Tall New York Cheesecake with Cherry Sauce

My husband absolutely LOVES cheesecake. It's not my favorite, but if it's homemade and has a fruit topping, I do enjoy it. But, it doesn't matter if I like it anyway. This particular cheesecake is for his birthday. His (ahem) 40th birthday.

He labors over my cake of multiple layers, buttercream and fondant. so I must make his favorite. I used the Tall and Creamy New York Cheesecake recipe by the NY Times. I figured a recipe right out of New York outta do the trick, right?  

I pureed grahm crakcers in the food processor to make the crumbs nice and fine, stirred in the sugar, salt and melted butter and then pressed it as evenly and as far up the sides of my 9 inch springform pan as I could. 

I mixed together the cream cheese filling and it filled the crust right to the brim. 

I was a bit concerned when it came out of the oven with this big crack in the side.  However, it calmed down a bit from it's Grand Canyon size crack to a smaller one as it cooled.  Plus, as it turns out, the crack was a nice little trap for the lovely cherry sauce. 

There you go. It's out of the springform pan. Thank goodness it didn't stick completely to the sides of the pan. Plus, that crack is barely as noticeable.  And, when the cherry sauce goes on top, you won't even notice. 

And, speaking of cherry sauce, here it is. I thought this bubbly deep red sauce was so gorgeous. I used frozen cherries to make this, but definitely didn't want to settle for just the gloopy canned stuff. I used this recipe which was very simple:

Ingredients:

3/4 C. sugar

2 t. cornstarch

1 pinch of salt

1/3 C. water

4 C. fresh tart red cherries or frozen unsweetened tart red cherries, pitted

Directions:

Combine sugar, cornstarch and salt in a saucepan. Stir in water. Add the cherries and cook until thick and bubbly. 

I let the sauce cool a bit and then added it to the top of the cheesecake.

I didn't mind the sauce running down the sides as it is such a pretty color. It's the year of the sparkler at our house to celebrate birthdays instead of candles.  Happy birthday to my hubby!

Lemon Ricotta Pancakes with Cherry Sauce

Our weekday mornings can be a little rushed sometimes, so I really love to take our time on the weekend to make a nice breakfast. I've made several varieties of pancakes - buttermilk, buckwheat, corn meal, with blueberries, pumpkin, apples, pears, etc.  I really wanted to make some with ricotta cheese though. I had some extra cherries on hand and thought this sounded like a great combination for a summer pancake breakfast.

I think the cherry pitter is the best invention, especially when you're cooking/baking with fresh cherries.

I've usually only used ricotta cheese to make lasagna, but it's going in pancakes this time.

The lemon peel smelled amazing and adds such a nice bright color and taste to the pancake batter.

I think they turned out great and little A agreed after gobbling down a few.  The pancakes were a nice light and fluffy texture and the cherry sauce provided a great balance of flavor with the cherries and lemon.

Recipe for Lemon Ricotta Pancakes with Cherry Sauce

Adapted from recipes in Bon Appetit and Gourmet

Ingredients:

Pancakes:

4 large eggs, separated

1 1/3 C. ricotta cheese

1 1/2 T.sugar

1 1/2 T. freshly grated lemon zest

1/2 C. all-purpose flour

melted butter for brushing the griddle

Cherry Sauce:

1/2 C. (or more) water, divided

2 t.cornstarch

1 T. unsalted butter

2 cups halved pitted fresh Bing cherries or other dark sweet cherries (about 14 ounces unpitted cherries)

2 T. (packed) golden brown sugar

1 T. fresh lemon juice

Directions:

Pancakes:

In a bowl whisk together the egg yolks, ricotta, sugar, and lemon zest, add the flour and stir the mixture until it is just combined. In a bowl with an electric mixer, beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until they hold stiff peaks, whisk about one fourth of them into the ricotta mixture, and fold in the remaining whites gently but thoroughly. Heat a griddle over moderately high heat until it is hot enough to make drops of water scatter over its surface and brush it with some of the melted butter. Working in batches, pour the batter onto the griddle by 1/4-cup measures and cook the pancakes for 1 to 2 minutes on each side, or until they are golden, brushing the griddle with some of the melted butter as necessary. Transfer the pancakes as they are cooked to a heatproof platter and keep them warm in a preheated 200°F. oven.

Sauce:

Whisk 1/4 cup water and cornstarch in small bowl. Melt butter in medium nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add cherries, 1/4 cup water, and brown sugar; stir until sugar dissolves. Increase heat to medium-high; add cornstarch mixture and stir until mixture boils and thickens, adding water by tablespoonfuls if sauce is very thick, about 1 minute. Remove from heat; stir in lemon juice.