Although we will pretty much nosh on any cheesecake that we come upon, we are extremely partial to the creamy and fluffy variety. You know, the kind that just sort of melts in your mouth and brings a big smile to your face. If you’re a fan of cheesecake, definitely keep reading because this is hands down the best cheesecake I have ever made. Period.

My whole family loves cheesecake (except my dad), so when I decided to go home for a visit last Sunday, I decided to bring along a cheesecake. The question was, what kind of cheesecake? I pondered on this question for a couple of hours and finally decided to keep it simple. I had an ample supply of ripe, juicy blueberries and raspberries in the fridge, so I knew they would play a role, just not sure in what capacity. I ended up establishing my game plan at the last minute; lemon scented cheesecake with a glossy berry topping. Simple, delicious and perfect for summer.

This cheesecake was a big hit; it was extremely creamy with a fresh, crisp flavor from the lemon zest and fresh berries.  Brian ate himself sick after consuming two large pieces. My mom’s boyfriend, Johnny-O, loved this cake so much she caught him scarfing it from the storage container while standing over the kitchen sink and refused to give her a bite. Personally, I’m all for sharing and spreading the love EXCEPT when it comes to cheesecake, so I totally get the selfish mentality over this dessert!

If you have read any of my previous cheesecake posts, you may remember that I am pretty vocal about my disdain for cracks. Even though you can cover them up, they still irritate me beyond words. I will tell you this cheesecake recipe has never ever cracked using my extremely scientifically proven techniques. Okay, so maybe I am exaggerating about the scientific part, but here is what works for me:

1. Make sure you use a good quality springform pan.
2. Use a water bath!
3. Wrap the bottom half of the pan tightly in heavy duty foil before baking (this helps prevent the water from leaking into the pan).
4. If you are slightly OCD like me, place the foiled pan into an oven bag for extra security.
5. Allow the baked cheesecake to cool in the oven and then on the counter before placing in the refrigerator (directions will explain this).
6. Have a back-up plan if your cake cracks…fruit acts as an excellent crack concealor or you can just embrace the cracks!

If you have never visited Bakers Royale, definitely check it out, it’s full of amazing recipes, writing and photos. She totally rocks out with a point and shoot camera with some stunning results! Needless to say, I was thrilled when she agreed to guest post while I am on a weekend hiatus. She told me her plans were to post a Lemon Cheesecake with a Blackberry Balsamic Reduction and I knew my readers would be just as excited as I am about Naomi and this recipe.

Seriously check out her blog and follow her on twitter…you can thank me for leading you to her later! Naomi…thanks so much to your whipping up this delish creation for My Baking Addiction!!! Here is Naomi…

When Jamie emailed and asked if I would like to guest post in her absence this weekend, I was ecstatic. What she read a nano second later was “Sure, I would love to”. What she missed was the fist pumping and toe tapping. Like most of you I am a long time reader of My Baking Addiction, so needless to say I’m excited and honored to guest post.

I love it when everything synchronizes. As it turns out, this guest post is also the perfect preamble for my foray into fruit starring desserts. I have been forced by someone, no names will be mentioned lest I want to slum it on the sofa, to take a break from my recent run of toothaching-ly sweet confections.

My first starring fruit: blackberries reduced in balsamic vinegar. As many of you know, using balsamic as reduction agent yields a sweet flavor with a hint of tanginess. That is the exact flavor I wanted to offset the sweetened condensed milk in this cheesecake recipe. Add some lemon to smooth out the dairy from the cream cheese and you have yourself a must make cheesecake that is finely tuned and balanced.

If the sweetened condensed milk seems like an odd choice to you (it did to me at first as well) you will discover that it’s the perfect ingredient to free your cheesecake of those unsightly cracks and sinkholes, It also solves the problem of ever having a dry textured cake.

I have quite a few Thanksgiving dishes to post in the next week, but I wanted to start off with an amazing, simple and delicious recipe. Sweets are what I do best, so dessert was an obvious choice when deciding what my Thanksgiving kick-off recipe would be, plus my twitter peeps helped me decide! I came across this delectable dessert while browsing the Betty Crocker site and knew I had to make it! The crust looked amazing and as you may remember from previous posts I am a sucker for anything with a streusel topping. Both components of this recipe are easy to assemble, especially if you use a food processor for the crust. All in all this recipe is stellar, but it is definitely the crust that puts this baby over the top! I guarantee you will find these bars hard to resist and they will disappear from your holiday table in no time. Have a scruptious day and stop back tomorrow for an awesome Thanksgiving appetizer!

