Blueberry Lemon Cheesecake Rectangles

I've never made a cheesecake before. And I was definitely a little intimidated, especially since the realm of dessert usually requires precision and exactness - none of that "eye-balling" and "season to taste" stuff. But it couldn't be that difficult, could it...?

After making these blueberry lemon cheesecake rectangles, my opinion is that cheesecake ain't so difficult after all! Well, as long as you don't really care what they look like. Taste was the number one concern here.

The original recipe called for a 9x9 inch square pan, which I didn't have. But I did have a 8x11 inch rectangular baker. Same square "inch-age", so why not? Worked out perfectly, actually. And, of course, after reading the reviews I tweaked it a bit: added 2 tbsp butter to the crust and subtracted one lemon. After baking for 12 minutes, the crust wasn't quite done so I popped it back in the oven for a few more minutes. Didn't dust my cheesecake with powdered sugar.

The smell of the graham cracker crust baking was ridiculous! I was very tempted to just gobble up the crust without making the rest of the cheesecake. I didn't, thank goodness. The blueberries were baked just enough that they softened into the filling, but didn't completely disintegrate and still gave a little pop! when bitten into. Next time I might make a blueberry puree and swirl it into the cream instead of using whole berries, especially if I use my frozen berries. And now, the recipe:

Blueberry Lemon Cheesecake Rectangles (or Squares or Whatever)
(at least 8 servings)

Crust:
6 tbsp butter, melted. Plus more for greasing the pan (un-melted)
9 graham crackers
2 tbsp sugar
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon

Filling:
16 oz cream cheese, room tempearture
2 eggs
1 lemon, zested and juiced
0.5 cup sugar
1.5 cups fresh blueberries

To make the crust:

• Preheat oven to 325F.
• Grease bottom and sides of baking pan, 8x11 or 9x9, with the extra butter. Line with parchment paper, leaving some overhang so you can easily pull the cheesecake out later.
• In a food processor, process the graham crackers, sugar and cinnamon until finely ground. Slowly add the melted butter and pulse until fully incorporated, should be moist but still loose. Dump into prepared baking pan.
• Using clean fingers, press and compact the crust into the pan, working from the middle outwards until you have a solid base and sides that are 0.5-1 inch high.
  
• Bake 15 minutes. Remove and let cool completely before pouring in the filling. Remember to turn off your oven while the crust cools!

To make the filling:

• Preheat oven to 325F.
  
• In a food processor, blend cream cheese, eggs, lemon zest, lemon juice and sugar until smooth. (At this point, if the crust is not cool enough to fill, cover filling with plastic wrap and leave in refrigerator until ready to use).
• Pour filling into cooled crust and cover with blueberries. Berries will sink slightly.
  
• Bake for 35 minutes @ 325F. Center will still be jiggly when removed from oven. Let cool completely on counter. Refrigerate at least 3 hours or until well chilled.
  
• Using the parchment paper overhang, gently lift cheesecake out of pan and slice into desired sizes.
  

Happy baking!

Blueberry Muffins

First thing I made with the blueberries? Muffins! Yum :)

Recipe that follows is slightly adapted from Ina Garten's recipe for blueberry muffins. After reading some of the reviews, I took their advice and added an extra half cup of blueberries. Too many! The problem with adding more berries is that when they cook in the oven, they don't hold their shape but disintegrate into the batter. This makes the muffins deliciously gooey but too many berries clustered together makes a gigantically gooey mess!

Next time I make these, I'll stick to the recommended 2 cups of blueberries. I would also add some kind of citrus, like lemon zest or a splash of orange juice to give it a little more pop. Anyway, this is a good basic batter you could use to make other kinds of muffins, just sub the blueberries with whatever else you want. Let me know if you come up with some interesting combinations :)

Blueberry Muffins
(makes about 24 cupcake sized muffins)

1.5 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature
1.5 cups sugar

3 extra large eggs at room temperature

1.5 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup plain vanilla yogurt (or sub with sour cream)
1/4 cup milk

2.5 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

2 cups fresh blueberries, rinsed and dried

• Using a hand mixer, cream butter and sugar together in a large bowl until light and fluffy, and sugar has mostly dissolved into the butter. 5 minutes.
• Add one egg at a time to the butter mix, and whip until each one is fully incorporated before adding the next. Then work in the vanilla, yogurt and milk.
  
