Tag Archives: desserts

Coconut Cheesecake with Fresh Lime Glaze

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coconut cheesecakeCrust

  • 50 vanilla wafers
  • 4 T. butter
  • 1/3 c. shredded sweentened coconut

Cheesecake

  • 4-8oz. packages of Greek yogurt cream cheese, at room temperature
  • 1/2 c. brown sugar (or coconut sugar if you want to get fancy & healthier)
  • 1/4 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 1 t. vanilla
  • 1 1/2 t. coconut flavoring
  • 3 eggs
  • 1/2 c. shredded sweetened coconut

Lime Glaze

  • Zest of 1 lime
  • Juice of 1 lime (zest the lime, then juice…otherwise it’s terribly messy)
  • 1 c. powdered sugar

Crumb vanilla wafers in a food processor.  Add the coconut in the end for a few pulses to break it up slightly.  Mix crumb/coconut mixture with 4 T. melted butter.  Bake at 350 degrees for 8 minutes.

Mix cream cheese, sugar, and flour until creamy.  Add vanilla, coconut flavoring and eggs.  Mix until smooth then stir in coconut.  Pour cream cheese mixture into crust.

Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.  DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN.  Turn down the over to 250 degrees and continue baking for 1 hour.  AGAIN, DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN.  Turn the oven off and let the cheesecake rest INSIDE THE OVEN for an additional 30 minutes.  Then cool in the refridgerator for several hours.

Prepare the glaze and spread over top of cheesecake after it’s cooled.  Making a glaze isn’t really an exact science in this instance.  Depending on the size and tartness of the lime you might want to add a little more powdered sugar to thicken, or water to thin.  DO not try to get creative and add coconut milk beverage (the stuff by the milk, not the stuff in the can).  It doesn’t play well with the lime juice.  If you want more coconut flavoring here just add a smidge of the coconut flavoring you used in the cheesecake. For an additional garnish, top with toasted coconut.

Enjoy!

***A note about the Greek yogurt cream cheese-  This is a new product I’ve found.  Sometimes I make my own cream cheese out of Greek yogurt as I did in the Caramel Cheesecake.  Once I discovered this lovely product I was thrilled that I could skip a step.  If you cannot find this product in your area, you can always just use regular cream cheese, 1/3 less fat cream cheese, or make your own from Greek yogurt or plain yogurt (as I did by straining it throught cheesecloth overnight).  If you opt to use plain yogurt, make certain you yogurt DOES NOT contain gelatin.  That will prevent the yogurt from separating and it will never form into a cream cheese consistency.  Just trust me.  Been there, done that.

 

 

National Chocolate Cake Day With A Healthy Twist

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Did you know today is National Chocolate Cake Day?  I never miss a national chocolate anything day.  I wanted to create a chocolate cake that has a nutritious punch to it, but I was short on time this week.  I used a little helper and an old favorite… boxed cake mix, and a trifle bowl.

Ingredients:

  • 2 mashed bananas
  • 1/2 c. wheat germ
  • Dark chocolate cake mix
  • 1/2 c. applesauce
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 pint heavy whipping cream
  • 1/3 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1/3 c. sugar
  • Strawberries

Combine mashed bananas and wheat germ first.  Add chocolate cake mix, applesauce, and eggs.  Mix on low speed just until combined then mix on med-high speed for 2 minutes.  Cake batter will be thick, but start to lighten in color.  Pour batter in pan sprayed with vegetable cooking spray.  It really doesn’t matter what type of pan you use because you’ll be breaking the cake up for the trifle.  Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 30 min.  Refer to the back of the cake mix box for your actual baking times depending on the size pan you use.

Once cake is completely cool, make the whipped cream.  On high speed mix heavy whipping cream, cocoa powder and sugar until still peaks form.  Layer cake, sliced strawberries, and chocolate whipped cream in large pretty bowl for a beautiful presentation. 

You’ve seen this before. Get used to it. We will be visiting wheat germ often.

Healthy chocolate cake?  Well, it’s not HEALTH food, but I like to find ways to add a little healthfulness to my desserts.  My family and I are all “sweets” people.  Not a day goes by without a dessert of some type, so my mission is to be able to make them a little better for us.  By adding fresh fruit and wheat germ, I’ve given myself important vitamins and minerals that my diet would have been missing if I didn’t eat cake.  (Like how I swing that?)  Wheat germ has so many important properties and has many uses.  For more info on wheat germ click here.  I’ve used wheat germ before in recipes such as Rossi Oatmeal.  If you’ve never tried to cook with it, go right now and buy some.  Experiment with it.

Let us eat cake!  Enjoy!