A Love Affair With Southern Cooking_ Recipes and Recollections - Jean Anderson [188]
One 8-ounce package cream cheese, at room temperature (use the lighter version, Neufchâtel, if you like)
One 8-ounce can crushed pineapple, with its liquid
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
One 6-ounce jar red maraschino cherries, drained
One 3.5-ounce jar green maraschino cherries, drained
2 cups miniature marshmallows
1 cup coarsely chopped pecans
1. Combine the cream cheese, crushed pineapple, and lemon juice in a large bowl, then fold in all remaining ingredients.
2. Scoop into a nonreactive 8 × 8 × 2-inch baking dish, spreading to the corners. Cover with aluminum foil and freeze for several hours or until firm.
3. Cut into large squares and serve.
SWEET POTATO CHEESECAKE
MAKES 10 TO 12 SERVINGS
Southerners so love sweet potatoes that they will stir them into soups, salads, breads, puddings, cakes, even cheesecakes. There may be as many cheesecake recipes as there are cooks who make them but this one of mine “gets a gold star,” as one friend put it. The variety of sweet potato that I prefer is the red-skinned Beauregard because of its brilliant orange flesh. Note: For better flavor, I bake the potato instead of boiling it—one hour at 400° F. is about right. Be sure to prick the potato several times before it goes into the oven, otherwise it may explode. Cool the potato until easy to handle before peeling and puréeing—a snap in the food processor. I also buzz the gingersnaps to crumbs in the processor and chop the pecans there as well. I’ve even been known to mix the filling by processor, churning the first nine ingredients until smooth, pulsing the eggs in one at a time, then with the machine on, drizzling the milk down the feed tube as slowly as possible.
Crust
2 cups fine gingersnap crumbs (about forty 2-inch-round cookies)
1 cup pecans, very finely chopped
½ cup (1 stick) butter, melted
¼ cup raw sugar (available at most supermarkets)
¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
Filling
Two 8-ounces packages light cream cheese (Neufchâtel), at room temperature
1¼ cups firmly packed puréed, baked sweet potato (about 1 very large or 1-pound sweet potato)
2/3 cup raw sugar ¼ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 tablespoon bourbon
¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¾ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
¼ teaspoon salt
2 jumbo eggs
1 cup evaporated milk (use “light,” if you like)
Topping
1 cup sour cream (use “light,” if you like)
¼ cup raw sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ cup finely chopped, lightly toasted pecans (4 to 5 minutes in a 375° F. oven)
1. Preheat the oven to 375° F.
2. For the crust: Combine all ingredients and pat over the bottom and halfway up the sides of an ungreased 10-inch springform pan. Slide onto the middle oven shelf and bake for 8 to 10 minutes or just until the crust firms up a bit. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
3. Meanwhile, prepare the filling: Beat the cream cheese, sweet potato, two sugars, bourbon, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt in a large electric mixer bowl at medium speed for about 1 minute or until smooth. Beat the eggs in one by one, then with the mixer at low speed, add the milk in a thin, slow stream. Beat a few seconds longer or until smooth.
4. Rap the bowl of filling on the counter several times to expel large air bubbles, then pour into the crust and spread to the edge. Set on a large baking sheet, slide onto the middle oven shelf, and bake for 40 to 45 minutes or until the filling is set like custard.
5. Meanwhile, prepare the topping: Whisk the sour cream, sugar, and vanilla together in a small bowl, then set aside.
6. When the cheesecake tests done, remove from the oven (baking sheet and all), set on a wire rack, and cool for 10 minutes exactly. Also raise the oven temperature to 475° F.
7. Using an offset spatula, carefully spread the topping over the partially cooled filling; it should touch the crust all