Pumpkin Streusel Cheesecake Bars
adapted from: Betty Crocker
Printable Recipe

Cookie Base
1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker® Oatmeal Cookie Mix
1/2 cup cinnamon graham cracker crumbs
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
1/2 cup cold butter or margarine

Filling
2 packages (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)
2 tablespoons Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
1/4 teaspoon of ground ginger
2 tablespoons whipping cream
2 eggs

1. Heat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, stir together cookie mix, graham cracker crumbs, cinnamon and pecans. Cut in butter, using pastry blender or fork, until mixture is crumbly. (I used my food processor) Reserve 1 cup mixture for topping. Press remaining mixture in bottom of ungreased 13×9-inch pan. Bake 10 minutes. Cool 10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, in large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Add remaining filling ingredients; beat until well blended. Pour over warm cookie base. Sprinkle with reserved topping.
3. Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until center is set. Cool 30 minutes. Refrigerate about 2 hours or until chilled.
4. Before serving, drizzle with chocolate and caramel toppings. For bars, cut into 6 rows by 4 rows. Store covered in refrigerator.

Notes-The original recipe which is linked at the top called for crushed ginger snaps, since I did not have any on hand I subbed the graham cracker crumbs and added 1/4 tsp of groud ginger. I also did not drizzle the bars with chocolate and caramel, instead I opted for a nice dollop of whipped cream.

Happy Halloween…if you frequent my blog or follow me on Twitter, you may remember me saying that I am not a huge fan of the spooky side of October 31st. I am a BIG baby when it comes to horror movies and haunted houses; instead I choose to celebrate fright night with a super cute dessert. I came across this recipe while browsing the Hershey’s website and I knew it would be perfect for Halloween because my candy dish was already overflowing with Hershey’s Candy Corn Kisses. Plus I was absolutely smitten with it’s candy corn-esque layered effect!!! I used these kisses in a previous post for Pumpkin Maple Chip Cupcakes and received quite a few emails and comments asking where I purchased these adorable orange, yellow and white striped candies. I picked them from Target earlier in the month, but have seen them at other places as well. The crust of this cheesecake it absolutely delicious…it maintained a nice crunchy texture. The filling was not my favorite, cheesecake texture…it seemed a little off and not as creamy as I like my cheesecakes to be. If I make this again, I will definitely play with the cheesecake portion of this recipe.

No bake cheesecake a.k.a. easy deliciousness. One of the few co-workers of mine that knows of my blog asked me about a “thick, fluffy, creamy cheesecake…like the kind you get at Mediterranean diners.” I had absolutely no idea what she was taking about. I love Mediterranean food, but never order dessert from my favorite place…I order hummus…I love hummus! Also loving a challenge, I hit up twitter…if you follow me, you may remember me posing this question. If you don’t follow me, please do so, that way you can assist with my cooking conundrums in the future…believe me, I have many of them! My twEATers didn’t really have answers, so I turned to my good friend, google!

The google search also left me sort of empty handed and I decided to just get in the kitchen and whip something up loosely following a recipe from allrecipes. I quickly snapped a couple of photos with my iphone and sent them to her. She responded and said it looked very similar…needless to say I was quite happy that it at least somewhat mimicked her description. Unfortunately, Danielle never got to taste the cheesecake to make the comparison, but I am sure she will try whipping up this easy recipe in the future! In my opinion,the result was pretty damn good. Thick? Check! No Bake? Check! Fluffy? Check! Creamy? Oh yeah! I felt as though this was a successful dessert and will definitely make it again. Have a fabulous day, thanks so much for stopping by! No Bake Cheesecake
Ingredients
1 1/2 cup finely ground graham cracker crumbs
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons white sugar

12 ounces cream cheese; room temperature
1/3 cup plus 3 tablespoons *vanilla sugar (see notes below)
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream, whipped

Method
1. In a bowl, mix together the graham crackers with melted butter and the 3 tablespoons sugar.
2. Press into a *6 inch springform pan (botton and sides). Place in refrigerator until ready for use.
3. In another bowl, beat cream cheese, 1/3 cup plus 3 TBS of vanilla sugar.
4. Whip cream, and fold into cream cheese mixture.
5. Spread into pan.
6. Refrigerate at least 4 hours before serving.
7. Top with fruit topping and enjoy.

