Joanne Fluke's Lake Eden Cookbook Part 17

FOR THE CHEESECAKE BATTER:.

1 cup white (granulated) sugar

3 eight-ounce packages cream cheese at room temperature

(total 24 ounces)

1 cup mayonnaise

4 eggs

2 cups white chocolate chips (I used Ghirardelli 11-ounce bag)

2 teaspoons vanilla

Place the sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer. Add the blocks of cream cheese and the mayonnaise, and whip it up at medium speed until it's smooth. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition.

Melt the white chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl for 2 minutes. (Chips may retain their shape, so stir to see if they're melted if not, microwave in 15-second increments until you can stir them smooth.) Cool the melted white chocolate for a minute or two and then mix it into the batter gradually at slow speed. Sc.r.a.pe down the bowl and add the vanilla, mixing it in thoroughly.

Pour the batter on top of the chilled crust, set the pan on a cookie sheet to catch any drips, and bake it at 350 degrees F. for 55 to 60 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven, but DON'T SHUT OFF THE OVEN.

Starting in the center, spoon the sour cream topping over the top of the cheesecake, spreading it out to within a half-inch of the rim. Return the pan to the oven and bake for an additional 5 minutes.

Cool the cheesecake in the pan on a wire rack. When the pan is cool enough to pick up with your bare hands, place it in the refrigerator and chill it, uncovered, for at least 8 hours.

To serve, run a knife around the inside rim of the pan, release the springform catch, and lift off the rim. Place a piece of waxed paper on a flat plate and tip it upside down over the top of your cheesecake. Invert the cheesecake so that it rests on the paper.

Carefully pry off the bottom of the Springform pan and remove the paper from the bottom crust.

Invert a serving platter over the bottom crust of your cheesecake. Flip the cheesecake right side up, take off the top plate, and remove the waxed paper.

Spread the cherry pie filling over the sour cream topping on your cheesecake. You can drizzle a little down the sides if you wish.

CHOCOLATE PEANUT b.u.t.tER CAKE.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F., rack in the middle position.

WARNING: THERE ARE PEANUTS IN THIS RECIPE. MAKE SURE YOU ASK IF ANYONE IS ALLERGIC TO PEANUTS BEFORE YOU BAKE AND SERVE THIS CAKE !!!.

Hannah's 1st Note: Lisa says she got the idea for this cake by watching Marge make her Cocoa Fudge Cake. Since Herb is crazy about Reese's Peanut b.u.t.ter Cups, Lisa's cake combines peanut b.u.t.ter and chocolate.

b.u.t.ter and flour a 9-inch by 13-inch sheet cake pan. (You can also spray it with Pam or another nonstick cooking spray and then just lightly dust it with flour. You can also do what Lisa did and spray it with a product that mixes nonstick cooking spray with flour.) Hannah's 2nd Note: I was really leery of the nonstick cooking spray mixed with flour, but Lisa says it works just fine.

2 cups white (granulated) sugar

2 cups flour (don't sift just level it off with a knife)

1 cup b.u.t.ter (2 sticks, pound, 8 ounces)

1 cup peanut b.u.t.ter (Lisa used Skippy creamy peanut b.u.t.ter)

1 cup water

cup cream (or evaporated milk, if you're all out of cream)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 eggs, beaten (just whip them up in a gla.s.s with a fork)

Hannah's 3rd Note: Lisa used the mixer down at The Cookie Jar to make this cake. She says you can also do it by hand if you don't have an electric mixer.

Mix the sugar and the flour together at low speed.

Put the b.u.t.ter, peanut b.u.t.ter, and water into a medium-sized saucepan. Turn the burner on medium heat and bring the mixture ALMOST to a boil. (When it sends up little whiffs of steam and bubbles start to form around the edges, take it off the heat.) Pour the peanut b.u.t.ter mixture over the sugar and flour, and mix it all up together.

Rinse out the saucepan, but don't bother to wash it thoroughly. You'll be making a frosting, and you can use it again before you thoroughly wash it.

Whisk the cream, vanilla extract, baking soda, and eggs together in a small bowl.

SLOWLY, add this mixture to the large mixer bowl and combine it at medium speed. (You have to go slowly with this step because you have the hot peanut b.u.t.ter mixture in your bowl and you're adding an egg mixture. This cake wouldn't be wonderful if you ended up with peanut b.u.t.ter flavored scrambled eggs!) Sc.r.a.pe down the mixing bowl with a rubber spatula, remove it from the mixer, and give it a final stir by hand.

Pour the batter into the 9-inch by 13-inch greased and floured cake pan.

Bake at 350 degrees F. for 30 to 35 minutes. When the cake begins to shrink away from the sides of the pan and a long toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, it's done.

Hannah's 4th Note: Lisa uses my Neverfail Fudge Frosting on this cake. It's given as an alternative frosting at the end of Marge's Cocoa Fudge Cake recipe, but I'll write it down again here.

NEVERFAIL FUDGE FROSTING:.

cup (1 stick, pound, 4 ounces) salted b.u.t.ter

1 cup white (granulated) sugar

cup cream

cup chocolate chips

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

cup chopped salted peanuts (optional)

Place the b.u.t.ter, sugar, and cream into a medium-size saucepan (You can use the one from the cake that you didn't wash.) Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring constantly. Turn down the heat to medium and cook for two minutes.

Add the half-cup chocolate chips, stir them in until they're melted, and remove the saucepan from the heat.

Stir in the vanilla.

Pour the frosting on the cake and spread it out quickly with a spatula. Whether you're pouring it on a warm cake or a cold cake, just grab the pan and tip it so the frosting covers the whole top.

Sprinkle the chopped salted peanuts (if you decided to use them) over the top of the frosting.

If you want this frosting to cool in a big hurry so that you can cut the cake, just slip it in the refrigerator, uncovered, for a half-hour or so.

Hannah's 5th Note: Lisa says to tell you that this cake is absolutely yummy if you serve it slightly warm. It's also wonderful at room temperature. If you keep it in the refrigerator, take it out 45 minutes or so before you plan to serve it.

COCOA FUDGE CAKE.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F., rack in the middle position.