Recipe : Strawberry Banana Cheesecake

What says Mother's Day more than cheesecake? Nothing. I defy you to find me a woman who does not enjoy a quality cheesecake. So, naturally it fits that you would make the mother in your life a delicious cheesecake. This one is a New York style made with bananas and topped with fresh (and cooked) strawberries. It is big, and rich and there is nothing healthy about the combined ingredients but I promise you,it is one of the best cheesecakes you have ever eaten!

Crust
2 pkgs Lady Fingers biscuits (Should equal two cups when crushed) (Or Graham crumbs if that is what you have/prefer.)
3/4 Cup butter (melted)

Mix crushed biscuits with melted butter and press into bottom of springform pan. This recipe is large enough for a 12" pan.

Cake
(3) 8 oz pkg of cream cheese (softened)
1 sugar
1/2 tsp sea salt
4 eggs (room temperature)

Beat cream cheese until soft, add sugar and salt. Add eggs one at a time and beat until super smooth. Pour over crumb crust and bake @ 350 for 50 minutes.

Take out and let cool for 15 minutes.

Topping
1 1/2 cup sour cream
1 large very ripe banana
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Mash banana really really good. The more you mash it, the less you see the bits. Blend all ingredients as smooth as possible. Pour over cake after the 15 minutes is up. bake @ 450 for 10 minutes.

When cool, top with fresh fruit. If you want even more delectable goodness, make a super quick berry reduction by heating one cup of berries with a couple tablespoons of sugar. Simmer until thick. Pour over individual slices of cake.

This cake can be made in a twelve inch pan and feed twelve easily. Or it can be made in a ten inch and still feed twelve. It just bakes higher in a ten inch, but the slices are just as heavy, just not as thick.

Bring this to yoru Mother's day tea party luncheon and you will leave with more than one Mom!

Bon Appetit!

Mmm good Mondays!

Happy Labour Day my fellow North Americans! And a very happy Monday to any readers from other parts of the globe!

It has been a whirlwind time here in Sweet Home Ontario and so I have a lot of posts to post and yet not enough time. As a way to help me organize my thoughts I thought I might give a theme to a few days of the week starting with today. Mondays are officially Mmm Good Mondays! and as a premier post I bring to you Pineapple Banana Muffins!



Mmmmmm good right?

I recently had a lot of fresh pineapple around the kitchen that needed to be used up before it went to rot. This was a perfect way to use it up (that and dried pineapple flowers ala Martha Stewart). They took no time to make even without the help of my handy dandy Kitchen Aid counter top mixer. The muffins turned out perfect and lasted a couple days (I made two batches) tasting fresh(ish) right until the last muffin. Here is the recipe text copied from the Cathlin Cooks blog.

½ cup olive oil
½ cup packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons rum
3-4 ripe bananas, mashed
2 large eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoons baking soda
¾ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
½ cup pineapple


Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a muffin tin. In a large bowl, beat together the oil, brown sugar, vanilla, and rum. Combine the mashed bananas and eggs in a separate bowl and add to the sugar mixture. Beat until thoroughly combined. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg. Stir it into the banana mixture. Chop up a cup of fresh pineapple and add to batter. Spoon the batter into the muffin cups. Bake the muffins for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean. Remove from the oven, and let cool in the tins before removing to cool completely.

***

As you can tell from the photo they turned out perfect and perfectly delicious. I would also like to point out it was tricky finding a recipe calling for fresh not canned pineapple and this one was worth the search.

Side note: As a child growing up i thought all pineapple tasted like that from a can. Was I surprised when I had my fist taste of fresh, perfectly ripened pineapple. I haven't been able to consider, let alone bake/cook with and or eat. But for at least twenty years prior I had no idea the deliciousness of a fresh pineapple. Crazy isn't it?!