Week 9: Piña Colada Cheesecake

Week 9 marks the halfway point of the cheesecake experiment!  The piña colada cheesecake is by far my favorite cheesecake so far :)  The cheesecake turned out so light and fluffy, you wouldn't guess that four blocks of cream cheese are used in this recipe.  The cheesecake was also a hit with my co-workers and friends who sampled it a few days ago. 

Here is the adapted version of George Geary's Piña Colada Cheesecake recipe:

1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup flaked coconut
3 tbsp melted butter

1 20 oz can pineapple diced
3 tbsp packed light brown sugar
4 packages cream cheese softened
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
4 eggs
1/2 cup coconut milk
2 tsp vanilla (you can replace one of the tsp vanilla with tsp rum)

whipped cream topping
1/4 cup flaked coconut toasted

In a bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs, 1/2 cup flaked coconut and 3tbsp melted butter.  Press into bottom of cheesecake pan and freeze.
In a saucepan, cooke pineapple and light brown sugar on medium heat until soft and syrupy (about 3 min).  Let mixture sit for 10 minutes, then drain the syrup from the mixture.  In a large bowl, beat the 4 packages cream cheese, granulated sugar and flour on medium-high speed for 3 minutes.  Add the eggs, one at a time, beating each egg into the mixture before adding the next egg.  Mix in the coconut milk and vanilla.  Pour half of the batter into the prepared cheesecake pan.  Arrange the pineapple mixture on top and pour the remaining batter on top of the pineapple mixture.  Bake for 45-55 minutes in a 350 degree oven or until the top is a light brown (mine actually took about a full hour to bake, but our oven is on the fritz).  Cool for two hours and then refrigerate for 6 hours.  When done, decorate with homeade whipped topping and toasted coconut flakes.  To toast the coconut flakes, I spread out the flakes on a baking sheet and toasted for 6 minutes in a 300 degree oven. 

Week 8: Grasshopper Cheese Bars

Back on track again!  Well, this week's cheesecake baking started off with a hitch... it's been so hot and humid the last few days, our gas stove oven does not seem to like all the extra heat (rather ironic).  R.O. took apart the oven, did something magical, and got it up and running again.  The same thing happened a month ago when we had our last heat wave in the midwest. 
So this week I decided to make cheesecake bars with some of the excess ingredients leftover from the last few cheesecakes.  These bars turned out well, although not my favorite.  A nice finishing touch for these cheesecake bars would be whipped topping, as the book recommends.  I forgot to pick up heavy whipping cream on my last grocery run, and decided a separate grocery trip (in this heat) for just whipping cream really was not worth the effort. 

Here is the recipe for Grasshopper Cheese Bars (by George Geary):
2 1/4 cups Oreo crumbs
1/3 cup butter, melted

3 packages cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3 eggs
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp peppermint extract (I used a full tsp as I like the extra hint of peppermint)
3 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips melted and cooled

Whipped topping (for the topping)

In a medium sized bowl, combine the cookie crumbs and melted butter.  Press into the bottom of a greased 13x9 baking pan and freeze.  In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and granulated sugar on med-high speed for 3 minutes.  Next, add eggs, one at a time, beating each egg into the mixture before adding the next one.  Mix in the flour, sour cream, vanilla and peppermint.  Next, pour the melted chocolate in a steady stream while the mixture is still running.  Pour the batter into the pan and place in a 325 degree oven for 45-55 minutes (or until the edges are brown and middle has a slight jiggle).  Again, to point out, all ovens are different, and my cheesecake was done at 40 minutes.

Week 7: German Chocolate Cheesecake

Slight delay in posting this week's cheesecake - we just returned from the West Bend, WI area last night.  This week's cheesecake was SO yummy!  The german chocolate cheesecake is (so far) my favorite one of this whole experience :)  I baked it at my mother-in-law's place over the weekend, and everyone enjoyed it. 

Here is George Geary's German Chocolate Cheesecake recipe:

1 1/4 cups chocolate sandwich cookie crumbs
1/4 cup ground pecans
3 tbsp melted butter


1 cup packed brown sugar
2 tbsp softened butter
2 egg yolks stirred
1 1/2 cups of flaked coconut
3/4 cup pecan halves
3 packages cream cheese
1 cup granulated sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
6 oz bittersweet chocolate melted and cooled


In a bowl, combine the cookie crumbs, 1/4 cup ground pecans and melted butter.  Press into bottom of cheesecake pan (or sprinform pan) and freeze.
In a medium saucepan, melt brown sugar and 2 tbsp softened butter for 3 minutes (on med-high heat).  Remove pan from heat an stir in egg yolks.  Return to medium heat for another 3 minutes.  Add coconut flakes and pecan halves.  Cool the mixture in the fridge for 20 min (pleas note, this mixture can be made a few days in advance of the cheesecake).  In a large mixing bowl beat cream cheese and granulated sugar on medium-high speed for 3 minutes.  Add eggs one at a time, mixing in each egg thoroughly into the batter before adding the next egg.  Stir in vanilla and melted chocolate.  Fold half of the coconut-pecan mixture into the batter and save the other half for the decoration.  Pour the batter into the cheesecake pan and bake for 45-55 minutes in a 350 degree pre-heated oven (I pulled my cheesecake out of the oven at 40 minutes).

Week 6: Chocolate Peanut Butter (cheese bars)

What better way to celebrate Independence Day than with chocolate and peanut butter?  That's what I did this last week :)  It was between the chocolate/peanut butter cheesecake bars and a more patriotic looking cheesecake decorated in blueberries, strawberries and whipped cream...  chocolate won.  These bars turned out well, though I have to caution those who do try out this recipe, that this cheesecake is very rich.  Instead of bars, these would make great cheesecake bites. 

So without further ado, here is the adapted version of George Geary's Chocolate Peanut Butter Cheese Bars (recipe from one of his students):

2 1/2 cups peanut butter sandwich cookie crumbs
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup butter, melted

4 packages cream cheese softened
1 1/4 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 cup creamy peanut butter
8 oz bittersweet chocolate melted and cooled
3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chunks

1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chunks

For the crust, in a bowl combine cookie crumbs, flour and melted butter.  Press into the bottom of a 13x9 inch baking pan and freeze (I recommend greasing the sides of the baking pan).  For the filling, in a large mixing bowl beat the cream cheese and sugar on med-high speed for 3 minutes.  Add the eggs one at a time, beating each egg thoroughly into the mixture before adding the next.  Blend in the 1 cup of creamy peanut butter and 8 oz melted chocolate.  Then mix in the 3 tbsp lemon juice and 1 tsp vanilla.  Fold in the 2 cups chocolate chunks.  Pour the mixture over the frozen crust and bake for 35-45 minutes (or until the top is a light golden brown and middle has a slight jiggle).  Pull the cheesecake out of the oven (keep the oven on) and let cool for 10 minutes.  While the cheesecake is cooling, make the topping:  combine the 1 cup sour cream, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup peanut butter, 1 tbsp lemon juice, 1 tsp vanilla.  Pour the topping onto the center of the cheesecake and spread to the edges.  Sprinkle some chocolate chunks on top.  Bake for another 5 minutes.  Pull cheesecake out of oven and cool for 2 hours, then refrigerate for 6 hours.