoons melted butter

Filling:
3-8 ounce packages of cream cheese, room temperature
1-8 ounce container of sour cream, room temperature
1 ½ cups sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
3 eggs, room temperature

Topping:
2 pints fresh raspberries
¼ cup strawberry jelly

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine the graham-cracker crumbs and brown sugar. Mix well. Mix in the melted butter until well-moistened. Press mixture into a springform pan.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat cream cheese, sour cream and sugar on low speed until smooth. Scrape sides of bowl as needed ensure even mixing. Add in the lemon juice, then the eggs one at a time, mixing until each is well incorporated before adding the next one. Again, scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl as needed to get the mixture uniform.

Pour the filling into a springform pan and gently smooth the top of the filling. Place cheesecake in the oven, and reduce the heat to 300 degrees. Bake for 45 minutes. Do not open the oven again until the cheesecake is cooled. Turn off oven and keep the cheesecake in the oven for 2 hours (without opening oven). If the cheesecake doesn't feel 100% cool after 2 hours, allow to continue cooling, up to another hour or so. Refrigerate until firm, at least 4 hours.

To make the topping, melt the jelly in a small pan over low heat. In a bowl, toss the raspberries and the warm jelly gently until well mixed. Arrange the berries on top of the cheesecake. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

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Raspberry Lemon Scones

So I was lucky enough to spend five spectacular days in Aspen with some of my best girlfriends. C came home to watch Miss F for part of the trip, but for the rest of the time, Miss F stayed with my mom and dad. And I knew I wanted to bring a baked good of some sort as a thank you. My mom loves scones and she adores raspberries and lemon, so I adapted the blackberry lemon scone recipe from the amazing Confections of a Foodie Bride.  Miss F was a super helper with these and she was quite proud of her creation.  And my dad informed me that they enjoyed them for breakfast every day while I was gone.

Raspberry Lemon Scones

3 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/3 cup sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 stick chilled unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
Juice of 1 lemon
¾ to 1 ½ cups buttermilk
6 ounces fresh raspberries
1 egg
2 teaspoons water
2 tablespoons sugar

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Using a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, combine flours, baking powder, sugar, and salt on low speed. With mixer running, gradually add cubes of butter until the mixture is crumbly and studded with flour-butter bits about the size of small peas. Add lemon juice and ¾ cup of the buttermilk. Mix by hand just until all ingredients are incorporated. If dough is too dry to hold together, use remaining buttermilk, adding a couple tablespoons at a time, until dough is pliable and can be formed into a ball. Stir as lightly and as little as possible to ensure a lighter-textured scone. Remove dough from bowl and place it on a lightly floured flat surface. Pat dough into a rectangle. Using a well-floured rolling pin, flatten dough into a rectangle about 12x8 inches. Spread half of the fresh raspberries over the long of the dough and fold the short half over onto the top of the raspberries. Press the remaining raspberries into the dough. Cut into 8 triangles. Whisk egg and water in a small mixing bowl to combine. Brush each wedge with egg wash and sprinkle with sugar. Place scones on a Silpat-lined baking sheet and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until golden brown and no longer sticky in the middle.

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Raspberry Nectarine Pie

I love a good fruit pie. The only thing is that I need to have vanilla ice cream with it. And I have to warm it. We have been living on peaches and nectarines around here, it is the best time of year for them. Lately the nectarines have been much sweeter than the peaches, so I decided to try making a pie with them. I found this recipe on Baking and Mistaking. I made a few changes, mainly using Martha Stewart's recipe for pie crust since it never steers me wrong.  My mom says that my grandma's pie crust recipe calls for flour, oil and water.  One of these days I will be brave enough to try it.  I remember making pies with her as a child and her crust was definitely the best I have ever tasted. This will be my new go to stone fruit pie since you don't have to fuss with peeling the nectarines.

Raspberry Nectarine Pie

For the crust:
2 ½ cups flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 sticks butter, cut into ½” pieces
3 to 4 tablespoons ice water

For the filling:
2 ½ pounds nectarines, pitted and sliced
1 cup raspberries
½ cup sugar
2 teaspoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons cornstarch

In a food processor, process flour, sugar and salt until combined. Add the butter and process for 10 seconds. Add the water through the feed tube in a slow stream. Process until the mixture begins to come together. Place the dough in a large Ziploc bag and place in the freezer for 30 minutes.

Stir the nectarines, raspberries and 1sugar together in a large bowl. Let sit for 30 minutes.
Drain any excess juice in a large colander, and toss the fruit with the lemon juice and cornstarch.
Roll out the dough to fit a 9” pie pan, reserving enough dough to create the lattice top. Once the dough is lining the pie dish, pour the fruit mixture over top. Roll the remaining dough into 6 strips that are ½” wide.

Bake at 425 degrees for 25 minutes, then reduce to 375 degrees and bake an additional 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool at least two hours before serving.

