Summer is in full swing in Washington, DC. It’s been over 90 degrees for the past week and my baking has been seriously put on hold. Not only is it just too hot to turn on the oven but it’s too hot to even eat what I usually love to bake (brownies)! So I’ve put off baking and blogging for weeks, hoping that we have an unseasonable cold streak and it’s in the 70s for the rest of the summer.
Sadly, that hasn’t happened, despite my hoping and on Friday, I was forced to turn on the oven to make a classic summer treat, Lemon Bars. The recipe was super simple and a huge hit. But this blog isn’t about lemon bars. It’s about berries, lemons and cheesecake. One of the great parts of this recipe was the hot shortbread base, on this site it is used for 4 different kinds of bars, but I’m already thinking about the different uses for it and I’m pretty sure they are endless.
Fast forward to today, I need to make dessert for some friends tomorrow night and I’m looking for something light, easy and, of course, delicious. So, I decide to modify the recipe for the blueberry cheesecake bars and make them just a bit more summary.
Strawberry Lemonade Cheesecake Bars
16 ounces of cream cheese, softened
2 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1tbsp. fresh lemon juice
some lemon zest
3/4 cup strawberry preserves (room temperature)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Make the hot shortbread base as directed in the recipe, with a 9x13x2 inch pan. If you don’t have a food processor, you can just mix it up with a fork or your hands, just make sure the butter doesn’t melt too much.
Whip up cream cheese, so it is easier to stir. Add other ingredients and blend well. When cooked, pull hot shortbread base from the oven and spread preserves evenly. Pour and spread cream cheese mixture over the preserves. Bake for 30 minutes.
With all the berries that summer brings, I imagine I’ll be creating variations on this recipe for the next few months. Think about how great this will taste topped with fresh berries!
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