Mini Maple Walnut Cheesecakes for the Top 9 Tea Party

 

Mini Maple Walnut Cheesecakes

Foodbuzz and Electrolux have partnered to host a Top 9 Tea Party Takeover on Friday, March 25th. For theirTea Party, they hope you will share your perfect tea party recipes. For every recipe submitted by a Featured Publisher Foodbuzz will donate $50 to one of my favourite charities the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund. Electrolux has committed to donate $750,000 to this worthy cause.

For my tea party recipe I decided to make mini cheesecakes that celebrate Spring and a new beginning. The first thing I think of when I dream of Spring is not asparagus or rhubarb but maple syrup! Growing up in Southern Ontario the one thing that was constant was our annual trip to the sugar bush in early Spring. There are few smells as sweet as the aromas coming from a rustic, wood-planked sugarhouse, with the one possible exception being the maple-walnut-stuffed French toast I sometimes served on Sundays.

One in every 67 women is at risk of developing ovarian cancer. These are high odds and the startling truth is that the symptoms of ovarian cancer are often vague and subtle, making it difficult to diagnose. These can include bloating, pelvic and/or abdominal pain, difficulty eating or feeling full quickly, and urinary symptoms (urgency or frequency).  Because of this, patients are usually diagnosed in advanced stages and only 45% survive longer than five years. Only 19% of cases are caught before the cancer has spread beyond the ovary to the pelvic region. When ovarian cancer is detected and treated early on, the five-year survival rate is greater than 92%. Hats of to Electolux and Foodbuzz for creating this event to bring attention to such a worthy cause.

This recipe makes twelve 1-inch cheesecakes perfect for a tea party dessert tray. What other minis would I serve at a Tea Party from the pages of More Than Burnt Toast?

Barbecued Spiced Lamb Sliders
Marinated Caprese on a Stick
Windowpane Potato Chips
Turkey and Trimming Pinwheels
Sliders with Tomato Aioli
Kofta Sliders with Lemon Mint Sauce
Crab Cake Sliders with Lemon Remoulade
Hot-Sour-Salty-Sweet Thai Sliders ....I think I like sliders:D

**Mini Maple Walnut Cheesecakes**
adapted from a recipe from Canadian Living

1 cup (250 mL) walnut halves
3 tbsp (45 mL) packed dark brown sugar
2 tbsp (25 mL) butter, melted

Filling:

1 pkg (8 oz/250 g) cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup (75 mL) medium maple syrup or amber maple syrup
1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla
1 egg
2 tbsp (25 mL) all-purpose flour

Candied Walnuts:

3 tbsp (45 mL) granulated sugar
3 tbsp (45 mL) maple syrup
12 walnut halves

***************
In food processor, finely chop walnuts with brown sugar; pulse in butter. Press over bottoms of 4-oz (125 mL) mini-cheesecake cups. Bake in centre of 350°F (180°C) oven until golden at edges, about 12 minutes; let cool on rack.

Filling: Meanwhile, in large bowl, beat cream cheese until fluffy; gradually beat in syrup and vanilla until smooth. Beat in egg and flour, scraping down bowl as necessary. Pour about 3 tbsp (50 mL) over each base.

Bake in centre of 325°F (160°C) oven until edges are set but centres still jiggle slightly, about 15 minutes. Let cool on rack. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours or until set. (Make-ahead: Refrigerate for up to 2 days.)

Candied Walnuts: Meanwhile, line rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.

Place sugar in small bowl. Pour corn syrup into separate small bowl. Dip each walnut in corn syrup; scrape off any excess and roll in sugar to coat. Place, top side down, on prepared pan

Bake in 325°F (160°C) oven, turning once, until bubbly and nuts are deep golden, about 15 minutes. Let cool on baking sheet. (Make-ahead: Store in airtight container for up to 3 days.) Press walnut onto each cheesecake.

Makes 12/1-inch cheesecakes.

You are reading this post on More Than Burnt Toast at http://goodfoodcorner.blogspot.com. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to the author and or owner of More Than Burnt Toast. All rights reserved by Valerie Harrison.