*Notes: I made vanilla sugar using 2 1/2 pounds regular sugar and 2 vanilla bean pods. I mixed the sugar and vanilla bean pods in a sugar canister and let the flavors meld for a couple of weeks. Give it it a stir every so often and add more sugar as you use you supply! This easy concoction is awesome in coffee, sprinkled on berries or cereal! If you do not have vanilla sugar, use regular sugar and simply add a teaspoon on pure vanilla extract to the batter.

I used a 6 inch springform because I wanted a thick cheesecake, if you use a larger pan, your cheesecake will obviously be thinner than the one pictured.

If you follow my blog, you may remember that I have a thing for cheesecake. It’ s textural thing for me…the thick and creamy filling and crunchy, buttery crust is just a magical combination. Since I was announcing the givewaway winners in this post, I wanted to provide you with another recipe that utilizes vanilla beans. I made an orange version of this cheesecake back in April for the Daring Bakers Challenge and the results were absolutely delicious. This recipe uses heavy cream in the cheesecake base which imparts a fluffier texture than my other recipe that uses sour cream. The added Beanilla vanilla bean takes the cheesecake into the realm of pure foodie bliss due to it’s amazing taste, aroma and gorgeous black flecks. If you are looking for an amazing cheesecake, look no further and give this one a try! I topped this with a homemade bluberry sauce which can be found by clicking here.

Now for the winners…
The 40 vanilla beans goes to Smitten Sugar!
The 5 vanilla beans and vanilla paste goes to Megan of Delicious Dishings

Congratulations, Smitten Sugar & Megan!!!! I want to personally thank Beanilla for providing this awesome giveaway and also thanks to each and every one of you for entering and tweeting! I was so impressed with all of your recipes and comments that I am going to try a few out and post them on my blog…if I choose your recipe recommendation, I will send you 5 Beanilla Vanilla Beans, so stay tuned for the recipes!

Remember…even if you didn’t win, you can still save 10% at Beanilla’s website by entering the code “bakingaddiction” at checkout. Check out the site, I am certain you will be surprised how affordable these amazing beans are in comparison to grocery store beans! Vanilla Bean Cheesecake
adapted from: Abby’s Infamous Cheesecake

Abbey’s Infamous Cheesecake:

Crust:
2 cups / 180 g graham cracker crumbs
1 stick / 4 oz butter, melted
3 tbsp. / 24 g sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract (I used Beanilla Vanilla Paste)

Cheesecake:
3 sticks of cream cheese, 8 oz each (total of 24 oz) room temperature
1 cup / 210 g sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup / 8 oz heavy cream
1 tbsp. vanilla extract (or the innards of a vanilla bean)
1 tbsp liqueur, optional, but choose what will work well with your cheesecake

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (Gas Mark 4 = 180C = Moderate heat). Begin to boil a large pot of water for the water bath.

2. Mix together the crust ingredients and press into your preferred pan. You can press the crust just into the bottom, or up the sides of the pan too – baker’s choice. Set crust aside.

3. Combine cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of a stand-mixer (or in a large bowl if using a hand-mixer) and cream together until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, fully incorporating each before adding the next. Make sure to scrape down the bowl in between each egg. Add heavy cream, vanilla, and alcohol (if used) and blend until smooth and creamy.

4. Pour batter into prepared crust and tap the pan on the counter a few times to bring all air bubbles to the surface. Place pan into a larger pan and pour boiling water into the larger pan until halfway up the side of the cheesecake pan. If cheesecake pan is not airtight, cover bottom securely with foil before adding water.

5. Bake 45 to 55 minutes, until it is almost done – this can be hard to judge, but you’re looking for the cake to hold together, but still have a lot of jiggle to it in the center. You don’t want it to be completely firm at this stage. Close the oven door, turn the heat off, and let rest in the cooling oven for one hour. This lets the cake finish cooking and cool down gently enough so that it won’t crack on the top. After one hour, remove cheesecake from oven and lift carefully out of water bath. Let it finish cooling on the counter, and then cover and put in the fridge to chill. Once fully chilled, it is ready to serve.

