White Chocolate Lemon Cheesecake

For Easter, I had a hard time deciding on desserts to make {I even asked you to help me choose from this list}, but I ended up trying a new cheesecake recipe that combined a couple flavors I was wanting. I had saved this recipe from an ad years ago.

Though the lemon flavor is mild in this cheesecake, it's a yummy traditional-type cheesecake. I didn't like how the top was looking after I took it out of the oven, so I topped it with a sour cream topping - helps hide imperfections and it's yummy!

White Chocolate Lemon Cheesecake

Crust
6 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 cups flour
1 large egg yolk
1/8 teaspoon salt

Cheesecake
2 cups (12 oz. pkg) white chocolate chips
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
2 pkg (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 large egg whites
1 large egg

Sour Cream Topping
1/2+ cup sour cream
Powdered sugar to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease 9-inch springform pan.

Crust:
In small mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar until creamy. Add flour, egg yolk, and salt and beat until combined. Press mixture onto bottom and 1 inch up side of prepared pan. Bake for 14-16 minutes or until crust is set.

Cheesecake:
Microwave white chocolate chips and cream in uncovered bowl on medium-high power (70%) for 1 minute. Stir. If necessary, microwave in additional 10-second intervals and stir until smooth. {Or gradually melt in bowl placed over pot of boiling water.}

In large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, lemon juice, lemon peel, and salt until smooth. Gradually beat in melted white chocolate chips. Beat in egg whites and egg. Pour into prepared crust.

Bake for 35-40 minutes or until edge is lightly browned. Run knife around edge of cheesecake. If desired, add sour cream topping {Stir sour cream and sugar until smooth and spread evenly over top.} and bake additional 5 minutes. Cool completely on wire rack. Refrigerate for several hours or overnight. Remove side of springform pan.

I do love cheesecake - do you? Though I really enjoyed this one, I think my fave is still the Creamy Baked Cheesecake. What's your favorite cheesecake?

This post linked to:
 ~ Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at Blessed With Grace
 ~ Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam
 ~ Chic & Crafty Party at The Frugal Girls

You can stop and smell every recipe with me - just subscribe here! :)

Have a fabulous day friends!!

No-Bake Chocolate Chip Cheesecake

I haven't posted anything chocolatey here in a while and I don't have any "new" chocolate to share, so I thought I would repost an easy chocolate recipe for you! Just in time for the weekend...

No-Bake Chocolate Chip Cheesecake

1 1/2 cups mini chocolate chips
1 8-oz. pkg + 1 3-oz. pkg (11 oz. total) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 cups frozen whipped topping, thawed, or homemade whipped cream
1 9-in. graham cracker crust (I prefer the Oreo crust with this)

Beat softened cream cheese, sugar and butter until smooth. Fold in mini chocolate chips and whipped topping. Spoon into graham cracker crust. Cover and chill until firm.

Isn't that super easy?! Might even make a good Father's Day dessert! And you don't need a very big piece - it's rich. Now who's going to make some and bring me a piece? :)

Have a wonderful weekend friends ~ with a blessed Lord's Day and Happy Father's Day!

Feel free to try some of the other No-Bake chocolate desserts to beat the heat!

This post is linked to:
~ Chic & Crafty at The Frugal Girls
~ Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam 
~ Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at Blessed with Grace

Vanilla Cheesecake Shots

Don't those look yummy??!!  I have to tell you, they are DElicious!!  I posted the recipe for these Vanilla Cheesecake Shots as my first official Contributor post over at Pennies and Blessings.  I hope you'll stop over there and let me know what you think of the recipe (an easy one that you could add in to your Easter menu).  While you're there, look around - I know you'll love what Pennies and Blessings has to offer!

Have a wonderful day and a blessed Resurrection Day friends!

CHOCOLATE Friday ~ Caramel-Brownie Cheesecake

Welcome to the end of the week! Let's celebrate with a bit of chocolate! You deserve it - I'm certain! :) On Fridays, I like to share something chocolatey.

Today I'll share the dessert I made for my wedding anniversary. I gave my hubs a couple of choices and he picked this cheesecake. Since the recipe included caramel and brownies, I thought I would go all out and make the brownies and the caramel from scratch! I used the brownies I shared last week and the caramel sauce I posted on Tuesday - yum!!

This cheesecake is super rich as you can imagine and I'm really glad that we gave most of it away so we didn't consume all those extra calories. It was yummy though! We enjoyed it! Give it a try for a special occasion! I found the recipe in my cute little Cafe Nervosa (from the show Frasier) cookbook.

Mix crushed vanilla wafers and butter.

 

The crust is ready!

Pour the delicious homemade caramel sauce on the bottom.

Crumble up the homemade brownies and cover the caramel.

Pour in the batter - ready to bake.

