Frankie Fights Food

So one day last month there was an emergency that sent Brett and I flying up Highway 35 to a Veteran’s Hospital and his father’s bedside. That day also happened to be my little brother’s 25th birthday. He was out celebrating with his girlfriend so I left a note on the kitchen counter, which, if you don’t know, is kind of like an email inbox when you live in a town that still largely uses dial-up. The note said:

“Happy Birthday! IOU one homemade cheesecake.”

It’s his favorite and I’m a woman of my word. So two nights ago, my very first attempt at cheesecake began. Plain, graham cracker crust cheesecake… except I didn’t bake the crust first, so it fell apart when you took a piece out and ended up looking like the Milky Way done in crumbs. And, after becoming so zealous with tarte tatin, I decided to flip it in order to remove it from the ugly aluminum pie pan and place it on a prettier plate for him. Just so you know, cheesecake doesn’t work like that. It stayed intact, sure, but the light, sponginess of the filling decided to adhere to the flipping plate and a huge section of the top was lifted right out of the pie when I flipped it back the other way. Put simply, it was hideous.

Jared, my brother, still gobbled up a double-sized slice with relish, but being the anal, control-freak perfectionist that I am, I was determined to try again… especially when my mom came home from a housewares sale with a 9″ spring-form pan. Now I know sometimes (*cough* like the very last post *cough*) I get a on my “forsake appliances-use a wooden spoon” soapbox, but this is definitely one of those moments where the jump forward in technology has made cheesecake what it is. That, and I really wanted it to look pretty after the first disaster. So ignore everything I said before for the time being and get a spring-form pan and dig out your hand mixer.

When I decided to restart the cheesecake, I wasn’t planning on it being anything crazy, just another plain cheesecake. But just as I was getting the filling ready and the crust was baking in the oven (I learned my lesson on that one), I was hit with a stroke of inspiration, called a heaping handful of blueberries. The idea was to create a thick blueberry sauce and then seal it in with a sweetened sour cream topping, to create a neat, layered effect. It was going to be gorgeous and I was jumping up and down in glee at the idea.

Plain cheesecake? No, thank you. I like to over-complicate things.

Except the sour cream topping was denser than the blueberry sauce and the two ended up becoming a swirled together mess, pushing blueberries out to the edges of the crust and spilling into the gap the cheesecake made as it cooled. I wasn’t sure if this was going to be another disaster or not, but I decided to just toss it in the fridge and let it chill overnight. While that anal part of me screamed to fix it, to find a way to salvage my brilliant idea, I remembered one of my favorite adages: The only finished work is an abandoned work. So I tossed it into the fridge and laid down in bed. It was only then that I remembered: I have a cooking blog! I have a cooking blog and I didn’t take one stinking picture of this entire process!

So, sorry, guys. Blog owner fail… but cheesecake win! Even though it didn’t end up perfectly layered, the blueberries that were pushed out to the edges congealed and adhered to the crust, swelling it with a semi-sweet tartness. Was it pretty enough? In a hot-mess kind of way, yes. Are you going to try to make it differently next time? Maybe a little orange zest in the topping, but otherwise, no. Did you eat a slice for breakfast? … yes.

(and on a side note, so you don’t worry, Brett’s dad is still in the hospital, but is showing slow yet steady signs of improvement. I’ll be shoveling this cheesecake down his throat in no time.)

Layered Blueberry Cheesecake

Cheesecake filling
9 oz softened cream cheese
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 c. sugar

Blueberry syrup
1/4 c. fresh blueberries
1/4 c. butter
1/4 c. sugar
1 tbsp cornstarch

Topping
2 c. sour cream
1/2 c. sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Crust
1 1/4 c. crushed graham crackers
1/2 c. butter

Preheat oven to 350°.

Annihilate some graham crackers down to a near powder. I suggest a rolling pin and a larger resealable bag. Melt the butter and mix together until it’s moist all the way through. When you can pinch it together and it holds its shape, you’re good to go. I lined the bottom of my spring-form pan with parchment paper (and was glad I did when it was all said and done) and spread the crust mixture evenly over the bottom and sides. To get the crumbs to climb the walls of the pan, use a smooth-sided glass and gently press the crust into place. Trying to do this with your hands usually results in more buttery crumbs on your hands than in the pie pan. Toss in the oven and bake for about 8 minutes, to firm it up.

Now get started on your cheesecake mixture. I know there are fancier cheesecake recipes out there (which I will no doubt try one day), but this one is simple and super effective. It came from on of my mom’s small town collective kind of recipe books, where all the housewives donate a recipe and then copies get sent around. Take the cream cheese, sugar, eggs and vanilla, toss them in a bowl, and mix until smooth. At least, until as smooth as you can. Mine still had a few little lumps in it, but it didn’t make that big of a difference in the end.

When the crust is done baking, put the cheesecake mixture directly into the crust and smooth it out from the center. It doesn’t need to be perfectly smooth either. Heat and time will take care of that. Bake for 30 minutes.

Now go have a cocktail, watch a TV show or catch up on your reading. This is a very low stress dessert.

When the cheesecake is done baking, take it out and let it cool for a while. While its cooling, make the sour cream topping by mixing the ingredients, covering in plastic wrap and putting in the fridge while you make the blueberry sauce.

I’m not sure if this is an official way to make a sauce, but it’s one of those things I’ve picked up from tarte tatin: melt butter, add sugar and then berries, stirring slowly and constantly on a low heat. Don’t let the mixture get too hot or you’ll have a caramel on your hands! The blueberries will slowly release their color and eventually the sauce will take on a vibrant magenta color. Take it off the heat and let it cool a bit.

Once everything is cool enough that they won’t cause each other to start baking prematurely, pour the blueberry sauce over the cheesecake (which sinks a bit in the middle as it cools, making a convenient, shallow bowl) and smooth out so it’s mostly covered. Then pour on the sour cream topping. By starting in the center, the blueberries get pushed out to the edges, but I’m sure if you started at the edges and poured inward you could avoid that… but why would you want to?

Bake for another 10 minutes. When it comes out the topping will be really thin and watery, but don’t worry. Let it cool a bit and then store it in the fridge to chill for 4-5 hours or overnight. The topping will firm up, I promise. To remove the pie, work a cool knife around the edges before you pop open your spring-form pan. Transfer to a plate, easily sliding the cheesecake onto a serving platter with the parchment and then removing the paper.

And voilà! You’re done. Now bask in the praise and glory.