There are literally hundreds of ways to make cheesecake with so many recipes and ideas available today. When pairing fruit and cheese, the goal should be to highlight both elements equally. We enjoy fruit with cheese because the combination of flavors are so complimentary.
One of the first cheesecake pairings I recall was the ‘Cherry-O Cream Cheese Pie’ from the Borden company. I doubt there are very many people in North America who didn’t enjoy this dessert in the 60’s or 70’s. The recipe was placed in a magazine ad and was printed to promote two of their products … cream cheese and sweetened milk.
Part of the reason it became such a favorite was it tasted great and was a no-bake cheesecake. All you needed was the ingredients, a mixer, a can opener and a refrigerator. Borden is still in existence today, selling sweetened condensed milk under the name Eagle Brand.
With a cheesecake idea in mind, I picked up some frozen sweet, dark cherries when we were shopping. As usual, I like doing individuals since there’s just the two of us. The base is like cake batter which is topped with the cream cheese filling and cherries. The streusel and sliced almonds are the crowning touch.
| Servings |
mini tarts
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- 2 1/2 Tbsp sugar
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1 1/2 Tbsp butter, chilled
- 1/4 cup almonds, sliced
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1/2 tsp EACH baking powder & baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 80 gm (1/3 cup) butter, softened
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 egg + 1 egg yolk
- 3/4 cup sour cream
- 1 tsp EACH PURE vanilla, almond & anise extract
Ingredients
Filling
Streusel
Cake
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- In a small bowl, with an electric mixer, combine cream cheese & sugar until creamy. Add egg white & mix just to combine. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, combine sugar, flour & chilled butter. With finger tips or a pastry blender, combine until pea-size crumbles form. Set aside.
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly butter 8- 4 X 3/4-inch mini tart pans.
- In a bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda & salt. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, cream together butter & sugar. Add egg, egg yolk & the 3 extracts. Fold in flour mixture alternating with the sour cream. DO NOT OVERMIX.
- Divide batter between the 8 mini tart pans. Spread batter over bottom & up the sides of pans. Spoon filling into center of cake batter 'shells'. Arrange cherry halves, cut side down, in a circle on top of filling. Sprinkle tarts with streusel topping then with sliced almonds.
- Place tart pans on a baking sheet & bake 25-30 minutes, or until they test done. Serve warm or cold.
- The newspaper clipping looks to be from a full page promo for Borden's cream cheese & condensed milk. The coupon at the bottom expired May 31, 1965
- Interesting ... there is part of an ad on the reverse side of the clipping for a new Scout vehicle priced at $1690.85 which looks similar to a Jeep. What a price!!