Just out of the oven!

Warm up some caramel sauce, drizzle, and drool!

Caramel-Brownie Cheesecake

1 3/4 cups vanilla wafer crumbs
1/3 cup butter, melted
1 batch homemade Caramel Sauce*
2 1/2 cups coarsely crumbled Basic Fudge Brownies**
3 (8-oz) pkgs cream cheese, softened
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
3 large eggs
1 (8-oz) carton sour cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Combine vanilla wafer crumbs and butter; firmly press into bottom and 1-2 inches up sides of lightly greased 9-in. springform pan. Bake at 350  for 5 minutes. Cool on wire rack.

Make caramel sauce; reserving a small amount to drizzle later. Pour caramel sauce over crust. Sprinkle crumbled brownies over caramel.

Beat cream cheese at medium speed of electric mixer 2 minutes or til fluffy. Gradually add brown sugar, mixing well. Add eggs, one at a time, beating after each egg just until blended. Stir in sour cream and vanilla. Pour batter over brownies. Bake at 350 for 50 minutes to 1 hour or until almost set. Remove from oven; cool on wire rack. Cover and chill at least 4 hours. Remove sides of pan.

*Instead of homemade caramel sauce, can use 1 (14-oz) pkg caramels and 1 (5-oz) can evaporated milk. Combine in small saucepan; cook over low, stirring often, until caramels melt.

**Can use any brownie recipe, mix, or purchase unfrosted brownies.

Cheesecake tips:
 ~ Wrap the bottom of the pan in foil. If the crust is very buttery, drips of butter will fall onto the bottom of the oven and start smoking. I forgot about that and it happened to me again this time!
 ~ Be careful not to over-mix. I did a bit and ended up with a bubble on top of my cheesecake.
 ~ When you take the cheesecake out of the oven, run a knife carefully around the edge so it won't crack as it cools.

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What do you think? Does it sound good to you? Are you going to give it a try? Do you have a yummy dessert that you make for special occasions?

If you can't live without cheesecake, you might also like:

• Chocolate Chip Cheesecake
• Creamy Baked Cheesecake
• Mini Nutella Cheesecakes
• No-Bake Chocolate Chip Cheesecake
• White Chocolate-Lemon Cheesecake

Have a chocolatey day friends!

Creamy Baked Cheesecake

Woo Hoo - it's Friday!! Usually it's Chocolate Friday here, but the first Friday of each month I have Dessert Friday so the chocolate and non-chocolate desserts can party together! And you get dessert recipes just in time for Labor Day weekend!

Hubby and I love cheesecake. One of our favorites is from a restaurant called Tahoe Joe's. It's a creamy cheesecake, not a New York style and it's really tall with a sour cream topping and mounds of whipped cream. I found a recipe in a cookbook a few years ago and thought it would be similar. Turns out that it is fairly close and hubby loves it! He requested it for his birthday dessert.

I found this yummy recipe in an Eagle Brand $1 cookbook from Target!

Creamy Baked Cheesecake

1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup (2/3 stick) butter, melted
2 (8-oz) packages cream cheese, softened
1 (14-oz) can Sweetened Condensed Milk (not evaporated milk!)
3 eggs
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 (8-oz) container sour cream, at room temp

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Combine crumbs, sugar and butter; press firmly on bottom of ungreased 9-inch springform pan.
2. In large bowl, beat cream cheese until fluffy.
3. Gradually beat in sweetened condensed milk until smooth. Add eggs and lemon juice; mix well. Pour into prepared pan.
4. Bake 50-55 minutes or until set.
5. Remove from oven; top with sour cream. Bake 5 minutes longer. Cool. Chill. Store covered in refrigerator.
To make it taller and more impressive, here are the changes I make:

* I double the crust recipe.
* I make 1.5 times the batter recipe.
* I prepare 1.5 times the sour cream and sweeten it to taste with sugar.
* Serve it with a large mound of homemade sweetened whipped cream!

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Yum - wish I had a piece right now! If you like creamier cheesecakes, you should give this one a try.

Now where are you hiding that dessert? Please do bring some over here to share! You can tell us about your favorite dessert in the comments. The more dessert, the merrier!

More cheesecake recipes, just for you:

 ~ Caramel-Brownie Cheesecake
 ~ Chocolate Chip Cheesecake
 ~ Mini Nutella Cheesecakes
 ~ No-Bake Chocolate Chip Cheesecake
 ~ White Chocolate-Lemon Cheesecake

If you enjoyed stopping and smelling the chocolates with me, I'd love it if you click to Subscribe to Stop and Smell the Chocolates by Email or RSS! 

I'm linking this up to Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam - stop over there for lots of linked up recipes!

Have a fabulous Friday and don't forget dessert! :)