Deep Dish Cherry Cobbler

This dessert came from one of the healthy cookbooks I got for Christmas. I really like this book because it gives the amounts for the recipes for two different servings - either 1 or 2 servings, or 2 or 4 servings depending on the recipe. It is geared toward the 1/2 serving recipes, making it ideal for just Kevin and I, and it also gives nutrition information for a serving. Most of the ingredients are either items I usually have in my cabinets, or meat/produce that I buy weekly anyway, so the recipes are pretty low-cost and low-fuss.

I wanted to make a dessert to end our "nice" New Years Day dinner and this sounded pretty good - and it was! Not the most decadent dessert out there (I mean, the fact that there is no chocolate rules it out automatically), but for a "light" fruit dessert it was very tasty. It was the perfect finish to our relatively heavy meal and took no time to throw together.



Deep Dish Cherry Cobbler
Source: Healthy Cooking for Two (Or Just You) by Frances Price

Ingredients (for 2 servings):
1 cup canned water-packed pitted tart cherries, with liquid
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon almond extract (optional)
1/3 cup reduced-fat biscuit mix
2 tablespoons 1% lowfat milk

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Drain the cherries, reserving the liquid. Measure the liquid and add water, if necessary, to make 1/2 cup, and set aside.

Spread the cherries in the bottom of a 3-cup shallow casserole or baking dish.

In a small saucepan, mix the sugar and cornstarch. Stir in the liquid reserved from the cherries. Place over medium heat and bring the mixture to a boil, stirring constantly. Stir in the almond extract (if using) and pour the thickened liquid over the cherries.

In a small mixing bowl, stir together the biscuit mix and milk until just blended. Divide the dough into 2 biscuits and spoon over the cherries.

Bake the cobbler for 15 minutes, or until the biscuits are browned and the cherries are bubbling. Serve warm or at room temperature.

White Chocolate Peppermint Cheesecake

This cheesecake was inspired by the Cheesecake Factory's Peppermint Bark cheesecake, which is only available around the holidays. I couldn't find a recipe that was exactly what I wanted, but I found one that came pretty close and just made some minor changes to it. I don't think it as good as the Chubby Hubby Cheesecake that I made for Thanksgiving, but it was still very enjoyable. The red and green candy canes gave it a very festive touch. It also was the first cheesecake I made in my new springform pan that I got for Christmas! I ended up having to double the crust because there was no way a single recipe was going to cover the whole bottom of the pan!



White Chocolate Peppermint Cheesecake
Adapted from RecipeZaar

Ingredients:
2 cups chocolate graham cracker crumbs
1 stick butter, melted
4 tablespoons sugar
3 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, softened (I used reduced fat)
3 eggs
4 oz. white baking chocolate
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons peppermint extract
Crushed candy canes for garnish (I used 1/2 a box, so 4 or 5 candy canes)

Directions:
1. Mix graham cracker crumbs, 4 tablespoons sugar and melted butter together to make crust. Press mixture into bottom of 10-inch springform pan. Bake crust at 325F for 10 minutes. Cool.

2. Mix cream cheese and 3/4 cup sugar until just blended. Add peppermint extract and eggs, one at a time, mixing after each until blended.

3. Melt white chocolate in microwave or double boiler and stir into cream cheese mixture.

4. Pour mixture over cooled crust. Bake 45-50 minutes at 325F or until center is almost set. Cool completely, then refrigerate for (at least) 4 hours.

5. When ready to serve, spread a thin layer of whipped topping or whipped cream on top of cheesecake (if desired) and sprinkle with crushed candy canes. You can sprinkle with red and green sugar, too, if you like.

Chubby Hubby Cheesecake

I made this cheesecake (based on the Ben and Jerry's ice cream flavor) for my family's Thanksgiving dinner, and it was a huge hit! There were a couple of slices left at the end of the dinner, so we ate it for breakfast the next morning and it was just as good!

Chubby Hubby Cheesecake
Source: Quirky Cupcake

Crust:
2 cups finely crushed pretzel sticks
1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup melted butter

Stir together all ingredients; firmly press crumb mixture on bottom, up sides, and onto lip of a lightly greased 9-inch pieplate. Bake at 350° for 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove to a wire rack, and cool crust 1 hour or until completely cool before filling.

Peanut butter layer:
Blend 1/3 cup peanut butter, 2 TB cream cheese, and 1/3 cup powdered sugar until smooth.
You might want to double this; I ended up doubling this layer because a single recipe wasn't enough to cover the entire crust.

Chocolate ganache layer:
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
2 TB heavy cream

Heat the chips in the microwave, stirring every 20 seconds. Heat the cream, and stir into melted chips until smooth.

Cheesecake:
8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
8 ounces (1 cup) cottage cheese, at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
Pinch of ground cinnamon
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
2 large eggs, preferably at room temperature
Confectioner’s sugar, for dusting (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Put the cream cheese and cottage cheese into the food processor and process, scraping down the sides of the bowl a few times, for 2 minutes, until you’ve got a smooth, satiny mix. Add the sugar, salt and spices and process for another 30 seconds. With the machine running, add the eggs and process, scraping the bowl as needed, for a final minute.

Bake the cake for 60 to 70 minutes, or until the filling is uniformly puffed and no longer jiggly. Gently transfer the springform pan to a cooling rack and allow the torte to cool to room temperature, during which time the filling will collapse into a thin, elegant layer.

Run a blunt knife between the crust and the sides of the pan, then open and remove the sides of the springform. If the sides of the crust extend above the filling and you don’t like this look, very gently saw off the excess crust using a serrated knife. Chill the torte slightly or thoroughly before serving and if you’d like, dust the top with confectioner’s sugar.

Assembly:
After the crust has cooled, spread the peanut butter layer on first, then pour the chocolate ganache on top of that. Pour the cream cheese mixture on top of the chocolate layer, then bake as directed.

Like I said, this was a hit! It was also my first attempt at making a cheesecake, so I was happy that it was so successful. I will definitely be keeping this recipe around. It is also great because it is a good base recipe that can be played with, adding different things to it to create different flavors.