Crownover - I Love Cheesecake

Many of us share a lifetime enthusiasm for the great taste of cheesecake. We simply love this indulgence! Further, this dessert is the ultimate in glamour and sophistication, providing the Grand Finale to an elegant meal or social affair.

Where I grew up, most people bought cheesecakes at elegant bakeries, thinking them much too difficult for the ordinary kitchen. In this book, I will show you how easy making cheesecakes really is.

My mother is an excellent cook, as were both of my grandmothers. The skills they taught me formed the core for my desire to master one of my food passions: cheesecake. I began by first modifying a lemon-ice box pie. Later, I found recipes for real cheesecakes, which started me on the road to writing this book. Along the way, I began questioning cheesecake formulas. I challenged the concept of why one cracks and where the basic flavor ought to lie. Having experimented extensively with these recipes, in this book I am continuing to present new formulas for basic cheesecakes.

Cheesecake is the first dessert I worked on when I was creating the very first bread machine with a Dessert Cycle. The bread machine has my name on the patent and was created for Toastmaster Inc. This wonderful machine is still available. I also created quite a few recipes for Toastmaster Inc. and their stand mixer.

Atlanta Georgia is my birth town, and I treasure every moment I spent there. I am the daughter of Burwell and Mary Frances Humphrey, and I have one sibling, a sister, Jeanne Reece.

My three children were raised in Columbia, Missouri, a nice small town in the Midwest. Columbia has a university and two large colleges. It is where I wrote Cheesecake Extraordinaire . I taught many adult education classes on cheesecake-making as well as other foods. For ten years I was a regular guest with a cooking segment on the NBC TV affiliate in Columbia. I have many fond memories of this.

Jack Gilbert is my (second) husband, and we have been married (almost) one year. We live in Punta Gorda, Florida, where the atmosphere is paradise-like. Jack was an analytical chemist for Merck Pharmaceutical Co., where he enforced quality control for process development of new drugs. With some fast-talking, I convinced Jack to help tabulate nutritional values of all the yogurt cheesecakes!

As you can imagine, I am thrilled with my latest venture, creating a new series of cheesecakes made from yogurt. These recipes, I am pleased to say, have a reduced cholesterol content compared to cream cheese cheesecakes, so they are healthier. In this book, you will also find some new ideas presented. But before passing judgment, try a few. I am convinced that you and your family will find many surprises. May you enjoy the experience as much as I have.

I sincerely hope you enjoy my cheesecakes.

Mary Crownover

acknowledgments

Special thanks are due to the many people who encouraged and supported me in the creation of these recipes. Their enthusiasm was overwhelming.

A special thanks goes to Rusty Foltz, R.D., for being a friend and for offering to write the foreword for this book.

I want to thank the staff of Charlotte Dental Associates for testing the recipes for this book. This group took their job seriously and was good about giving me feedback on my recipes. This project would have been very difficult without their help.

I especially want to thank my husband, Jack Gilbert, for being so supportive and helpful. Jack ran more errands than I could count. And Jack licked the bowl, beater, and spoons before the cakes were even baked!

Thank you Taylor Trade Publishing for offering me the great opportunity of updating my best-selling cookbook Cheesecake Extraordinaire . The Taylor staff is a joy to work with. Mandy Phillips, my editor, is a ray of sunshine; any author would be privileged to work with her. I must also include my production editor, Ginger Strader. She is fantastic and has pulled my book together for me. Because of her guidance, I have this lovely book.

beverage based

AMARETTO CHEESECAKE

AMARETTO CHOCOLATE CHEESECAKE

AMARETTO WHITE CHOCOLATE CHEESECAKE

CHOCOLATE IRISH CREAM CHEESECAKE

COFFEE N CREAM CHEESECAKE

DAIQUIRI CHEESECAKE

EGGNOG CHEESECAKE

GRANDE PASSION CHEESECAKE

GRASSHOPPER CHEESECAKE

HAWAIIAN TROPICAL BLEND CHEESECAKE

IRISH CREAM CHEESECAKE

JAMAICAN BANANA CHEESECAKE

MAI TAI CHEESECAKE

MARBLED GRASSHOPPER CHEESECAKE

MARGARITA CHEESECAKE

MOCHA CHEESECAKE

NEAPOLITAN ROYALE CHEESECAKE

NUTTY COLADA CHEESECAKE

ORANGE PINEAPPLE ALOHA CHEESECAKE

PEACHY ORANGE CHEESECAKE

PINA COLADA CHEESECAKE

PINK LEMONADE CHEESECAKE

RUM RAISIN CHEESECAKE

STRAWBERRY SMOOTHIE CHEESECAKE

SWISS WHITE CHOCOLATE COFFEE CHEESECAKE

VANDERMINT CHEESECAKE

WHITE CHOCOLATE ORANGE BIRTHDAY CHEESECAKE

AMARETTO CHEESECAKE

Makes 1218 slices

For this recipe, you will need a total of cup whole almonds, chopped or partially ground. For best results, lightly toast the almonds.

vanilla almond crust

18 vanilla sandwich creme filled cookies, with fillings intact

5 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted

3 tablespoons almonds, chopped

Crush cookies to make crumbs. Place crumbs in a mixing bowl and add butter, mix well. Press crumb mixture evenly onto bottom of greased 9-inch cheesecake pan. Sprinkle almonds on top of crust. Set aside.

Have all ingredients at room temperature. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

amaretto filling

24 ounces cream cheese

cup sugar

3 tablespoons cornstarch

3 large eggs

1 egg yolk

cup Amaretto

2 teaspoons almond extract

teaspoon lemon extract

1 teaspoon orange extract

cup almonds, toasted and chopped

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar, and cornstarch with an electric mixer until smooth. Add eggs and yolk one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in Amaretto and almond, lemon, and orange extracts. Stir until well blended. Stir in almonds. Pour filling onto crust. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.

REDUCE HEAT TO 200 DEGREES and bake for 2 hours, or until center is firm and no longer looks wet or shiny. Remove cake from oven and carefully run a knife around inside edge of pan. Turn oven off and return cake to it for an additional 2 hours. Chill overnight.

chocolate whipped cream topping

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup whipping cream

cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoons almond extract

2 tablespoons almonds, chopped

Combine chocolate chips, whipping cream, powdered sugar, and almond extract in a heavy saucepan, stirring constantly over low heat until melted and smooth. Sprinkle chopped almonds over each slice to be served and serve with some warm sauce on top. Keep chilled.

AMARETTO CHOCOLATE CHEESECAKE

Makes 1218 slices

Impress your friends by serving this rich cheesecake at the next dinner party.

18 chocolate sandwich creme filled cookies, with fillings intact

5 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted

Crush cookies to make crumbs. Place crumbs in a mixing bowl and add butter, mix well. Press crumb mixture evenly onto bottom of greased 9-inch cheesecake pan. Set aside.