A (No-Bake) Cheesecake Redux

Mother's Day is a week from Sunday. That's only 10 days away- can you believe that?! Last Mother's Day, I took my mom out to lunch and a day of shopping when I felt a strange movement in my lower abdomen- a tickle that I hadn't felt before. It happened a couple more times then it finally donned on me that it was Hayden kicking me! It was such an awesome feeling and a moment I will never forget. I love that that was the first time I felt him moving inside me. From then on, he just kicked, kicked, kicked and he still does. He loves moving his little feet. 

This Mother's Day will be a special one too because it's the first one as a mother to a living, breathing, beautiful baby boy. I don't care if I get breakfast in bed, whether or not we go out to eat or if I get any gifts wrapped in bows. Hayden is my gift and he's all I need. Well, him and his Poppa. I need him too :-)

I made this no-bake cheesecake a couple years ago with lemon curd and I made it again last month for Easter, only this time I used a jar of Key Lime Curd that I picked up from a Williams-Sonoma Outlet awhile back. You can certainly make your own from scratch if you prefer, I just think a jarred curd is easier. This cheesecake would be a welcome addition to any Mother's Day menu. You bake the crust to set it, but the cheesecake filling is set up with gelatin in the refrigerator so you don't have to worry about overbaking it which means no cracks! and there are no water baths to fool around with. It's also ultra creamy and fluffy and it can be made a couple days in advance. It was light and mousse like and reminded me of key lime pie, but without all the pucker. 

Make this cheesecake for a special Momma in your life, or heck, treat yourself for being so awesome. You could also pass this recipe onto one of your kids and have them make it for you. Yup, that's what I'd do :-). 

 Lime Curd Icebox Cheesecake adapted from HERE
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Crust:

• 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 6 tablespoons butter, melted
• 3 Tbsp. sugar

Filling:

• 1/3 cup prepared lime or lemon curd
• 1/4 cup fresh lime or lemon juice
• 1 envelope (2 3/4 teaspoons) unflavored gelatin
• 24 oz. (3 bricks) cream cheese, softened to room temperature
• 1 teaspoon grated lime or lemon zest
• 3/4 cup sugar
• pinch salt
• 1 1/4 cups heavy cream, room temperature

Garnish: 

• 1/3 cup prepared lime or lemon curd (more or less depending on your preference)
• whipped cream

For the crust: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and adjust an oven rack to the middle position.

In a medium bowl, combine graham crackers, sugar and butter. Mix until combined. 

Press the mixture into the bottom of a 9-inch spring form pan. Bake the crust until it is lightly golden brown, about 8-10 minutes. Cool the crust completely on a wire rack before filling.

For the filling: In a small bowl, put the 1/4 cup fresh lime or lemon juice. Sprinkle the gelatin over the top and let it stand until the gelatin softens, about 5 minutes. Microwave the mixture until it is bubbling around the edges and the gelatin dissolves, about 30 seconds. Set aside.

In a large bowl with a handheld mixer or in the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the cream cheese, lime or lemon zest, sugar, and salt until smooth and creamy, scraping down the sides of the bowl, about 2 minutes. 

Slowly add the cream and beat until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the gelatin mixture and 1/3 cup of the prepared lime or lemon curd. Beat until the mixture is smooth and airy, about 3 minutes. Pour the filling into the cooled crust and smooth the top.

For the decorative topping: Using a teaspoon, dollop the remaining curd on top of the cheesecake and lightly drag a pairing knife or skewer through the lines to create a marble appearance. Alternately, you could pipe the curd (I put the curd into a Ziploc bag, snipped the corner and piped) into lines or swirls and drag a skewer through it to make other decorative patterns.

Refrigerate the cheesecake until set, at least 6 hours. Remove the sides of the pan, cut into slices and serve.

Serves 12

I mentioned that I made this cheesecake for Easter but I also wanted to show you what my Mom made. She made a Pineapple Angel Lush and served it with fresh berries. It was really light and tasty. Click HERE for the recipe if you're interested. 

Baking With My Mom and A Mini Giveaway

Before I tell you about these muffins I wanted to apologize for not checking in on your blogs over the past few days. I will get to them I promise, but I've been so sick that I haven't really been on the computer much. A couple weeks ago I noticed wheezing in my chest but I felt fine. I went to the doctor a few days later and was diagnosed with bronchitis. A took antibiotics, cough syrup and used an inhaler for a week and with each passing day I felt worse, not better. I went to get a chest x-ray and now I have pneumonia and I'm feeling pretty rotten. On top of all that I've developed a drug allergy and keep randomly breaking out in a rash all over my body. Fun times people.

