Cranberry Layered Cheesecake

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...I was seduced by its color and because I'm weak, this five layered cranberry confection ended up on my table. I normally don't make desserts that are this involved. As a matter of fact, I rarely make cheesecakes at all. I love them, mind you. I just can't convince myself that the protein packed into all that cream cheese offsets the fat and calories that keep the protein company. The first time I saw this cake was on the table of an accomplished cake decorator. It was gorgeous and its garnet glow snared me before reason could take hold. I made a homely version of the cake, one precious time consuming layer at a time, and thought that would be the end of it. I never dreamed Bob would like it. He did and now I'm dealing with a case of unintended consequences. I'll have to make the cake again. The cake begins with an almond flavored crust that is partially filled with a sweetened cheese custard and then topped with a cranberry filling. The garnet layer is then smothered with the rest of the custard before being topped with sweetened sour cream. The cake bakes a considerable while, and then is cooled and chilled for a considerable while, before a final layer of cranberries crown the cake and decorations of almond whipped cream are applied. It is a lovely tangy cake that provides irresistible color on the holiday table. The recipe was developed by Teri Rasey for Taste of Home magazine. Despite the work, I'm glad to recommend this cake to you. I've made a few changes to the original recipe. which you can find here. My version of the recipe appears below. I suggest that you add salt and almond extract to the crust and that you eliminate the ground almonds from the whipped cream. Let the cake chill for 24 hours before serving. This is a very nice recipe and, if you like cheesecake, it will be a great addition to your files. Here's how it's made.

Cranberry Layered Cheesecake...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite courtesy of Teri Rasey and Taste of Home magazine

Ingredients:
Pastry Layer
1/2 cup dried cranberries
2 cups cake flour
1/2 cup ground almonds
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 cup cold butter, cubed
Cranberry Layer
3/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 cup cranberry juice
2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
Cream Cheese Layer
4 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened
1-1/2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 eggs, lightly beaten
Sour Cream Topping
2 cups (16 ounces) sour cream
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Whipped Cream Topping
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon almond extract

Directions:
1) In a food processor, finely chop dried cranberries. Add flour, almonds and confectioners' sugar, salt and almond extract; process until blended. Add butter; pulse just until crumbly.
2) Press onto the bottom and 1-1/2 in. up sides of a greased 10-in. springform pan. Place on a baking sheet. Bake at 350° for 10 minutes.
3) In a small saucepan, combine 3/4 cup sugar and cornstarch; stir in cranberry juice until smooth. Add berries. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Set aside.
4) In a large bowl, beat cream cheese, vanilla and sugar until smooth. Add eggs; beat just until combined. Pour half of batter into crust. Carefully spoon 3/4 cup berry mixture over batter; top with remaining batter.
5) Bake for 45 minutes. Reduce heat to 250°. Bake 25-30 minutes longer or until center is almost set. Combine sour cream, sugar and vanilla; spread over top. Bake 20-30 minutes or until set. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Run a knife around edge of pan to loosen; cool 1 hour longer. Spread remaining berry mixture over the top. Refrigerate overnight.
6) Beat cream with sugar and almond extract until stiff peaks form. Pipe around top edge of cheesecake. Yield: 16 servings.

You might also enjoy these recipes:
Caramel Cheesecake - Wild Yeast
Mini Bourbon Pumpkin Cheesecakes - Dessarts
Caramel Apple Cheesecake Pie - The Sweet's Life
German Cheesecake - Anja's Food 4 Thought
Pumpkin Toffee Cheesecake - The Other Side of 50
Pumpkin Cheesecake - Simply Recipes

Cinnamon Swirl Loaf

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite... We had breakfast for dinner tonight. Chalk it up to a great day trip that probably should have been an overnighter. We had promised the boys a trip to Cape Foulweather, so named for its high winds and the ferocity of its storms, and the cape did not disappoint. We stayed longer than we should and a late and heavy lunch left no one with any real appetite for dinner. Once home, I pulled this cinnamon swirl from the freezer and Bob made pancakes and bacon for those not wanting eggs. I suspect all of you have had this loaf in one form or another. I guarantee your grandmother made it and your mother probably used Bisquick to make a coffee cake that was similar to it. It fell into disfavor for years, but reappeared in a 2002 Cooking Light forum and hit the other food boards shortly thereafter. I have not been able to find the original source of the recipe. This is a delightful cake that is quick to assemble and is wonderful for morning meetings or a family brunch. The recipe, as it appeared on the food boards, would cause most folks to combine ingredients at the wrong time, so I've rearranged the ingredient list to prevent that from happening. Mine is a simple fix. Here's how it's made.

Cinnamon Swirl Loaf...as made in the kitchen of One Perfect Bite

Ingredients:
Cinnamon Swirl
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Batter
1-3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1-1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup sour cream
Assembly
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9 x 5 x 3-inch loaf pan. Set aside.
2) To make cinnamon swirl: Combine sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Set aside.
3) To make batter: Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a small bowl. Set aside. Cream butter until light in bowl of an electric mixer on high speed. Gradually add sugar and continue beating until mixture is very light and fluffy. With mixer set to medium speed, add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. With mixer set on low speed, alternately beat in dry ingredients and sour cream, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Beat only until combined.
4) To assemble: Spoon half of batter into prepared pan. Sprinkle with half of cinnamon sugar mixture. Repeat with remaining batter and cinnamon sugar. Drizzle butter over top. To form swirl, cut through batter with a knife several times.
5) To bake: Bake until a skewer inserted in center comes out clean, about 1 hour. Let pan cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Loosen sides from pan and carefully invert onto a rack and gently flip to turn right-side up again. Cool completely before serving. Yield: 1 loaf.