• In a separate bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add to cream mixture in thirds, mixing until the flour is just absorbed before adding the next third. Don't over beat the batter or it'll become tough and doughy.
  
• Gently fold in blueberries with a spatula. Scrape bottom of bowl to make sure all the flour is completely incorporated.
  
• Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 12 well muffin/cupcake pan with paper liners.
  
• Scoop batter into lined pan, filling just to the top. Bake in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes until lightly browned on top. To test if muffins are done, stick a toothpick into the center. If it comes out clean, it's done!
• Let cool in pan until cool enough to handle. Remove from pan and let cool completely.

Tips: 1) To keep blueberries from sinking to the bottoms of the muffins, lightly coat them in flour before adding to the batter. 2) You may also want to lightly grease the rims of each cupcake well (if not using a non-stick pan) to prevent the tops from sticking when they bake over.

Jason took a dozen to work to share with his office mates. The other dozen are still in the refrigerator. I eat them with my morning coffee or whenever I need a snack. They could probably also be frozen for later use, then thawed and reheated in the microwave - although I've never tried this but am very curious to see if it works. Let me know how they turn out if you decide to freeze!

Happy baking :)

Blueberries, Blueberries and More Blueberries!

Over the weekend we headed out to Virginia Beach in search of a little blueberry farm advertised as "you-pick". And, boy, did we pick our little hearts out!

Pungo Farm actually sells all kinds of produce, not just blueberries. But the "you-pick" season around here for blueberries and thornless blackberries only lasts between July and August. More and more farmers are converting patches of their farm land into you-pick patches. Pick everything from strawberries to peaches and pecans. This way, the farmers save on paying laborers to pick the berries and they're selling their product at the same time: you come, you pick, you pay. It's cost and effort efficient and also makes for a delightful, wholesome weekend outing. :)

The humidity was high that day, but thank goodness for the overcast skies. We spent about an hour and a half at the patch and came home with 8lbs of blueberries! At $1.79/lb + tax (less than $15 for 8 lbs), it was a steal! Supermarkets usually sell a pint (3/4 lb) of blueberries for $3.50! I know 8 lbs sounds like a lot of blueberries (and oh boy it is!) but they're so incredibly delicious, ridiculously healthy and extremely versatile that I wouldn't mind having buckets of it laying around.

To find a "you-pick" farm near you, check out pickyourown.org. Don't you love it when a web address says it all?

Tips for picking your own produce:

• Call ahead to make sure it's prime picking season and inquire about operating hours, pricing and payment options. Don't be afraid to call around to find the best price/lb deal.
  
• Wear bug spray, sunblock, sunglasses, floppy hat. There are lots of bugs and its hot out! Also, beware of large spiders that spin their web in between branches!
• Bring picking buckets! Some farms provide containers but others do not. You'll also need something to transport all the goodies home (i.e. cooler)
• Get down, deep and dirty! The best, juiciest and fattest blueberries were deep in the center of the bushes. Most people just pick from the outer branches so the berries deep in the center a left alone to fatten and ripen. Make the most of your trip by getting down and dirty in search of the best berries!

Now I'm faced with the yummy dilemma of disposing of all those blueberries. So far I've frozen 2 pints for later use and made blueberry muffins (technique and recipe to follow in a later post). Other projects I have in mind are: blueberry lemonade, blueberry lemon cheesecake squares and blueberry jam. Any other suggestions or unique recipe idea? Sharing with neighbors is a good option too but let's leave it as a last resort for now... I'm protective of my blueberries :)