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Red, White and Blueberry Cheesecake Bars

I love cheesecake bars. I first made them for the Secret Recipe Club, Reeses Cheesecake Brownie Bars and they were amazing. These weren't as easy for me. I got the recipe from a local food blog I read, Eating Our Words. I of course had to convert them from low-fat to full fat, isn't that the point of dessert?  The recipe instructions were very basic and I am a not an experienced cheesecake maker. I originally added all the ingredients at once per the instructions and boy it was a mess. So after some troubleshooting involving a strainer,  a food processor and a giant mess, I got it straightened out. The tartness of the blueberries and raspberries are the perfect foil to the rich and creamy cheesecake.

Red, White and Blueberry Cheesecake Bars

1 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs
4 tablespoons butter, melted
12 ounces cream cheese, softened
¾ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup milk
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3 large eggs
1 cup fresh raspberries (more or less, as desired)
¾ cup fresh blueberries (more or less, as desired)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line an 8x8-inch pan with aluminum foil. Spray lightly with cooking spray. In a small bowl, mix crumbs and melted butter. Press mixture firmly into the bottom of the prepared pan.

Whip the cream cheese with an electric mixer until smooth. Add the sugar, milk, cornstarch and lemon juice. Beat until smooth. Add the eggs one at a time, beating until smooth after each addition. Pour the cream cheese mixture on top of the crumb crust. Scatter raspberries and blueberries on top. Bake 35 to 40 minutes, or until touch to center feels slightly firm and set.

Cool completely before cutting. Use foil to lift cheesecake out of pan and onto a cutting board. Use a thin, sharp knife to cut into clean-looking bars (wiping blade clean with a paper towel between cuts). Refrigerate until ready to serve.

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Raspberry Chocolate Cake

Per the request of my Foodbuzz 24x24 party guest, Marianne, I am posting this recipe for her. I used the never fail recipe for Hershey's Perfect Chocolate Cake. I also attempted the frosting for these cupcakes at Cate's World Kitchen.  Problem is, it is hot in Houston, so hot that the ganache never set up enough.  I ended up chilling it for about 30 minutes and beating in a half cup of powdered sugar, which worked just fine.  I frosted it and transported it to our refrigerator in our garage.  Which is down a flight of stairs from our kitchen.  Turns out, the cake got a little wobbly with the soft frosting.  The cake was foreshadowing the party events.  My friend Cara got a little wobbly walking down the stairs from our roof deck.  A broken champagne glass, a cut finger and a bruised bottom...the pain was eased with a slice of cake.

Chocolate Raspberry Ganache

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
8 ounces butter, melted
2 cup fresh raspberries, pureed and strained (about 2/3 cup puree), at room temperature
1 cup heavy cream
1 pint raspberries, for topping the cake.

Melt the chocolate chips in the top of a double boiler. Using a rubber spatula, stir in the butter until smooth. Stir in the raspberry puree and mix until smooth. Transfer to a stand mixer with the whisk attachment and beat on medium high until the mixture is room temperature. Pour in the heavy cream and continue whipping until stiff enough to pipe.  Frost the layer cake and top with the fresh raspberries.

Chocolate Cake

2 cups sugar
1 ¾ cups flour
¾ cup cocoa
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
½ cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin).

Fill two greased 8” rounds full with batter. Bake 25-28 minutes.

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Sparkling Sangria

Michael Chiarello is a genius, especially with this sangria. I was able to use the wedding brandy in it, which was particularly nice.   I served this to start the party for the Foodbuzz 24x24: A Gathering of Girlfriends with great success.  It was refreshing and the fruit flavors were lovely.  Just right for summer.  Sparkling Sangria 1 cup brandy ½ cup orange liqueur ¼ cup sugar, super fine 1 orange, thinly sliced 1 pint raspberries 1 lime, thinly sliced 1 lemon, thinly sliced 2 bottles sparkling wine or cava, chilled In a large pitcher, combine the brandy, and orange liqueur. Pour in the sugar, stir or shake the pitcher thoroughly to mix until the sugar dissolves. Add all the fruit at once. Add the cava and serve as is or on ice.

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Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes

I had bought fresh raspberries on sale this week and Miss F was none too interested in them, she spit them out in fact. I wondered if adding chocolate cake and icing would change her mind, sure enough, it did.  These cupcakes marry chocolate and raspberry very well and aren't cloyingly sweet.  Miss F now will only eat raspberries with buttercream frosting, big surprise there.

Raspberry Chocolate Cupcakes
printable recipe

1 cup sugar
1cup all-purpose flour
6 tablespoons cocoa
3/4 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup boiling water
36 frozen raspberries
1 recipe buttercream frosting
12 fresh raspberries

Heat oven to 350°F. Line 12 muffin cups (2-1/2 inches in diameter) with paper bake cups

Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin).

Fill cups 3/4 full with batter. Drop three frozen raspberries into each cup of batter. Bake 25-28 minutes. Cool. Frost with buttercream frosting and top each with a fresh raspberry.

Buttercream Frosting

¼ cup butter, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons milk

Combine in large bowl, with mixer at low speed, confectioners' sugar, butter, milk and vanilla.

Beat at medium speed 1-2 minutes until creamy. If desired, add more milk until frosting is spreading consistency.

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