Lavender Cheesecake with Blueberries and Lavender Honey

I love to create a menu around an ingredient or an idea so it was time for another personal challenge here at More Than Burnt Toast.  I continued my  B-day celebrations in Vancouver with L'il Burnt Toast over the weekend so there was no baking for the finale of My World is Blue challenge. In short there was no baking at all with the dessert chosen for my final installment due to the heat wave. There were no ovens harmed in the baking of this dessert!!!! For the past week I had taken on the challenge of creating a menu from beginning to end... from salad to dessert... using culinary lavender and infusions, each recipe incorporating a new technique.

My own inspiration came from a beautiful farm property with sweeping views of Okanagan Lake the Okanagan Lavender Herb Farm . The McFadden family reinvented their heritage property into an agritourism business which today features over 60 varieties of fragrant lavender. Row upon row of gentle waves of icy blue, mauve, and deep violet billow all around you with themed herbal gardens and an array of whimsical vine sculptures.

One of the pleasures of having lavender in the summer garden is thinking up new ways to use it. I started this challenge off with a Nectarine and Lavender Salad with Goat Cheese Medallions as a first course. Fresh lavender flowers were used to impart their unique flavour. Our next technique used the stems of the lavender for an entree of  Lemony Shrimp and Garlic on Lavender Stems. These shrimp skewers get their hint of lavender flavour from the skewers themselves. The third technique was to create a lavender infused olive oil for Lavender Infused Potatoes with Garlic and Fennel that married well with the shrimp. Many of us associate lavender with a floral taste but it is interesting to note that it is part of the mint family and can be substituted for rosemary in almost any dish. The key is to use it sparingly.

With our final dish I wanted to use a lavender infusion. Andrea, owner and proprietor of Okanagan Lavender and Herb Farm, generously bestowed upon  me an infusion they develop at the farm, but you will find instructions below to create your own. With this cheesecake you create an infusion of lavender and incorporate it into the mixture...plus lavender honey comes into play also.

Imagine the sweet, buttery flavour of a shortbread cookie as it melts away in your mouth. Now, add to that the fresh, spicy tang of lavender (think of a mild hybrid of sage and rosemary, with a subtle citrusy presence), blowing onto your palate like a spring breeze in Provence. It's a dazzling mix, and it's surprisingly easy to achieve at home.

We have explored the savoury side of lavender but now comes what we associate more easily with lavender....desserts. Lavender lends itself to many applications. The flowers can be put into sugar and sealed tightly for a couple of weeks. This sugar can be substituted for ordinary sugar for a cake, buns or custards. It is limited only by your imagination. Used in moderation, lavender blends well with lemon and other citrus flavours, making a lovely summery ice cream, and adds a floral aroma to baked goods such as shortbread and pound cake. Diminutive blooms add a mysterious scent to custards, flans or sorbets. Imagine white chocolate lavender cheesecake or lavender lemonade. Culinary lavender is also used to make simple syrups which can be used on fruit or desserts as a light and refreshing addition. Keep the lavender stems after removing the dried flower buds and use as a fragrant kabob stick, just slide fresh fruit on the stems. Flowers look beautiful and taste good too in a glass of champagne so let's celebrate the season with style!!!!

For my dessert I chose one that was the simplest to accomplish and perfect for the overwhelming heat of summer. It created such a silky, smooth dream of a cheesecake with a surprising hint of lavender that has quests commenting, "What's in this dish?" while enjoying every bite. I had planned on serving this no-bake cheesecake with figs, but alas, they were unavailable. So for today I used a seasonal substitution of berries drizzled with lavender honey. This cheesecake is light and airy with a hint of lavender for that WOW factor. This is my go-to recipe so you can also make it without the lavender and use any fruit you wish. I highly recommend trying lavender though, just be assured that you are using culinary lavender and not something that has been chemically sprayed.

Enjoy!!