Okay, enough of the pity party. I made these muffins with my momma! My mom is not much of a baker, mostly because she doesn't have the patience to follow a recipe. She just like to throw things in a pot and see how it turns out. That works out well if her creations aren't so great because she can't replicate them, but if something turns out really well and we all love it, she can never reproduce it. ha! Gotta love her. Anyway, I mentioned to her that I'd like to have her over to bake with me and she was so excited and knew just what she wanted to make. She saw a recipe in Parade Magazine for Dorie's lemon sour cream muffins and clipped it right away. It just so happens that I clipped the same recipe and I had all the ingredients to make them.

My mom mentioned that she painted her finger nails and I was teasing her telling her that she painted them for her guest appearance on my blog. I asked her to show them to me (so I could show them to you) and this is what she gave me. ha ha! Guess I asked for that one :-) Love you mom.

The recipe came together really quickly. We wanted them extra lemony so I added more lemon zest and juice. And I added a lemon sugar topping to them which made the tops super delicious but the muffin itself was mediocre at best and not very lemony. They were not very sweet and were very biscuit-like in texture and taste. The batter was very thick so I added a couple tablespoons of buttermilk to thin it out and that worked well. To make these more flavorful, we sliced them in half, buttered them and slathered on some tangy lemon curd. Besides baking with my mom, that was the best part. Then again you can slather just about anything with butter and lemon curd and it'll be good!

Lemony Sour Cream Muffins adapted from Dorie Greenspan via Parade

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• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 lemon, zested and juiced (I used 2- see note)
• 3/4 cup sour cream
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/8 tsp lemon extract
• 1 stick unsalted butter, melted
• 2 Tbsp. buttermilk (see note)

Lemon Sugar:

• 6 teaspoons sugar
• Zest of one lemon

In a small bowl, combine the 6 tsp. of granulated sugar and zest of one lemon. Mix together and set aside while you make the batter.

Whisk the dry ingredients, including the lemon zest, together in a large bowl. In another bowl, whisk the remaining ingredients, including the lemon juice.

Pour the wet ingredients over the dry. Gently but quickly stir everything together. Don’t worry if you have a few lumps—they’re better than an overmixed batter.

Spoon batter into paper-lined or greased tins. Divide batter between 12 cups. Top each muffin with about 1/2 tsp. lemon sugar.

Bake at 400º for 18 to 20 minutes, until muffins are golden. Cool 5 minutes before unmolding.

NOTE: My batter was super thick so I added the juice of an extra lemon and a couple tablespoons of buttermilk to help thin it out.

Now on to the mini giveaway. When I said mini, I meant mini. My mom helped me pick these out and I thought they were too cute to pass up so I wanted to share with you. I liked them because their textures were so realistic.

Since I have 3 kitchen timers, I will choose 3 winners. Please let me know which one you'd prefer and I'll do my best to accommodate you. If you'd rather opt out of the giveaway, just say so in the comments section. One comment per person please.

Giveaway open to US residents only. The winners will be revealed on Wednesday. Be sure I can contact you if you win!

Lemony Goodness & A Brief Getaway

Mr. H and I are going away for a long weekend. We're not going too far but I'm hoping for some quiet one-on-one time. Well that sounds dirty, but you know what I mean :-) We're going to stay in a nice hotel, relax out by the pool- he developing his tan, me under an umbrella with a book (more than likely a magazine), listen to music, we're going to walk and explore, eat and shop. What every getaway should be like.

In the meantime, I'll leave you with this oh-so-creamy no bake lemon cheesecake. Sound good? Believe me, it was! And it went quick. This was one of the things I made for my mom's 4th of July BBQ. It also served double duty as my cousin's 12th birthday dessert. He and I share the same birthday and I didn't get to see him on his special day so as my birthday gift to him, I promised I'd make a cheesecake for him. He LOVES cheesecake and his parents won't spend the money or the time baking a real cheesecake so they usually buy Sara Lee frozen junk, like he got last year. 2010 brought him a Jell-O no bake cheesecake. Doh! So I felt it was my duty to bake him something homemade, creamy and made with actually cream cheese! Last year I made him Mini Cookies 'n Cream Cheesecakes and he raved about them every time I saw him, this cheesecake was no different. Even my mom couldn't stop talking about how good and creamy it was.