Notes/Tip: When I make cheesecakes I always try to use a waterbath; however, I have had issues with water seeping into my foil wrapped pan. This seepage has really pissed me off on a couple of occasions, so I decided to remedy the issue by placing the foil wrapped cheesecake pan in an oven bag before placing it into the water. I have also used crock pot liners and they worked just as well. I also let the cheesecake completely cool in the oven, this really seems to help with the cracks…in fact I have not gotten a crack since.

If there is one recipe that I remember from my Nana it is her cheesecake. Although this is not your typical cheesecake, it was cheesecake to me and our entire family and we all swooned when she made it. Essentially her recipe was a shortbread crust, a cream cheese and confectioners’ sugar filling, a layer of canned pie filling, then cool whip to top it all off. Her canned topping choice varied on her mood, but was usually cherry or lemon, sometimes she slathered on blueberry or strawberry just to keep us on our toes. I decided to modernize her cheesecake, by making it into individual servings, using fresh seasonal fruit instead of the canned pie filling and switching up the crust recipe. Now that I consider myself somewhat of a baker, I realize that Nana’s filling is basically cream cheese frosting, but it’s still delicious nonetheless. I will definitely get around to posting the original recipe at some point this summer, but I wanted share this one with you first! Thanks for stopping by and have a delectable day!!

Nana’s Cheesecake Gone Modern
Makes (4) 4 inch cheesecakes

The Crust
I used a great recipe from these lemon bars
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
3/4 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons unsalted butter — (1 1/2 sticks) at very cool room temperature, cut into1-inch pieces

The Filling
16 ounces of cream cheese; softened to room temperature
1 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (I used clear extract)

Directions
For the crust:
1. Spray (4) 4 inch springform pans with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Pulse flour, confectioners’ sugar, cornstarch, and salt in food processor workbowl fitted with steel blade. Add butter and process to blend, 8 to 10 seconds, then pulse until mixture is pale yellow and resembles coarse meal, about three 1-second bursts. (To do this by hand, mix flour, confectioners’ sugar, cornstarch, and salt in medium bowl. Freeze butter and grate it on large holes of box grater into flour mixture. Toss butter pieces to coat. Rub pieces between your fingers for a minute, until flour turns pale yellow and coarse.) Sprinkle mixture into pans and press firmly with fingers into even, 1/4-inch layer over entire pan bottom and about 1 inch up sides.
3. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
4. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees.
5. Bake about 15 minutes.

For the filling:
1. Beat the cream cheese until smooth and creamy.
2. Gradually add in the confectioners’ sugar and mix until smooth, blend in the vanilla extract; mixing well.

To Assemble
1. Pipe or spread the filling into the cooled crusts and top with fresh fruit of your choice.

With summer right around the corner I find myself compelled to make citrus-y desserts and cannot seem to walk out of the grocery store without a bag of key limes. Wednesday night I had some free time, so I figured I would try making a few mini key lime pies…one for the boyfriend, one for the boss and one for the neighbor! I used a highly rated recipe from allrecipes, but have adapted it by making my own graham cracker crust. The filling was super delicious and had the texture of an uber creamy cheesecake. This recipe could not be easier and the results may just amaze you! You can make this recipe even more simple by using a ready made pie crust. One recipe worth of filling could have filled (4) 4 inch springform pans, but I filled my pans all the way and had a tad bit of batter left over after pouring it into 3 pans. This recipe may force me to buy another 4 inch pan! !

I got a little sick of squeezing the limes, plus I need some for another recipe, so I subbed 1/4 cup of fresh squeezed lime juice with Nellie and Joe’s Key Lime Juice. This addition added a little more zing to the batter and brought it up to the perfect pucker level! This is a recipe I can see myself making over and over again throughout the summer months. I hope you make it and enjoy it as much we did. Thanks for stopping by and have a fun-filled weekend!

