Peaches and Cream Cake

This is, hands down, one of our new favorite desserts. Ever. Seriously. I made this twice in the span of two days. That is how good it is. It is so good that my brother even FACEBOOKED about how awesome it is. His status update, "Oh man this dessert is fantastic!!! Thanks Shay!!!" My dad ate what little was left of it the next day for breakfast.

Think of a cobbler, cake and a cheesecake all in one delightful dish. That is what you get in this dish. It is flavorful without being too rich and creamy without the cream cheese amount being too overwhelming. Man blogging makes me hungry!!!

And if that wasn't wonderful enough this dessert is so easy to make with mostly basic ingredients. I had to buy the peaches and the cream cheese both times but that was it.

Now I will have to make it again to test my theory but the first time I made this cake I made it with Whole milk because that was the only kind I had on hand at the time. It seemed to me like the first cake puffed up a lot more than the second one that I made with 1% milk. So my theory is that this cake is puffier with thicker milk. That is certainly true when you make rolls so it seems perfectly reasonable to me. But if you want to cut calories it is still wonderful both ways.

This amazing recipe and the picture are courtesy of Mel's Kitchen Cafe and can be found at this site here: http://www.melskitchencafe.com/2011/05/peaches-and-cream-cake.html

Peaches and Cream Cake
from melskitchencafe.com
printable recipe
*Serves 12

Cake:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
1 cup milk
6 tablespoons butter, melted

 Peaches and Topping:

29-ounce can sliced peaches or 1 quart home-bottled peaches
16 ounces (2 packages) cream cheese, light or regular, softened to room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
6 tablespoons reserved peach juice
Cinnamon and sugar for sprinkling

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9X13-inch baking pan with cooking spray and set aside.

In a medium or large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and cornstarch. Blend. Make a well in the center and add the vanilla, eggs, milk and melted butter. Whisk together until well combined. Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan.

Slice the peaches into bite-sized pieces, scattering them over the top of the batter evenly. In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar and reserved peach juice together until light and creamy. Dollop the cream cheese mixture in tablespoon-sized spoonfuls over the top of the batter and peaches and then use a spatula to evenly spread together to form a creamy layer. It doesn't have to be perfect, just try to spread it as evenly over the top as possible (it's ok if peaches are peeking through in spots). Sprinkle the top of the cream cheese layer generously with cinnamon and sugar.

Bake for 45-60 minutes until the edges are puffed and golden and the cream cheese layer has bubbled slightly on top. This is a difficult cake to test for doneness because of the gooey cream cheese layer. If the middle is still jiggly, bake until it no longer jiggles and the cake batter layer is puffed and no longer runny. Serve warm or at room temperature.

*NOTE: I liked the cake better at room temperature and my husband liked it better warm. You just can't go wrong! :-)

Lemon Cheesecake Dessert

I was looking for a simple recipe that I could make in bulk for my sister's sealing dinner and I knew this one was the perfect one! I am not a cheesecake fan unless it is light and this was the perfect amount of tartness ad lightness. I actually did two of these - one in lemon and one with raspberry. I preferred the lemon one and my husband preferred the raspberry. It was pretty much a toss up between the two and what the guests like. I think it would be fun to do all sorts of flavors - lime, cranberry, strawberry, peach, etc. My aunt said that this tastes just like the cheesecake my Grandma used to make while she was alive. I'm not kidding about how easy it is - try it! You will love it!

The picture and recipe are courtesy of Eat at Home Cooks and can be found here.

LEMON CHEESECAKE DESSERT
From Eat at Home Cooks

• 1 box lemon jello (gelatin) (3oz box)
• 1 cup very hot water
• 2 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 1 Tbs. sugar
• 1 stick butter, melted
• 8 oz cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 12 oz frozen whipped topping, thawed

Dissolve the jello in hot water. Set aside to cool.

Stir the sugar and graham cracker crumbs together. Add the butter and mix well. Reserve 1/2 cup for the topping. Press the rest into a 9×13 pan.

Combine the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla in a mixer bowl. Beat until well combined. Stir in the lemon jello, until well combined. Fold in the frozen whipped topping until it’s all blended. Pour this onto the crust. Sprinkle with reserved topping. Refrigerate at least 6 hours or until the next day.

Mini Cheesecakes

My sister had a big clogging performance yesterday and my extended family always attends. We had a big dinner before the show itself and I was in charge of dessert! I wanted something that would be easy to transport, easy to make, and still was impressive and delicious. I turned to my tried and true sources: Real Mom Kitchen and My Kitchen Cafe and found this great recipe.

The cheesecakes turned out great! I made the normal ones with a raspberry topping and the chocolate version as well. I am glad that I did because some people preferred one while others preferred the other. The raspberry ones were my husband's favorite, but I liked the chocolate ones best. If you are anti-richness, go with the normal cheesecakes. The chocolate ones weren't SUPER rich - I used semi-sweet chocolate chips - but they were still a little much for my hubby!

This recipe and picture is courtesy of Real Mom Kitchen and can be found here.

Mini Cheesecakes
From Real Mom Kitchen

2 (8 oz.) packages of cream cheese (I have used the lowfat version also and it works fine)
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
vanilla wafers or oreo cookies
18 cupcake liners
pie filling (I like cherry or blueberry) or fresh fruit

1. Cream cream cheese and sugar together. Add eggs and lemon juice. Beat until smooth.
2. Line cupcake pan with liners. Place vanilla wafer flat side down in each liner. If using oreos, use the chocolate wafers after scraping frosting off.
3. Fill 3/4 full with cream cheese mixture. Bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.
4. Allow cheesecakes to cool and store in the fridge. Paper liners can be left on or removed.

To serve: top with pie filling. The cheesecakes can also be frozen. Frreze before topping. Then thaw and top with pie filling.

Chocolate swirl variation: Make using oreo cookies as base. Fill as above in recipe. Cook cheesecakes for 6 minutes. Drop 4 to 5 chocolate chips in batter. Let sit for a minute for chocolate to melt. Swirl chocolate in the batter with a toothpick. Continue baking until done.

Turtle variation: Make using oreo cookies as base. Fill and cook as above in recipe. (can also use the chocolate swirl variation for this too). Remove paper liners. To serve: drizzle with caramel and sprinkle with chopped pecans or 1 pecan half.