This cheesecake comes from the folks at Cook's Country (America's Test Kitchen) and they don't usually make their recipes available to the public unless you subscribe to their website. So I was glad to find it on Mel's Kitchen Cafe-- she had me at "no bake" :-) This is a no bake cheesecake but you still have to turn the oven on set the graham cracker crust. The filling is loaded with cream cheese, heavy cream and lemon curd, all set up by a little envelope of gelatin. You do have to chill it for a few hours, hence the word "icebox" in the title, but it'll be worth it. You can make it at night like I did and it will be ready for you the next day.

Even though I didn't have to bake this, I wanted this to be quick. I didn't have time to make the homemade lemon curd and allow it to cool, I so used the jarred stuff and it worked out fine. I made a couple changes to the recipe like adding an extra tablespoon of butter to the crust and omitting the zest in the crust and adding it to the filling for an extra zing. I also used graham cracker crumbs instead of crushing up my crackers- it was easier and I didn't have to bring out the food processor. My changes are reflected below. If you want to make your own lemon curd go ahead, if not then use good quality jarred curd and follow the directions accordingly. Either way, you'll be rewarded by a very creamy, almost fluffy, perfectly tart, lemony cheesecake. Enjoy!

Lemon Curd Icebox Cheesecake adapted from Cook's Country via Mel's Kitchen Cafe

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Crust:

• 9 whole rectangular graham crackers (or about 1 1/2 cups crushed)
• 6 tablespoons butter, melted

Lemon Curd:

• 1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
• 1/4 cup sugar
• pinch salt
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon heavy cream

Filling:

• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice, from about 2 lemons
• 1 envelope (2 3/4 teaspoons) unflavored gelatin
• 24 oz. (3 bricks) cream cheese, softened to room temperature
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• 3/4 cup sugar
• pinch salt
• 1 1/4 cups heavy cream, room temperature

For the crust: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and adjust an oven rack to the middle position.

In a food processor, pulse the graham crackers until they are finely ground (I used boxed graham cracker crumbs). Add the butter and pulse until combined. Alternately, the graham crackers can be crushed in a resealable bag with a rolling pin and then poured into a bowl where the zest and butter can be stirred in.

Press the mixture onto the bottom of a 9-inch spring form pan. Bake the crust until it is lightly golden brown, about 8 minutes. Cool the crust completely on a wire rack before filling.

For the curd: While the crust is cooling, whisk the egg, egg yolk, sugar and salt together in a small saucepan. Whisk in the lemon juice and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture is thick and pudding-like, about 3-4 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter and cream. Press the mixture through a fine mesh strainer or sieve into a small bowl and refrigerate until needed.

For the filling: In a small bowl, put the 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice. Sprinkle the gelatin over the top and let it stand until the gelatin softens, about 5 minutes. Microwave the mixture until it is bubbling around the edges and the gelatin dissolves, about 30 seconds. Set aside.

In a large bowl with a handheld mixer or in the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the cream cheese, lemon zest, sugar, and salt until smooth and creamy, scraping down the sides of the bowl, about 2 minutes. Slowly add the cream and beat until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the gelatin mixture and 1/4 cup of the refrigerated lemon curd. Beat until the mixture is smooth and airy, about 3 minutes. Pour the filling into the cooled crust and smooth the top.

For the decorative topping: Using a teaspoon, dollop the remaining curd on top of the cheesecake and lightly drag a pairing knife or skewer through the lines to create a marble appearance. Alternately, you could pipe the curd (I put the curd into a Ziploc bag, snipped the corner and piped) into lines or swirls and drag a skewer through it to make other decorative patterns.

Refrigerate the cheesecake until set, at least 6 hours. Remove the sides of the pan, cut into slices and serve.

Serves 12

NOTES: The cheesecake can be made ahead and refrigerated for up to 3 days. To create a clean slice of cheesecake, dip your knife in a glass of hot water, dry it, then slice the cheesecake. Do this for each slice.

*Do NOT substitute the heavy cream for half 'n half or milk. You need the fat in the cream to whip up and provide body and texture to the cheesecake. Milk will just thin out your batter and it won't set properly.

Mmm! See y'all next week!