**Lavender Cheesecake with Blueberries and Lavender Honey**

2 cups shortbread cookies pulverized into crumbs (1 package)
5 tablespoons melted butter
1 tablespoon fresh lavender buds
3/4 cup honey
1-8 oz package cream cheese, room temperature
3/4 - 1 cup heavy whipping cream
Blueberries of other fruit in season
Lavender honey

************
 Pulverize 2 cups of shortbread cookies into crumbs. (You could really go for the lavender theme and follow the lavender shortbread link above.

 Melt five tablespoons of butter and mix with the crumbs. Press into the bottom of a spring form pan. Put in the refrigerator to chill while you make the filling. In this case I used mini cheesecake molds.

 Crush three tablespoons of lavender. Pour two and a half tablespoons of boiling water over them. Let it steep for at least 15 minutes. Then strain out the lavender buds. This is your lavender infusion.(I was given a culinary lavender infusion so was able to eliminate this step by adding a minute amount to the heavy cream  before whipping)

 Mix together ¾ cup of honey and one 8 ounce package of cream cheese that you’ve left out to soften. I used an electric beater. You could use a whisk, if you prefer.

 Add the lavender infusion, mixing carefully, (add only a minute drop).

 Whip one and a quarter cups of heavy cream.

 Fold the whipped cream into the honey/lavender/cream cheese mixture. Then pour it into the crust or molds.

Refrigerate for three to four hours before serving.

You are reading this post on More Than Burnt Toast at http://goodfoodcorner.blogspot.com. Content must be credited to this author.

Pumpkin Cheesecake with Walnut Topping

We are an international group of bloggers and cheesecake means many things to many people. When you think of cheesecake what do you envision?

An American cheesecake generally relies on cream cheese which was invented in 1872 as an alternative to French Neufchâtel. There are many different styles... New York , Chicago, Philadelphia and Pennsylvania-Dutch style cheesecakes. The difference between them being in the height, texture and cheese used.

I even read there was a Canadian-style cheesecake...WHO NEW????...called Vancouver- style. It is a light, airy cheesecake made without a crust, primarily in vanilla and chocolate and often served refrigerated with various local fruit toppings such as British Columbia strawberries, raspberries and cherries.

In Britain, Australia and New Zealand, cheesecake is a rich creamy dessert, neither cooked nor baked, which is served chilled and made with a biscuit crust. Italian-style cheesecakes use ricotta or mascarpone cheese and are typically drier than American styles with small bits of candied fruit often added. French-style cheesecakes are very light and get their light texture and flavor from Neufchâtel cheese. Greek-style cheesecake commonly uses Mizithra cheese or Mascarpone cheese. Swedish-style cheesecake or ostkaka are not layered and traditionally made by adding rennet to milk and letting the casein coagulate...it is then baked in an oven and served warm. German-style cheesecake or Kasekuchen uses quark cheese, adds cream and is not baked either. Dutch/Belgian-style cheesecakes are typically flavored with melted bittersweet chocolate. Brazilian-style cheesecakes usually have a layer of goiabada (guava marmalade).

As you can see the possibilities are endless under the one banner of "What does cheesecake mean to me?" No matter.. I will always love cheesecake of any style, flavour and texture. I have no prejuduces when it comes to cheesecake and give all a good chance to win me over!!!!!!They are all delicious in their own right!!!

A common difficulty with baking cheesecakes is its tendency to crack when it is cooled. This is because the beaten eggs coagulate in the batter. There are various methods to prevent this. One way is to bake the cheesecake in a hot water bath to ensure even heating. Other methods include blending a little cornstarch into the batter to prevent the coagulation of the eggs or baking the cheesecake at a lower temperature and slowly cooling it in the oven that has been turned off and leaving the door ajar. If all else fails cover the top of the cheesecake with toppings such as fruit, whipped cream, cookie crumbs....or in this case nuts. For some reason my cheesecake did not crack this time around.

Another common problem, particularly with baked cheesecakes, is that the biscuit base becomes too soft. For extra crunch, replace around a quarter of the crushed biscuits with Grape Nuts cereal.

Also do not overbake your cheesecake or it will become dry.