I cannot believe that April is almost over which means it’s time for this month’s Daring Bakers reveal. The April 2009 challenge is hosted by Jenny from Jenny Bakes. She has chosen Abbey’s Infamous Cheesecake as the challenge. If you ever browse my blog, you know this dessert is quite popular in my house. Jenny wanted us to use our creativity, so flavoring the cheesecake was entirely up to us. I have made many different cheesecakes, but always return to the same couple of recipes just making variations as needed. Typically I use a recipe that calls for sour cream; however, the Daring Bakers recipe includes heavy cream and has no sour cream whatsoever. I looked through my previous cheesecake posts and realized that I have never made an orange cheesecake, plus I figured this citrus flavor would keep the boyfriend from eating the entire thing in one sitting. I cut the recipe in half and used one 6inch springform pan, the cheesecake baked in this pan for 40 minutes.
When I make cheesecakes I always try to use a waterbath; however, I have had issues with water seeping into my foil wrapped pan. This seepage has really pissed me off on a couple of occasions, so I decided to remedy the issue by placing the foil wrapped cheesecake pan in an oven bag before placing it into the water. I have also used crock pot liners and they worked just as well. I also let the cheesecake completely cool in the oven, this really seems to help with the cracks; I freaking despise cracks! Well that is my helpful hint of the day so now let’s talk orange cheesecake.
Here are my adjustments:
1.) I cut the recipe in half and used a 6 inch springform pan which I lightly sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.
2.) I added the zest from 1/2 an orange.
3.) I added 1/8 teaspoon of pure orange extract.
4.) I cooled the cheesecake in the oven for over 5 hours.
5.) I drizzled a chocolate glaze over the cooled cheesecake.
6.) I added candied orange slices for garnish using this recipe.
Abbey’s Infamous Cheesecake:

Crust:
2 cups / 180 g graham cracker crumbs
1 stick / 4 oz butter, melted
2 tbsp. / 24 g sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Cheesecake:
3 sticks of cream cheese, 8 oz each (total of 24 oz) room temperature
1 cup / 210 g sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup / 8 oz heavy cream
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp. vanilla extract (or the innards of a vanilla bean)
1 tbsp liqueur, optional, but choose what will work well with your cheesecake

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (Gas Mark 4 = 180C = Moderate heat). Begin to boil a large pot of water for the water bath.

2. Mix together the crust ingredients and press into your preferred pan. You can press the crust just into the bottom, or up the sides of the pan too – baker’s choice. Set crust aside.

3. Combine cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of a stand-mixer (or in a large bowl if using a hand-mixer) and cream together until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, fully incorporating each before adding the next. Make sure to scrape down the bowl in between each egg. Add heavy cream, vanilla, lemon juice, and alcohol and blend until smooth and creamy.

4. Pour batter into prepared crust and tap the pan on the counter a few times to bring all air bubbles to the surface. Place pan into a larger pan and pour boiling water into the larger pan until halfway up the side of the cheesecake pan. If cheesecake pan is not airtight, cover bottom securely with foil before adding water.

5. Bake 45 to 55 minutes, until it is almost done – this can be hard to judge, but you’re looking for the cake to hold together, but still have a lot of jiggle to it in the center. You don’t want it to be completely firm at this stage. Close the oven door, turn the heat off, and let rest in the cooling oven for one hour. This lets the cake finish cooking and cool down gently enough so that it won’t crack on the top. After one hour, remove cheesecake from oven and lift carefully out of water bath. Let it finish cooling on the counter, and then cover and put in the fridge to chill. Once fully chilled, it is ready to serve.

Pan note: The creator of this recipe used to use a springform pan, but no matter how well she wrapped the thing in tin foil, water would always seep in and make the crust soggy. Now she uses one of those 1-use foil “casserole” shaped pans from the grocery store. They’re 8 or 9 inches wide and really deep, and best of all, water-tight. When it comes time to serve, just cut the foil away.

Prep notes: While the actual making of this cheesecake is a minimal time commitment, it does need to bake for almost an hour, cool in the oven for an hour, and chill overnight before it is served. Please plan accordingly!

My thoughts: I think this cheesecake is really delicious, the heavy cream imparts a fluffier texture than the recipe I normally use. I will definitely bake this one again and may even chuck my previous recipe!

