Let the Vanilla Bean obsession continue…
I warned you. I’m on a kick. I’m on a vanilla bean kick. A vanilla bean and a dessert kick. My post-prego sugar cravings are insane – much more so than when I was pregnant. I’m trying to balance them with healthy dinners, but I can’t kick the insane need that I have for dessert at the end of every day. Last night I asked Mike 4-5 times what kind of sweet treat he’d like after dinner. He’d say, “Oh, I don’t need anything” or “I don’t care – whatever you want, I’m not really craving anything.” Ugh. What I wanted him to say was, “Will you please fix me a chocolate cake! I’m starving for a chocolate cake!” Then I would have to make him a cake and I’d have to have a piece before bed. And for breakfast. And as a mid-day snack. Anyway… so, here is the 30th dessert post of the month. Not really 30th, but pretty darn close. My blog seems to have been taken over by them. I made this Vanilla Bean Cheesecake on Thursday – oh, AND I did go ahead and make Mike (ok, myself…) that chocolate cake last night, too. Did I say my blog has been taken over by dessert? I meant my life.
I decided to put a Valentine’s Day spin on this cheesecake by putting strawberries on top in the shape of a heart. You can do this with raspberries, too, or not at all.
Vanilla Bean Cheesecake
serves 6
Crust:
8 graham crackers
4 tablespoons of butter
Filling:
2 blocks of 8oz cream cheese, room temperature
3/4 cup of sugar
2 eggs
1/4 cup of sour cream
1 tablespoon of vanilla bean paste or the seeds from 1 vanilla bean
Prepare the crust by breaking the graham crackers into crumbs by hand or in a food processor. Melt butter and stir into graham crumbles with a fork. Pack the mixture into a tart pan packing it all the way up the sides. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 minutes. For the filling, in a mixer, whip together cream cheese and sugar. Add eggs, sour cream and vanilla. Pour filling into the crust. Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes, until slightly brown around the edges and no longer giggly. Allow to sit at room temperature for 1-2 hours, then wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours – overnight.