In honour of the season I felt like baking a flavourful pumpkin cheesecake. It brings to mind cool nights, long walks to explore the colour of fall or sitting by a cozy fire with a good book, wrapped in a blanket...and a plate of cheesecake...mmmm!!!

Before I move on to the recipe I would like to thank my blog sister Ivy of Kopiaste for bestowing the Art ey Pico award upon me. This is one of the perks of blogging. We create new friends, offer our support and show each other that we appreciate everything they do. Thank you Ivy for this award!!!

This makes a large cheesecake so grab your fork and be prepared to share!! It is the pumpkin cheesecake recipe I always use. Despite the fact that it uses 5 eggs and 3 blocks of cream cheese it is surprisingly light. The walnut topping was an added touch this time around. I omitted the caramel sauce ..it was sweet enough just the way it was.


**Pumpkin Cheesecake with Walnut Topping**

2 cups gingersnap cookie crumbs (I use Anna's Ginger Thins from Sweden)
3 T sugar
6 T butter, melted

******
3 (8-oz) packages cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla
5 large eggs
1-1/2 cups pumpkin puree (not pumpkin filling)
1/4 cup whipping cream
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp Nutmeg
4 tsp Ground Cloves
¼ tsp Ground Allspice

******************
Preheat oven to 350F.Place cookie crumbs, and 3 T sugar in a food processor and pulse 3 - 4 times until combined; add butter and pulse 4 - 5 times, or until crumbly. Wrap the outside of a 10-inch spring form pan with aluminum foil, then press cookie mixture into the bottom and 1-inch up the sides. Bake 8 - 10 minutes. Cool crust completely on a wire rack.

Reduce oven heat to 325F. Beat the cream cheese with an electric mixer at medium speed 3 minutes, or until creamy. Gradually add brown sugar and the 3/4 cup granulated sugar, beating 4 minutes, or until blended. Add vanilla. Add eggs, one at a time, beating just until yellow disappears. Remove and set aside 1 cup of batter. Add pumpkin, whipping cream, and cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and allspice. Beat on low speed of an electric mixer just until blended. Do not over beat. Pour batter over prepared crust. Dollop reserved batter in a circular fashion and draw a knife through to create a marbled effect.Bake 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until almost set (it will jiggle in the centre).

WALNUT TOPPING:

6 T softened butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup chopped walnuts

Combine ingredients. Sprinkle baked cheesecake with walnut topping. Bake cheesecake an additional 10 minutes.

Remove from oven; run a knife around edge of pan. Cool on a wire rack 1 hour with a large bowl inverted on top of cheesecake in pan to prevent cracking. Chill 8 hours or overnight. Serve with caramel sauce if you wish or whipped cream.

**Caramel Sauce**

1/2 cup butter
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 T light corn syrup
1/2 cup whipping cream

Melt butter in a heavy saucepan over medium heat; add brown sugar and corn syrup, then cook, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil. Gradually add cream, stirring constantly. Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil. Remove from heat. Cool to room temperature.

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Our own personal journey to raise awareness for the plight of 862 million undernourished people around the globe including those in our own neck of the woods continues.

Just a friendly reminder to send your recipe to our event World Food Day - Time to Be Thankful. Join myself, our lovely co-host Ivy of Kopiaste and Giz of Equal Opportunity Kitchen in this months event. Tell us what you are thankful for!!!!

To describe the event here it is in our co-host Ivy's words....................

"November is the month of Thanksgiving, we as Foodies have more reasons to be thankful with all that we have. Thanksgiving is celebrated in the United States on November 27th but that does not mean that bloggers from Australia, India, China, New Zealand, Africa, Europe (or in whichever part of the world you live in) do not have plenty of reasons to be thankful.Even if Thanksgiving is not celebrated worldwide, it’s a great start to being thankful for what we have. For this November event we can prepare anything we like..make it something festive (not necessarily expensive) and it may be a main dish, a side dish a salad or a dessert. We would also like to hear along with these inspiring dishes why you are thankful and any other story you wish to share with us related to this subject.For those who celebrate Thanksgiving you may wish to share one of your prized recipes or perhaps a decorating ideas for the holiday, or great tips you’ve gleaned elsewhere. The roundup will be posted a few days before Thanksgiving to give you time to prepare yourselves for the celebration".