You might also enjoy these recipes:
Pom Koec: Belgian Coffee Cake - One Perfect Bite
Raspberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake - One Perfect Bite
Budapest Coffee Cake - One Perfect Bite
Apple Nut Coffee Cake - Sweet Kat's Kitchen
Blueberry Cheese Danish Cake - The Sweets Life
Sour Cream Cinnamon Nut Coffee Cake - Buttercream Barbie
Plum Kuchen - Smitten Kitchen
le Weekend Coffee Cake Muffins - She's In the Kitchen
Allspice Muffins - What's Cooking Chicago

Strawberry Tea Bread - Sweet Cheeks Winery

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...We have in our community a winery with a most unusual name. Before that can be shared, I must describe, as best I can, the property on which the winery sits. The acreage is bisected by a service road that cuts through the two rounded hillsides on which the grapes are grown. A contingent of locals insisted the property resembled a well-rounded derriere and conspired to have the winery named Sweet Cheeks. It worked. Now this kind of nonsense can't be plucked from the ether. Every word of this is true. I swear. I'm going to resist jokes about "bottom lands" and instead send those of you who would like to know more about the winery or my veracity here. Now, it is perfectly logical to ask why I bothered to tell you about the winery at all. It's also reasonable to ask what it has to do with a strawberry tea bread. So, here's how we got from there to here. I had promised to bring four loaves of this bread to a meeting this morning. I was in such a rush to finish the breads that I misjudged the distance between oven racks and, as a result, the bottom loaves baked into the racks above them. Bob thought the crease that developed in the two bottom loaves was a lot funnier than was actually the case and dubbed my loaves Sweet Cheeks Strawberry Bread. Those who are fond of European tea breads that are less sweet than their American counterparts will love this bread. If you are accustomed to a really sweet strawberry bread, you might want to take a pass on this. I'll let you judge for yourselves. Here's the recipe.

Strawberry Tea Bread...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite, courtesy of Taste of Home magazine

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 cup chopped fresh strawberries
3/4 cup chopped walnuts, toasted, divided use

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8 x 4-inch loaf pan. Set aside.
2) In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Add sour cream and vanilla; mix well.
3) Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon; stir into creamed mixture just until moistened. Batter will be thick. Fold in strawberries and 1/2 cup nuts.
4) Scrape into prepared loaf pan. Sprinkle top with reserved 1/4 cup walnuts. Bake for 65 to 70 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes; remove from pan to a wire rack to cool completely. Yield: 1 loaf.

You might also enjoy these recipes:
Lemon Poppyseed Bread - One Perfect Bite
Irish Soda Bread - One Perfect Bite
Sugar Crusted Viennese Nut Bread - One Perfect Bite

Budapest Coffee Cake - Foodie Friday

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...Following a critique that appeared here several weeks ago, I was asked to share the recipe for my favorite non-yeast coffee cake. Three recipes came to mind and anyone of them would be a worthy candidate for the designation "best". Today's contender comes from Maida Heatter's "Book of Great Desserts". Food writer's, especially those with public personas, tend to be swallowed by the ebb and flow of tides that carry fans to fads on other shores. Each generation produces its own crop of star chefs and food writers who capture the imagination of the public. That's as it should be. However, we who love the kitchen and the creation of food, have a tendency to dismiss as passe anything not currently on the New York Times best seller list. That's a big mistake. It is possible to move forward and still carry the best of the past with us. This is an outstanding coffee cake. It was the most popular recipe in the "Book of Great Desserts", but I've found only two other places where the recipe is actually used and reviewed. What a shame. This coffee cake is not hard to make and it uses ingredients that are readily available. I hope you'll try it. It would make a wonderful addition to any holiday breakfast or brunch table. The glaze, by the way, isn't really necessary and can be eliminated if you'd prefer a less sweet cake. Here's the recipe for a personal favorite of mine.

Budapest Coffee Cake...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite, courtesy of Maida Heatter

Ingredients:
Filling
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon cocoa
3 tablespoons currants or finely chopped raisins
1 cup toasted walnuts
Batter
3 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butter, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla
1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs, room temperature
2 cups sour cream, room temperature
Glaze
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2-3 tablespoons hot milk

Directions:
1) Adjust an oven rack to lower third of oven. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Butter a 10-inch Bundt pan. Set aside.
2) To make the filling: Combine brown sugar, cinnamon and cocoa in a small bowl. Mix throughly. Stir in nuts and currants or raisins. Set aside.
3) To make batter: Sift flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a large bowl. Cream butter in bowl of an electric stand mixer, using paddle attachment. Add vanilla and sugar and beat on medium speed for a minute or two. Add eggs, one at a time, beating each until just incorporated. Scrape sides of bowl, as necessary, to keep mixture smooth. Beat at high speed until mixture is light and creamy, about 1 minute. Turn mixer to low speed. Add dry ingredients in three additions and sour cream in two additions, beating only until smooth after each addition.
4) Spread a thin layer of batter in bottom of prepared pan. This will be easier to do if you use a small spoon to drop batter into pan and then smooth it together. Top with 1/3 of nut mixture. Repeat until you have 4 layers of batter and three layers of nut filling. The top layer will be batter. Bake 50 to 60 minutes, or until cake tester inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool for 5 minutes.
5) To make glaze: Combine powdered sugar, vanilla and milk in a small bowl. Mix well. Mixture should have consistency of a thick cream sauce.
6) Spread wax paper underneath a cooling rack. Invert cake on cooling rack. Remove pan. Pour glaze over cake, letting it run down sides, while still hot. Whan glaze ir set, transfer cake to a serving plate. Cake may be served warm or at room temperature. Yield: 12 Servings.

This recipe is being linked to:
Designs By Gollum - Foodie Friday