From the moment I saw this recipe on The Repressed Pastry Chef’s blog, I knew I would be making it at some point in the very near future. Em posted this recipe for Pie (Pi) Day and it looked easy and delicious. When I was at the market last weekend, they had pie crusts on sale so I snagged an Oreo crust and a package of Oreo cookies. This recipe came together with ease and took no longer than ten minutes from start to finish. The outcome is a seriously amazingly fluffy texture packed with Oreo goodness. If you like Oreos and want to wow your family into thinking you are a culinary genius, take ten minutes and whip this up for dessert tonight!

Here is Em’s Version-Adapted from Kraft
Ingredients
1 Oreo Pie Crust
12 Oreo cookies
8oz Cream Cheese, softened
1/3 cup sugar
2 cups whipped cream

Directions
In a small bowl, smash up 12 of the Oreo cookies…Set aside. In a medium bowl using a hand mixer, combine the cream cheese and sugar…Beat until light and fluffy. Add in the whipped cream and the smashed up Oreo cookies…Then use a rubber spatula and combine gently until well blended and the cookies are distributed throughout. Spoon into the Oreo pie crust and refrigerate about 2 hours or until firm.

Optional garnish… Cut 4 Oreo cookies in half and place the halves, cut side down, around a dollop of whipped cream placed in the center and dusted with Oreo cookie crumbs.

Note: The 2 cups of whipped cream is not the same as whipping cream. For this recipe the cream should be whipped. Use either freshly whipped cream or Reddi-Wip or Cool Whip or similar… But the cream is to be whipped, not liquid.

People love cheesecake, people love brownies…so why not make combine them and make one hell of a dessert? I have heard of cheesecake brownies, but I have never attempted to make them. However, last week I was feeling uninspired and decided to search for this concoction on foodgawker. There were several recipes that came up, but for some reason the one from Rosa’s Yum Yums reeled me in. I think it was the serene mint green background in her picture or maybe it was the fact that her brownies were beautifully marbled! After reading her blog entry, I realized I had all the ingredients so I got to baking! I did alter this recipe a little bit to meet my needs, but you can click here to see the original recipe that Rosa adapted from Gourmet Magazine. The original recipe yields an 8×8 batch, I doubled that recipe to fill a 9×13 pan. This recipe is seriously amazing, I guarantee people will be hounding you for the recipe, so have some on hand!
Cheesecake Brownies
Makes 32 brownies.
Ingredients for the “Brownie Batter”:
2 Sticks unsalted butter, cut into pieces
5 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
2 cups superfine sugar*
2 large eggs
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 pinch salt
1 1/3 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder

Ingredients for the “Cheesecake Batter”:
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese; softened
2/3 cup superfine sugar*
2 large egg yolks
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Method for the “Brownie Batter”:
1. Put an oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat oven to 350° F.
2. Line a 9×13 inch square baking pan with foil and butter.
3. Heat butter and chocolate in a 3-quart heavy saucepan over moderately low heat, whisking occasionally, just until melted. (I used the microwave)
4. Remove from heat, pour into a big bowl and whisk in sugar, eggs, vanilla, and a pinch of salt until well combined and shiny.
5. Whisk in flour and baking powder until just combined and spread in baking pan.

Method for the “Cheesecake Batter” and for baking the brownies:
6. Whisk together the cheesecake batter ingredients in a small bowl until smooth.
7. Dollop over brownie batter, then swirl in with a knife or spatula.
8. Bake until the edges are slightly puffed and center is just set, about 45 minutes.
9. Let cool on a wire rack.
*Note- If you do not have superfine sugar, just throw some granulated sugar in the food processor for a few seconds. Also, these are pretty sweet, so you could definitely cut down the amount of sugar in the brownie batter!

This week’s Tuesdays with Dorie recipe was chosen by Anne of AnneStrawberry. Anne selected Dorie’s recipe for Tall and Creamy Cheesecake. If you frequent my blog, you know I love cheesecake and have made my fair share of them. I was going to skip this week’s recipe simply because I was not feeling cheesecake at the present moment. However, I started thinking about variations and read through Dorie’s “playing around” section, but still none of those really did it for me either. Then I remembered a few weeks ago, the boyfriend suggested/requested that I make a banana cream pie, but I never got around to it. I thought this might be the perfect opportunity to combine two of his favorite desserts and decided to attempt a Banana Cream Cheesecake.