To join us in this event check out what you need to do here!!!!!!!!!Send your submission to event.wfd@gmail.com

LOOK WHAT I MADE!!!!

HoneyB of The Life and Loves of Grumpy's Honeybunch challenged us to come up with mentioning a few of the recipes we have managed to try in LOOK WHAT I MADE.

HERE ARE THE RULES to LOOK WHAT I MADE!

1. List the names of 2-5 recipes you tried from other blogs. Provide a direct link to the recipe. If not available, give the blog link and let the reader search for the recipe by name.
2. Shortly describe your experience with the recipe.
3. Tag 3-5 other bloggers or the authors of the recipes you listed to post the links to the recipes they have tried from other bloggers. Note: If you are new to the blogging world and haven’t had a chance to try any recipes from your fellow foodies, just pass the tag on to someone else.
4. Notify the tagged bloggers about the tag either by leaving a comment on their blogs or by emailing them.

Each and every day when I venture online and visit my favourite blogs I come across a recipe or two that I bookmark to try .....someday. The list is getting larger and larger as we speak for all of us!!! Most of these recipes I haven't had the fortune of trying yet, but my list is slightly smaller by having tried the recipes below. It is time to get some of those recipes out of the bookmark stage and into these pages.....I am working on that!!! I was surprised that I had so few to offer. I apologize to all my foodie friends whom I couldn't mention in this post because I haven't gotten around to making their dishes.

Jessy (and her dog Winnie), the talented 15 year old of Baking Blondie , had a recipe for one of my favourite breakfast foods on her site. Crumpets .Here is her original recipe for crumpets as well. Can't you just imagine all the nooks and crannies dripping with melted butter!!! These crumpets or pikelets as we call them are better than my original recipe. So this is a keeper!!








Julia's site A Slice of Cherry Pie is coming to us from England. Julia is a talented cook. Her recipe for Jersey Royal Potatoes with Feta Watercress Sauce .This is Julia's original recipe for these delectable potatoes . Although we do not have Jersey potatoes here in Canada the watercress feta sauce was fantastic on our new potatoes!!! Another keeper!!!!!!!








I was drawn to a recipe by Amber of Amber's Kitchen . This Explosive Turtle Cheesecake is bound to be a favourite in our household.This is Amber's original recipe for cheesecake here. One of my daughters favourite desserts is another version, but I do like this chocolate cheesecake version as well.




















Peter, in Toronto...my old stomping grounds... at Kalofagas prepared my all time favourite snack dolmades . He baked these dolmades in the oven so I had to try this method. You can find Peters original recipe here complete with lip-smacking photos and step by step photographs.













I couldn't resist Blueberry Stuffed French Toast. This French toast recipe comes from Lisa of Lisa's Vegetarian Kitchen . This was an excellent dish for this particular special occasion or for any breakfast when you want to feel special.

So who is tagged for this MEME. The 5 bloggers whose dishes I have had the good fortune to prepare. If you have time this is a fun MEME!

Jessy of Baking Blondie

Julia blogging from A Slice of Cherry Pie

Amber of Amber's Kitchen

Peter at Kalofagas

Lisa of Lisa's Vegetarian Kitchen

Explosive Turtle Cheesecake

Each and every day out in the blogosphere I come across a recipe I feel the urge to try. I bookmark them and hope that I get around to making each and every one. How are you doing with that Val? Right now I have enough recipes from the Internet and the blogosphere to make something different for the next 2 years!!

From the time my daughter was a year old I would try my hand at making fancy cakes for her birthday. She had teddy bears for a teddy bear picnic; individual Hawaiian girls for a Hawaiian luau; little girls for a fancy tea party; swimming pools, school buses, unicorns.... She always delighted in each and every one. One day when she was about 8 she mentioned the fact that she didn't like icing...so then it was ice cream cakes and ice cream pizzas from Dairy Queen. Now she has moved on over to cheesecakes. It was inevitable this weekend when she was home from university that I should spoil her with her favourite Turtle Cheesecake...it was not her birthday of course...but the spoiling was inevitable.

