Rustic Raspberry Lemon Cheesecake Tart

Delicious and stunning desserts don't have to be difficult or take forever to make! I left my puff pastry in the oven a bit too long, but this tart was so yummy and easy. 

-SusiKockenUndBacken.blogspot.com

1 sheet puff pastry, thawed but still cold
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup sugar, plus more for sprinkling
2 Tbsp. heavy cream
1/3 cup lemon curd, homemade or store-bought
1 pint raspberries
1/4 cup seedless raspberry jam, warmed
Powdered sugar

For the tart: Preheat oven to 425° F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat baking mat. Unfold the thawed out puff pastry on a lightly flour dusted area and gently roll into a 10x11 inch rectangle. Carefully transfer to your baking sheet.

Brush edges with a little bit of water and fold over all 4 sides to create a lip. Using a fork, poke holes all over the center of your tart. Gently brush the entire tart with an egg wash and sprinkle about 2 tsp. of sugar over the center. Bake until golden brown, about 15-20 minutes. Remove from oven and carefully with the back of a spoon press the center back down if it has puffed. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

For the filling: In a bowl combine softened cream cheese and sugar. Mix with a hand-mixer or by hand until smooth and the sugar is well incorporated. Add the heavy cream and mix for about 1 minute. Fold in the lemon curd.

To assemble the tart: Carefully spread your lemon cheesecake mixture over the center of your cooled tart crust. Arrange berries decoratively over the curd and drizzle with the warmed jam. Dust the tart with powdered sugar.

Notes: This tart is best made and eaten on the same day. You can prepare the tart along with the cheesecake filling ahead of time. Refrigerate the filling and assemble the tart right before eating.

Other berries would be lovely as well. I bet blueberries, strawberries, blackberries or a combination would also be great! 

Homemade Hot Pockets

Are you looking for ideas for what to do with your leftover Easter ham? Make homemade hot pockets! I made ham & cheddar and pepperoni and mozzarella with a sprinkle of dried basil. They were a hit with the family and I'm wrapping the leftovers to put in the freezer for after-school snacks. 

-MoneysavingMom.com, modified

3 cups flour

4 Tablespoons dry milk

1 Tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 Tablespoons yeast

1 cup warm water

Filling:

Sliced ham

Shredded cheddar cheese

or

Sliced Pepperoni

Shredded mozzarella cheese

Sprinkle of basil

To make dough in bread machine: Add ingredients in the bread machine in the order listed and run on the dough cycle. Check about halfway through to see if you need to add a little extra water or flour to make a soft dough.

To make dough by hand: Dissolve yeast in warm water. Stir in salt, sugar, and dry milk. Add flour and stir until dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Dump dough onto a floured surface and knead for around 5 minutes, until a soft dough forms. Add a little more flour, if needed.

To make Ham & Cheese Pockets: Divide dough into balls (for dinner size use 4 oz, for snack and kid-sized use 2 oz). Roll each ball into a rectangle. Put ham and cheese on half of the rectangle. Fold dough over and pinch sides to seal tightly.

Brush with egg wash (1 egg + 1 tsp water) and sprinkle with salt.

Bake Pockets on a Silpat, or greased cookie sheet at 350-degrees for 15-18 minutes, until lightly browned.

To freeze: Let cool completely. Freeze in airtight ziptop freezer bags for up to 2-3 months.

To serve: Remove desired number of pizza pockets from the freezer and warm them individually in the microwave for about two minutes or until heated through. Or, warm on a cookie sheet in a 350-degrees oven for 20 minutes, or until heated through.

Sopaipillas

Sopaipillas and a bowl of chile beans are comfort food and always reminds me of home. There's nothing better than a sopaipilla served hot with butter and honey!

-Aunt Deborah

2 cups flour
½ tsp. salt
2 ½ tsp. baking powder
2 Tbsp. shortening
¾ cup warm water
cooking oil

Sift flour, salt and baking powder. Cut in shortening; add water and knead. Add more flour if necessary. Let dough stand 30 minutes before rolling. Do not let stand longer. Roll on slightly floured board til ¼-inch thick; cut in diamond-shaped pieces. Using a 1 quart saucepan with two inches oil, fry in deep fat 390-400 degrees on thermometer. Turn at once to puff evenly and brown on both sides. Because the sopaipillas brown so quickly, cook only one at a time. The high sides of the pan help lessen the splattering. Drain. Serve hot with butter and honey on the side.

Lemon Blossoms

I tried making this recipe several years ago in my metal mini muffin tray and it was a complete disaster. Fast forward to Demarle and complete success! Can't say enough about the Demarle products!

-PaulaDeen.com, modified

4 large eggs

1 (3.5 oz) package instant lemon pudding mix

1 (18.5-oz) package yellow cake mix

3/4 cup vegetable oil, plus 1 tablespoon for glaze

4 cups confectioner's sugar

1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

1 lemon, zested

3 tablespoons water

Preheat the oven to 350°. Place Demarle Mini Muffin tray on Perforated Baking Sheet. Combine the cake mix, pudding mix, eggs and oil and blend well with an electric mixer until smooth, about 2 minutes. Pour a small amount of batter, filling each muffin well half way. Bake for 16-17 min. Cool for 5 minutes before removing to glaze.

