Picture from Peet’s Coffee and Tea Website
No one can understand the truth until he drinks of coffee’s frothy goodness. Sheik Abd-al-Kadir
Wo/man does not live by coffee alone. Have a slice of N.Y. Cheesecake ordered from Junior’s or made gluten-free by you.
Happy Day After Christmas!
Note: “How to Make Lebanese Coffee” is posted on December 27, 2008.
Photograph of unknown origin.
Best wishes for the holidays, no matter which one you are or aren’t celebrating. Christmas Blessings! Metta! Le Heim! Happy Holidays!
This is a recipe a la the world-famous Juniors situated at DeKalb and Flatbush Avenues in my hometown, the center of the universe, Brooklyn, NY. If you don’t have celiac disease and wheat and gluten are not problems for you, you can order a Junior’s cheesecake directly from the restaurant. The traditional recipe calls for a sponge cake base. For this gluten-free version, I do a cookie and nut crust, which is my preference.
Photograph: Juniors at Dusk, Public Domain via Wikipedia
Gluten-Free Cheesecake Happiness from me to you with love at holiday time.
The recipe
Prepare the crust:
Twelve Servings
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
The Cookie Crust:
1 1/4 c gluten-free pecan shortie, or other gluten-free packaged or homemade cookie of your choice, made into crumbs
1/4 c granulated sugar
½ c finely chopped pecans
4 T unsalted butter, melted
Mix all four ingredients well and pour into the bottom of a nine-inch, non-stick spring-form pan. Using the back of a tablespoon, pat the crust down firmly. Bake for ten minutes. Remove the pan. Wrap the bottom with foil. Place the pan on a cookie tray. Leave the oven on.
Prepare the filling:
Four 8 oz. pkgs. Organic Valley cream cheese, room temperature
2/3 cups sugar
1/4 cup Bob’s Red Mill corn starch
1 tablespoon Singing Dog Organic Vanilla Extract (gluten free)
2 extra-large Omega-3 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
Put one 8-ounce package of the cream cheese, half of the sugar and the starch in a large mixing bowl. Beat at the lowest speed on your mixing, scraping the bowl from time to time to ensure that the ingredients mix well. Beat in the remaining three package of cheese and the remaining sugar in increments. Blend in the vanilla. Add the eggs in two increments. Beat at high speed for 2 minutes. Add the heavy cream, beating at low until just blended, taking care not to over mix the filling. Spoon the filling into the pan, gently. Place the spring-form pan in a bain Marie, a large shallow pan with enough hot water to come up one-inch on the spring-form pan..
Bake the cheescake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit about 1 hour and 10 minutes. Cool the cake on a wire rack for 1 hour/10 minutes. Do not open the oven when the cake is baking. At the end of the baking time, the cheesecake should be firm around the edges and have a slight jiggle in the middle. Remove it from the oven. Cool on a wire rack. Then cover the cake with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
Once chilled, remove the sides of the spring-form pan. You can leave the cake on the spring-form bottom and just place it on an attractive serving dish. Refrigerate left-overs . . . if there are any!
Photograph: “Casualties” of War, Arlington National Cemetery, photographer unknown.
“Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal.”
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Peace, not turmoil.
Love, not fear.
Light, not mind.
The end of war.
I must be the change . . .