I discovered this recipe at Elly Says Opa as an entry to her Eat to the Beat event. It was submitted by Amber of Amber's Kitchen . This is a "new to me" version of my daughters favourite Turtle Cheesecake that I thought I would give a try...caramel, chocolate. pecans...certainly droolworthy.

Speaking of Elly I won the latest cookbook "Cooking from the Hip" from Cat Cora on her site. Yay me!!! Cat was raised in a small Greek community in Jackson, Mississippi, by a family for whom cooking and eating were the center of life. It is no wonder she has become on Iron Chef on the Food Network. Look forward to some delicious and droolworthy recipes from the book!!

This version of cheesecake was delicious. I changed the original recipe ever so slightly.

**Explosive Turtle Cheesecake**
Recipe courtesy Jacob Thomas

1 -1/4 cups chocolate cookie crumbs (recommended: Oreo or chocolate graham crackers)
4 T sugar for crust
1 cup sugar for cheesecake
4 T unsalted butter, melted, plus 3 T
2 -1/2 lbs. cream cheese, softened to room temperature
1-1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 T all purpose flour
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips, melted
1 cup sour cream
4 eggs
1 more cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 more cup semisweet chocolate chips, for topping
1 cup caramel, for topping
1 cup pecans, for topping

*****************************
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
Lightly grease the bottom and side of a 9-inch springform pan. In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine the cookie crumbs, 4 tablespoons of sugar, and the melted butter and mix together well. Pour the crumbs into the bottom of the pan and press them out evenly. Once completed, set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, the rest of the sugar, and vanilla. Beat together until light and creamy. Add the flour and blend until smooth. Pour in a melted cup of the chocolate chips and sour cream and mix well. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, mixing each at low speed. Fold in 1 cup of chocolate chips. Pour the filling into prepared pan, bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour, until the center is almost set. (To prevent the cheesecake from cracking you can try several things; allow cake to cool in the oven once it is turned off; invert a large bowl over the springform pan to create an environment) Let cake cool for 10 minutes, then run a knife around the sides and remove rim of the pan. Refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight.

In a small saucepan, melt 3 tablespoons of butter and pour in remaining 1 cup of chocolate chips. Mix together on medium-low heat. Once chocolate and butter is combined, pour warm mixture onto chilled cake. Refrigerate for 10 to 15 minutes.

In another small saucepan, pour in caramel and chopped pecans, bring to a boil. Let mixture boil for another 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Let mixture cool for 3 to 5 minutes, and pour onto cake. Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to serve.

10 to 12 servings

(I drizzled both the caramel and chocolate onto the cake and also put a border of pecans around the bottom outside layer)

Thanks for the Memories Pumpkin Cheesecake

We have left The Hills behind and life continues as normal once again. Monday is always hard to get back into the swing of things for us all I'm sure..if you have a Monday to Friday job that is. Today will be extra hard after leaving the spa behind and being catered to hand and foot.

In honour of our weekend together I have reposted one of my favourite recipes for pumpkin cheesecake. I love the gingersnap crust and the caramel sauce. Somewhere around here I have a recipe for a pumpkin cheesecake with Praline Sauce that I will post as well. If it is not here it will be...I just have to locate it. We had Pumpkin Cheesecake as one of our desserts at The Hills. We also had dinner one evening at the 1821 Restaurant where I had Cornmeal Crusted Shrimp Skewers with Butternut Squash Risotto.

It always seems that I wait until the autumn and with it the cooler weather to prepare this delicious cheesecake. It is definitely a comfort food with its creamy and fulfilling textures. This is one of those recipes I am asked for often and have developed over the years, marrying different recipes and coming up with the solution I prefer.

Photo was taken at the Red Barn Fruit Stand in Enderby, British Columbia. Pumpkin season has arrived!