To make the glaze, sift the sugar into a mixing bowl. Add the lemon juice, zest, oil and water. Mix with a spoon until smooth.

While the cupcakes are still warm, dip the cupcakes into the glaze, covering as much of the cake as possible, or spoon the glaze over the warm cupcakes, turning them to completely coat. Place on wire racks with waxed paper underneath to catch any drips. Let the glaze set completely, about one hour, before storing in a container with a tight-fitting lid.

Peanut Blossoms

I thought I had this recipe on the blog already, but I guess not! You can make these as written or in a mini muffin pan.

-Mom Pulsipher

½ cup shortening

½ cup peanut butter

½ cup brown sugar

½ cup white sugar

1 egg

2 Tbsp. milk

1 tsp. vanilla

1 ¾ cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. salt

Sugar

28 chocolate kisses

Beat together shortening, butter and sugars. Add egg, milk and vanilla and mix well. Stir together flour, soda and salt. Add to creamed mixture. Beat on low speed until stiff dough forms. Shape into 1-inch balls (0.8 oz if you want to be precise). Roll in sugar. Place 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes until golden brown. Immediately top each cookie with a kiss pressing firmly until cracks appear around edges. Remove from cookie sheet to cool.

For cookie cups: Follow mixing directions and place sugared balls into DAH mini muffin tray. Bake at 375 for 10 minutes. Immediately top with kiss, pressing firmly until cracks appear around edges. Cool at least 10 minutes before removing from tray.

6-Minute Caramels

Love this recipe! It's easy to begin with and then add Demarle products and you've got it made. No need to butter a pan - the caramels will come right out! FYI - the caramallow patties associated with the original recipe at Rookno17 are also great!

-Rookno17.com

¼ cup unsalted butter

½ cup granulated sugar 

½ cup dark brown sugar

½ cup light corn syrup

½ cup sweetened condensed milk

Place DAH deep flexiflat on a perforated baking sheet or prepare a 9x9 or 10x10 pan by lining with parchment paper in each direction so that parchment overhangs all four sides and can be used to lift out the finished caramel.  Use nonstick spray or butter to grease the parchment.

Place butter in a DAH medium or large round mold or medium microwave-safe bowl.  *Use the microwave glass plate to act as a support when removing the caramel from the microwave to stir.

Microwave 30 seconds to soften the butter.  Remove from microwave and stir in the sugars, corn syrup and condensed milk. 

Microwave for 2 minutes.  Stir. 

Microwave for another 2 minutes.  Stir. 

Microwave for a final 2 minutes.  Stir and pour immediately into one end of the deep flexiflat (will only fill ½) or prepared pan.  If using 8x8 pan, gently tilt pan to move caramel into each corner, then tap pan firmly on a flat surface to help level the hot candy.  Set aside to cool for 1 hour.  Use overhanging parchment to lift the cooled candy out of the pan and continue to cool for an additional hour.

Cranberry Orange Pound Cake

I had a sample at Kneaders the other day and thought I'd try finding a recipe to recreate the yumminess. I tried several different recipes and this one comes pretty close! I used my new Demarle at Home charlotte mold - easy and I didn't have to worry about them sticking to my pans. YAY! I used a large ice cream scoop to divide the batter and did have a little left, so I baked that in a mini loaf pan.

-Modified from Sophistamom

1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature


4 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature


¾ cup sugar


zest of 1 orange

2 eggs


3 drops orange essential oil + 1 tsp. orange juice or 1 tsp. orange juice concentrate

1 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (use bread flour or Better for Bread flour if at high altitude)


¾ teaspoons baking powder


¾ teaspoons salt


1 cups fresh or frozen cranberries, roughly chopped or ¾ cup dried cranberries:

Place ¾ cup dried cranberries in a small bowl and pour boiling water over to cover. Let the cranberries hydrate for about 15 minutes. Drain and pat dry

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Place Demarle at Home charlotte mold on perforated baking sheet or butter and flour a medium size loaf pan, and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter, cream cheese, and sugar. When mixer is light in color and fluffy, add in zest. With mixer on low, add in eggs, one at a time, incorporating well after each addition. Stir in orange oil.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. With the mixer on low, slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Mix until just incorporated. Fold in cranberries. Using a large ice cream scoop, divide batter into charlotte molds or pour into prepared loaf pan. Bake charlotte cakes for 25 minutes or loaf pan for 45-50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Remove from oven. Place cakes on a wire rack to cool. After about 5 minutes, remove cakes from pans, and let cool on the wire rack. While still warm, drizzle with orange glaze (recipe follows). Serve warm or at room temperature.

Orange Glaze

3/4 cup confectioner’s sugar


1 tablespoon melted butter


zest of 1 orange


2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice

Whisk all ingredients together in a small bowl. Add more juice or sugar to achieve desired consistency.