Strawberry Lemonade Cheesecake Cupcakes

 

Try out these delicious cheesecake cupcakes to start your summer days off right!

Strawberry Lemonade Cheesecake Cupcakes

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 4 hours

Yield: 12 Cupcakes

 

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups vanilla wafer crumbs (from about 2 cups cookies)
• 3 Tbsp salted butter, melted
• 1 Tbsp granulated sugar

For the cheesecake

• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 Tbsp packed finely grated lemon zest
• 2 (8 oz) pkg cream cheese, softened (I always recommend using Philadelphia for cheesecake)
• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 3 Tbsp heavy cream
• 2 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1 – 1 1/2 tsp lemon extract, to taste
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Strawberry Sauce

• 8 oz fresh strawberries
• 1 Tbsp sugar, or to taste
• 2 tsp fresh lemon juice

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl whisk together wafer crumbs, melted butter and 1 Tbsp granulated sugar until evenly moistened. Divide mixture among 12 paper lined muffin cups, adding about 1 1/2 Tbsp to each cup (use paper liners, don’t use foil liners) and press mixture in each cup into and even layer. Bake in preheated oven 5 minutes then remove from oven and set aside to cool. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees.
• In a food processor, pulse together 3/4 cup granulated sugar with lemon zest (if you don’t have a food processor you can just rub the sugar and lemon zest together with your fingertips). Add cream cheese to a mixing bowl and pour sugar mixture over cream cheese and using an electric hand mixer set on low speed, blend mixture together just until smooth. Stir in eggs one at a time, mixing just until combined after each addition. Blend in sour cream and heavy cream. Stir in lemon juice, lemon extract and vanilla extract. Tap mixing bowl against counter top to release some of the air bubbles, about 30 times. Divide mixture among muffin cups, pouring mixture over crusts and filling each nearly full. Bake in preheated oven 20 – 25 minutes until centers only giggle slightly (cupcakes will become puffed and domed but will sink when removed from oven). Allow to cool to room temperature, about 1 hour, then refrigerate until set, at least 2 hours. Serve with strawberry sauce.
• For the Strawberry Sauce:
• Add strawberries, 1 Tbsp sugar and 2 tsp lemon juice to a food processor and blend until pureed. Chill in refrigerator until ready to use.
• Recipe Source: Cooking Classy

Tortellini Bacon Broccoli Salad

This weather has definitely got us Gourmet Foodiee’s feelin summery!  We thought we’d give you an AMAZING summer salad to try.  How do we know it’s amazing?  The reviews for this recipe were excellent.  Here’s what a few people had to say about this recipe!

“A friend and I followed this recipe almost exactly (we doubled the green onion because we love them) and it was SO good! We were a bit skeptical about the coleslaw dressing but it added a wonderful touch of sweetness to the ingredients. The salad was even better the 2nd day so I’d recommend making it the night before if possible to allow the flavors to meld together… YUMMY! Thanks for sharing!”

-Daisy K.

“This is one of the best recipes that I have found on this site. Fabulous does not even come close to describing it! Everyone loved it and raved about it. Do not hesitate to try this. You can’t go wrong. I used a frozen package of tortellini which I believe was 19 ounces instead of 18oz. the recipe calls for. I also chose to use cherry tomatoes because we prefer them over grape. The salad was easy to make, too. I used my kitchen scissors to cut up the bacon and onion so the process went quickly. I also used a full 12oz. bottle of coleslaw dressing. That’s what was available and I didn’t want a partial jar left in the fridge. I added it slowly to make sure I wasn’t killing the consistency, but it turned out great. Bottom line here is that this recipe is also very forgiving on proportions used. Above all- if you are reading this recipe, don’t hesitate to try it. My many thanks to the submitter! My family thanks you, too! UPDATE: I can’t stop making this!! This is my most repeated recipe from this site!”

-Mary

T”oo bad it isn’t possible to give ‘only’ 5 stars. OMG…..this was OUTSTANDING. I made no changes whatsoever. Just to die for yummy! I agree with the poster; who would have thought coleslaw dressing would have worked so perfectly. DH agreed. This one is a real keeper. Go to the head of the class MostAwesomeChefEver!!”

-quiltersammy

 

Want the recipe?  We included it below, but we do give all of the credit to MostAwesomeChefEver who originally posted it on AllRecipes.com.  You can find the recipe and other reviews by following the link below:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Tortellini-Bacon-Broccoli-Salad/?prop24=hn_slide1_The-Irresistible-Power-of-Bacon&evt19=1

 

Ingredients:

2 (9 ounce) packages refrigerated three -cheese tortellini 1 pound bacon 4 cups chopped broccoli

1 pint grape tomatoes, halved 2 green onions, finely chopped 1 cup bottled coleslaw dressing

Directions:

1.	Cook the tortellini according to the package directions, drain, rinse with cold water, and refrigerate until cool, about 30 minutes.
2.	Place the bacon in a large, deep skillet, and cook over medium-high heat, turning occasionally, until evenly browned, about 10 minutes. Drain the bacon slices on a paper towel-lined plate. Chop the bacon into 1/2-inch pieces while still a little warm.
3.	Place the tortellini, bacon, broccoli, grape tomatoes, and green onions into a salad bowl. Pour the dressing over the ingredients, and toss lightly to coat. Chill in refrigerator before serving.

Printed from Allrecipes.com 5/15/2014

Mother’s Day Breakfast Idea!

 

We found these delicious Apple Pie Doughnuts on Shugary Sweets’ fantastic page!  Try this recipe to surprise your mom on Mother’s Day!  Check out her site for more yummy gourmet recipes!

 

 

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Yield: 8 large doughnuts

Ingredients

For the Doughnut:
1 pkg Pillsbury Grands Biscuits
canola oil
For the Frosting:
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
4 oz cream cheese, softened
3 cup powdered sugar
1-2 Tbsp milk
For the Apple Pie Filling:
1 1/2 cup sliced apples (I used Crunchpak)
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp cornstarch
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp kosher salt
pinch of nutmeg
3/4 cup water
For the garnish:
1/4 cup caramel ice cream topping
1/2 cup dry roasted peanuts, salted

 

Instructions

In a large, heavy bottomed skillet, heat oil about 1/2-3/4 inch high. Depending on your size skillet will determine how much oil is necessary. Bring oil to a sizzle when you drop a couple drops of water into it.
Separate biscuits and using a one inch circle cutter (I used a cannoli tube) pop center hole out of each biscuit so it resembles a donut. Fry each biscuit for 2-3 minutes each side. Allow to cool and dry on paper towels.
While donuts are cooling, prepare apple pie filling (or use jarred/canned to save time). In a small saucepan, bring sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg and water to a boil. Boil for 2 minutes, whisking constantly. Add apple slices (or diced) and reduce heat to simmer. Cover and simmer for about 6-8 minutes, until apples are fork tender. Remove from heat and cool.
For the frosting, beat butter and cream cheese for 3 minutes until fluffy. Add powdered sugar and milk and beat an additional 3-5 minutes.
To assemble, frost cooled doughnut with cream cheese frosting. Top with cooled apple pie filling, peanuts and caramel sauce (divide evenly among the 8 doughnuts). ENJOY.

Recipe from:

http://www.shugarysweets.com/2013/06/apple-pie-doughnuts