**Pumpkin Cheesecake**

2 cups gingersnap cookie crumbs
2/3 cup chopped walnuts or pecans, toasted
3 T sugar
6 T butter, melted
*****
3 (8-oz) packages cream cheese, softened
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 granulated sugar
5 large eggs
1-1/2 cups pumpkin puree (not pumpkin filling)
1/4 cup whipping cream
1 tsp ground cinnamon
ground walnuts or pecan halves for decoration

******************

Preheat oven to 350F.
Place cookie crumbs, walnuts or pecans, and 3 T sugar in a food processor and pulse 3 - 4 times until combined; add butter and pulse 4 - 5 times, or until crumbly. Wrap the outside of a 10-inch spring form pan with aluminum foil, then press cookie mixture into the bottom and 1-inch up the sides. Bake 8 - 10 minutes. Cool crust completely on a wire rack. Reduce oven heat to 325F.
Beat the cream cheese with an electric mixer at medium speed 3 minutes, or until creamy. Gradually add brown sugar and the 3/4 cup granulated sugar, beating 4 minutes, or until blended. Add vanilla.
Add eggs, one at a time, beating just until yellow disappears. Remove and set aside 1 cup of batter.
Add pumpkin, whipping cream, and cinnamon and nutmeg. Beat on low speed of an electric mixer just until blended. Do not over beat. Pour batter over prepared crust. Dollop reserved batter in a circular fashion and draw a knife through to create a marbled effect.
Bake 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until almost set (it will jiggle in the centre). Remove from oven; run a knife around edge of pan. Cool on a wire rack 1 hour with a large bowl inverted on top of cheesecake in pan to prevent cracking.
Chill 8 hours or overnight. Garnish with walnut or pecan halves and serve with caramel sauce.

**Caramel Sauce**

1/2 cup butter
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 T light corn syrup
1/2 cup whipping cream

Melt butter in a heavy saucepan over medium heat; add brown sugar and corn syrup, then cook, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil. Gradually add cream, stirring constantly. Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil. Remove from heat. Cool to room temperature.

Val's Rhubarb Cheesecake

When Spring finally arrives here in the valley after a long Canadian winter, rhubarb is one of the first garden plants to appear in our garden. It is a very beautiful garden plant with huge extravagant, lush green leaves and pink or red stalks. It is often considered a fruit, but is actually a leaf stem vegetable. If you cut down the leaves after the first harvest in Spring you will enjoy a second late summer harvest in August. The deeper the red, the more flavourful the stalks are likely to be. Medium-sized stalks are generally more tender than the larger ones, which can be stringy. Rhubarb requires the marriage of sugar to combat its tartness. The creaminess of the cheesecake marry well with the natural tartness of the rhubarb for this recipe I devised and is requested often.

Photo was taken in the Spring overlooking Okanagan Lake in Naramata, British Columbia. The Locust tree is in bloom.

***********************************

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup white granulated sugar
1/2 cup butter

3 cups rhubarb, chopped
1/2 cup white sugar
1 T all-purpose flour

2 (8-oz) packages cream cheese
3 eggs (separated)
2 T flour
1/2 cup sugar
2/3 cup evaporated milk
2 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup sugar

Topping:

1 cup sour cream
2 T white granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla

*********************

Preheat the oven to 375F. In a medium bowl, combine 1 cup flour, 1/4 cup sugar and 1/2 cup butter. Mix until crumbly and pat into the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan.
In a medium bowl, toss together the rhubarb, 1/2 cup sugar and 1 T flour. Pour onto crust. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside. Reduce oven temperature to 350F.
In a large bowl, beat egg whites and 1/4 cup sugar into a meringue; set aside.
Cream the cheeses, egg yolks, 1/2 cup sugar and flour. Add in milk and vanilla. Fold meringue into the mixture and pour onto crust.
Bake for 50 - 60 minutes, or until filling is set. Cover with the sour cream topping while still hot. To make topping: In a small bowl, combine 1 cup sour cream, 2 T sugar and 1 tsp vanilla. Mix well and spread on top of cake.