April DB Challenge: Cheesecake

Can you believe this? I made the challenge almost right after it was announced, but completely forgot to write up my post on it until I saw that Y had already posted about hers! You would think that the first time I got off my butt and got the challenge done with plenty of time I'd be able to follow through the rest of the way and just get it all wrapped up weeks before I needed it. Ah well, little steps, right?


While I wasn't too incredibly excited about making "Abbey's Infamous Cheesecake," the timing couldn't have been more perfect. You see, we had a bit of a kerfuffle at work right after the first of the month. The department I work in had just reached one year without a recordable incident, and so each shift was going to get a "safety lunch" to celebrate. The shift that was on that first week, however, was a little miffed. We order a lunch from the local grocery, and they get a choice of a meat, a veggie, a starch, and a dessert. They wanted cheesecake as their dessert, which they've gotten before. Unfortunately, the proposed menu was sent back by the plant manager because "cheesecake is too expensive."


Now, I have to say - how much more expensive can cheesecake be? It's either that or brownies, bar cookies, or cupcakes. But no, cheesecake = too expensive. Even weirder, the guys on the floor took up a collection to cover the "extra cost" of getting cheesecake, but evidently we can't do that. So bars it was.


Since this was right after this month's challenge, chosen by Jenny, was announced, I took it as a sign from, well, somewhere. I needed to make them cheesecake to make up for the injustice. After mentioning it to a couple people, I got enthusiastic approval, and off I went. The only drawback? I wanted to make a cheesecake with a lemon curd swirl, but they just wanted cherry cheesecake. Booo-ring! But their wish is my command, so cherry cheesecake it was.


The only stipulation that I put on it was this - no cherry pie filling. Because seriously? Yeeeccchhhh! Luckily, I found a cherry topping that used fresh or frozen cherries, a bit of sugar, and some lemon juice to perk it up. It was easy to mix up, although the texture could have been better. I used frozen cherries, and the structural integrity just wasn't there. The guys on the floor didn't complain though - all I got back was a very clean 13x9" pan!

Cherry Topping (from Culinary in the Country)

2 cups dark sweet cherries
1/4 cup sugar
1 Tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp cornstarch
20 cherries

Puree the 2 cups of cherries in a food processor until smooth. Combine in a saucepan with all other ingredients and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Boil the mixture, stirring, for 1 minute. Allow to cool and place in refrigerator until it is time to serve the cheesecake.

Note: I used frozen cherries, which made for a less robust sauce. If you have cherries in season where you are, by all means use them. The sauce will be all the better for it.
The April 2009 challenge is hosted by Jenny from Jenny Bakes. She has chosen Abbey's Infamous Cheesecake as the challenge.