Blueberry Week

When I first saw this recipe, I couldn't imagine blueberry and key lime tasting good together. After baking and tasting this cheesecake, I found out that they really do compliment each other. The lime cuts the sweetness of the blueberry and it meshes very well together. I will tell you that my cake did crack. Wait, it was more like a crater that formed in the cake. It really doesn't matter because of the blueberry topping but I did some research and you can make a kind of plaster to fix the cake, you can also use the water bath cooking method. I really should have done that but I wasn't sure how to execute it. I will try it the next time I make a cheesecake that isn't being covered with fruit. I found an excellent website called Baking 911. This site explains how to repair all types of cheesecake problems. It is worth checking out.

I made this cake for my mom's birthday. She loved it. My brother-in-law also said he loved it. I'm still waiting to hear from my nephew. I have a few pieces stashed in the freezer for some other taste-testers.

BLUEBERRY KEY LIME CHEESECAKE
Serves 12
Active: 30 min.
Total: 5 hrs. (includes cooling)

Crust

10 shortbread cookies
1 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened

Filling

3 bricks (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
½ cup sour cream, at room temperature
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 Tbsp grated lime zest
1/3 cup fresh lime juice
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 drop liquid green food color (optional)

Blueberry Topping

¼ cup sugar
1-1/2 tsp cornstarch
3 Tbsp water
3 cups blueberries
1 Tbsp lime juice

1. Heat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray an 8 x 3 inch springform pan with nonstick spray.

2. Crust: Process cookies in food processor to make fine crumbs. Add butter; pulse to blend. Press onto bottom of prepared pan. Bake 10 minutes or until set. Cool on wire rack.

3. Filling: In large bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar and sour cream. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed 2 minutes until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl and beater once or twice. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time, until blended. Beat in remaining ingredients just until smooth and creamy; pour over crust.

4. Bake 60 minutes or until cake is almost set and center still jiggles slightly when touched. Remove to a rack; cut around outside edges of cake to loosen from sides. Cool on rack 3 hours (cake will sink as it cools). Cover and refrigerate up to several days.

5. Topping: In a small saucepan, mix sugar, cornstarch and water until blended. Add 1 cup blueberries; mash berries well with a potato masher. Cook over medium-high heat until mixture comes to a full boil. Boil 1 minute, stirring constantly, until slightly thickened. Stir in lime juice and another ½ cup blueberries. Spread on top of cheesecake; top cheesecake with remaining 1-1/2 cups blueberries. Refrigerate until serving.

July 7, 2009 Woman’s Day Magazine

Enjoy!

The Creative Cook

Blueberry Week

I've been seeing blueberries everywhere lately. My sister has a blueberry bush in her yard. My parents have wild blueberries, raspberries and blackberries growing out behind their house. My neighbor has blueberry bushes in her yard, too. I know there must be some blueberries growing out in the forest behind our house because I'm constantly finding purple bird poop on my front porch. Luckily, I managed to find blueberries fairly inexpensively at my local Martin's grocery store. That's how I decided that it should be blueberry week here at my blog~ Oh, that and I found zounds of great blueberry recipes in the July 7, 2009 Women's Day Magazine! Most of these recipes are coming from that magazine. I have actually made most of them or plan to make them very soon. I really hope to bake the blueberry scones before I get the recipe posted. They sound so yummy to me. The recipe I have for you today is Blueberry Focaccia. It sounded so interesting and delicous that I absolutely had to try it. Admittedly, I am not the best with yeast but I tried it anyway. I found out that this particular bread doesn't require any fancy work with the yeast. It was quite simple. Everyone seemed to enjoy it. I never heard of Blueberry Focaccia before so it is something different.

I also managed to take a few decent pictures of the focaccia before and after baking it.

I hope you try this and let me know how you like it, if you do.

BLUEBERRY FOCACCIA

Serves 12
Active: 20 Mins.
Total: 2 hrs (includes rising)

½ cup sugar
1 Tbsp grated lemon zest
3 to 3-1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 packet (1/4 oz) rapid rise active dry yeast
¾ tsp salt
1-1/4cups whole milk
1 large egg, lightly beaten
½ stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups blueberries

1. Pulse sugar and lemon zest in food processor until zest is finely ground and incorporated into the sugar. In a large bowl, whisk 1/3 cup of the lemon sugar, 3 cups of the flour, the yeast and salt until blended.

2. Heat milk in a 2-cup measure in microwave on high 1-1/2 minutes, or until temperature registers 130 degrees Fahrenheit on an instant –read thermometer; add to flour mixture with egg and butter. Mix with a rubber spatula until a soft, sticky dough forms; scrape dough onto a floured surface. Using a dough scraper to assist, knead with some of the remaining ½ cup flour to form a smooth and pliable dough, about 2 minutes. Cover the dough with the mixing bowl; let rest 10 minutes.

3. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Divide dough in half. Working with 1 piece of dough at a time, stretch and pat out on parchment into 12-in. free-form rectangle, about ¼ in. thick. Scatter with half the blueberries and half of the remaining lemon sugar. On a floured surface, pat out and stretch remaining dough slightly larger than the first piece and place over bottom dough. Press edges together and tuck under loaf. Cover with a sheet of greased plastic wrap. Place baking sheet in a warm area. Let rise 1 hour.

4. Heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, with floured fingers, dimple surface of loaf (pierce any bubbling with a knife tip to release air pockets). Scatter top of loaf with remaining blueberries and lemon sugar. Bake 25 to 30 minutes until golden brown. Slide focaccia onto a wire rack and cool slightly. Serve warm.

Enjoy!

The Creative Cook