Frozen Peppermint Cheesecake–update!

Hey all!  Okay, so I stand by my frozen peppermint cheesecake.  It was delicious and honestly, I kinda think (with some tweaks to the recipe) it would be a fantastic ice cream base.  Anyway, here’s my update on this recipe: line the spring form pan with foil.  I saw that line in the recipe, but I never do that with a regular cheesecake, so I skipped it thinking that whoever wrote the recipe was writing for dummies and didn’t realize the extra step was unnecessary.  Silly Smucker’s. (Cue menacing music.) 

Cut to me slicing into the frozen peppermint cheesecake, scooping out a piece, and realizing that absolutely every little bit of crust was stuck to the bottom of the spring form.  Yes, folks.  My cheesecake was on my plate effectively bottomless.  That’s a problem. 

So don’t make the same mistake I made!  Take the time to line your pan with foil because otherwise, you’re never getting that crust off the bottom.  And it’s just too delicious to waste that way.

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving, filled with love and joy and family!

xo

Frozen Peppermint Cheesecake

Thanksgiving is tomorrow and I don’t know about you guys, but I love cooking for big holidays.  Some people find it super stressful and annoying but I just don’t even think about that part.  I just pick out recipes I think look awesome and wing it.  If it works, it works.  If not, I make something different next year.  For me, these holidays are a chance to spend time with family and have a good time and if I’m stressing about food, there is no fun to be had (and that’s not okay).

So in my travels on Pinterest this past week, I found this recipe for Frozen Peppermint Cheesecake.  I looked quickly at the recipe and decided there was absolutely no way that a cheesecake recipe with only one 8 ounce brick of cream cheese could feed more than two people.  However, the idea of no-bake, frozen peppermint cheesecake was just too intriguing for me to pass up.  My 8-year-old goddaughter made a graham cracker crust all by herself – since when is she a grown up? – and I made the filling.  It took me approximately 17 seconds.  Okay, that’s an exaggeration.  But honestly, if it took me more than 5 minutes, that’s a lot.  Cream cheese, a can of sweetened condensed milk, peppermint extract, red food coloring, and whipped cream.  Done.  Folding in the whipped cream was the part that took the longest (not counting the time it took me to make the unsweetened whipped cream in the first place) and even that didn’t take long.

Oh, yes.  Unsweetened whipped cream.  Also, did I mention there’s no actual sugar in the recipe?  I was skeptical at first, as well.  However, the can of sweetened condensed milk adds all the sweetness you need.  Seriously.  Add a couple tablespoons of sugar to your graham cracker crust and call it a day.  No more.  Seriously, put down the sugar.  Walk away.  Your taste buds and your waist will thank me later.

In short, it’s delicious.  My goddaughter has an intense dislike for cheesecake and she was eagerly swiping her finger across the rubber spatula after I was done folding the batter (which she was completely able to do without fear of food borne illness because this recipe is no bake and includes no eggs!).  Awesome.  I changed the recipe up slightly and I’ll reflect those changes in the recipe below.  I know peppermint isn’t exactly a traditional Thanksgiving flavor, but the fact that this recipe is fast, easy, and delicious totally makes it worth it to me.

xo

 

Frozen Peppermint Cheesecake (adapted from Smuckers)

2 cups chocolate wafer cookie or sandwich cookie crumbs (I used graham crackers)
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, softened
1 (14 oz.) can Sweetened Condensed Milk
2 teaspoons peppermint extract (I used 1 1/2 teaspoons, but if you like it very minty, use the full 2 teaspoons)
2 cups heavy cream, whipped (and unsweetened!  Trust me!)
Red food coloring

In a 9” spring form pan, combine the graham cracker crumbs and sugar in a bowl. Add the butter and mix well.  Press this mixture firmly into the bottom of the spring form pan, pushing some of the mixture up the sides of the pan as well. 

In your stand mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the cream cheese until it’s fluffy. Slowly add the entire can of sweetened condensed milk and continue beating until the mixture is smooth. Stir in the peppermint extract and food coloring. Fold in whipped cream. Pour filling into pan.

Cover the cheesecake and freeze 6 hours or until firm.

Realizations and a new look! :)

Hellooooooo Christmas blog layout! Yes, I am aware that Thanksgiving is tomorrow.  Yes, I am also aware that Christmas isn’t for another month-ish.  It’s okay.  Actually, that’s kind of the theme of this post.

I think the reason that I have a hard time posting regularly is that I like everybody else’s food blogs better than my own.  Okay, I know that’s a strange sentence, but I promise it’ll be okay.  Yes, I would rather read everyone else’s food blogs and look at their gorgeous pictures and giggle over how witty they are, and be amazed by their creativity and ability to blend flavors than sit at my computer and write up a post that may not even have any pictures attached to it at all.

So through all this thinking, I’ve come to the realization that my food blog isn’t like anyone else’s food blog (and not just because I am a slacker and don’t post regularly) and guess what?  I decided that’s okay.  I don’t own a professional-grade digital camera, I don’t take photo studio style pictures, and I am most certainly not a food stylist (though I do think that would be a pretty cool career choice).  I’m pretty technologically savvy, but I am by no means an expert (shout out to my brother who actually is an expert and helped me fix my computer VIA TEXT last night when I didn’t even know what I did to break it in the first place. How cool is he?).  Last night, I realized that’s all okay.

Here at No Frills, Just Food, I own a regular digital camera and a Blackberry whose camera has no flash.  My kitchen has one tiny window and my glass sliding door projects all the light into the wrong part of the kitchen.  The photos of my food aren’t the gorgeous shots that I envy (and drool over) from so many of the food blogs I follow – and that’s okay.  My photos will show you the actual food I cook, probably from the exact plate I will eat from while sitting at a snack table watching Sons of Anarchy on my DVR.  That’s okay, too.  (Seriously, who watched last night’s episode?! INSANE.  He’s totally dead.)

My kitchen counters are always cluttered because I choose to live my life in my house and not spend all day cleaning.  You will most likely see bits and pieces of this in any pictures I do post on this blog because that’s my real life.  And it’s okay for you to see it because it’s who I really am.  I won’t put on a front for you guys – you will always get the real me, no frills.  And yet again, that’s okay.

So if you’re okay with my messy kitchen, my less than professional pictures, and my delicious food (I promise, there’s no compromise there), then stick around because I’m going to throw some serious recipes your way.  If not, check out my blog roll for a list of the food blogs I follow that are gorgeous, spotless, and perfect – and believe me, there are plenty, and I think they are fabulous.

xo