Cheesecake Bar!!

As Thalia mentioned in her last post, I recently had a birthday! I turned THIRTY. Approximately 1 in every 3 birthday wishes I received included a comment along the lines of: you crazy old dessert lady, what kind of wild confection are you cooking up for this one?

So I knew it had to be special.

To add to the pressure, just a few days before my scheduled birthday party, my friends threw me a surprise party! A dessert themed surprise party! How awesome is that?? All the standard birthday desserts were present and accounted for. Strawberry layer cake? Check! (It was delicious, by the way! Well done, Thalia!). Chocolate peanut butter layer cake? (which seems to be my New Haven traditional birthday cake, thanks Suzanne!). Check! And all the cookies and cakes and mousses and delicious things that my heart could desire. After the initial terror of 20 people jumping out of an apparently empty kitchen and screaming at me had passed, I was in heaven.

So when it came to my non-surprise, scheduled birthday party, I knew I had to come up with something out of the ordinary. Something amazing… Are you ready for this?

CHEESECAKE BAR! 

Picture it -- mini-cheesecakes accompanied by myriad toppings (chocolate sauce, peanut butter sauce, caramel sauce, strawberry sauce, reeses cups, toffee chips, cashews, pecans and last but not least, almond slivers) for your mixing and matching pleasure.

Swoon.

It was delicious! And, to be honest, it is still delicious as I’m still working my way through the remaining few cheesecakes. But I’m 30. I’ll eat as many cheesecakes as I want.

Cheesecake Bar:

Cheesecakes (makes about 2 dozen 4-oz jars; adapted from the Cook's Illustrated Recipe): 
1 T melted unsalted butter
3 (and maybe more) T graham cracker crumbs
2 lbs cream cheese (that’s 4 8-oz blocks)
1 ¼ c granulated sugar
4 large eggs
1 t lemon zest
2 t vanilla
¼ c heavy cream
¼ c sour cream  

Peanut Butter Sauce: 
1 c peanut butter chips
1/3 c milk
¼ c heavy cream
¼ t vanilla extract  

Chocolate Sauce: 
2 c semisweet chocolate chips
1 c heavy cream
1/3 c sugar
1/3 c corn syrup
1 ½ t vanilla
1 T Grand Marnier  

Caramel Sauce: 
½ stick butter
1 c packed brown sugar
½ c heavy cream

Strawberry Sauce: 
2 pints fresh strawberries
½ c sugar
1 c water
1 t lemon zest
2 T kirsch

Instructions:
Cheesecake: 

Preheat the oven to 350 and bring a kettle of water to a boil (for the water bath).

Using a pastry brush, paint the insides of 2-dozen 4-oz jars (or ramekins, or whatever you’re using) with butter. Then coat the jars with graham cracker crumbs (toss a bunch in there and shake them around and pour the remainders into the next jar).

Beat cream cheese until smooth.

Gradually add sugar and beat on medium until sugar dissolves (about 3 minutes).

Add eggs, one at a time, scraping the bowl down between each addition to make sure that the cream cheese gets well incorporated. Add the zest and vanilla and beat until just combined. Add in cream and sour cream, stirring until smooth.

Pour the batter into the jars, until it’s about 2/3 of the way to the top. If you fill it up too much you won’t be able to get all the yummy toppings in!

Place the jars into a 9X13 pan (you’ll need one for each dozen) and pour enough boiling water in to come about half way up the sides of the jars.

Bake until the perimeter is set but center is jiggly. It takes about 45 minutes or so.

Turn off the heat and leave the oven door open (prop it with a wooden spoon) for at least an hour.

Remove jars from the water bath and cool to room temperature on a wire rack.

Once they reach room temperature cover and refrigerate (at least 4 hours).

Peanut Butter Sauce: 

Melt the peanut butter chips with the milk and cream in a medium saucepan over low heat. Stir constantly until mixture is smooth.

Stir in the vanilla.

Pour into a jar.

Chocolate Sauce: 

Place the chocolate chips in a jar and set aside.

Combine the cream, sugar and corn syrup in a saucepan and bring to a boil over low heat. Stirring constantly.

Remove from heat and pour over chocolate chips. Let sit for a few seconds while you put the lid on the jar.

Very carefully (with oven mitts perhaps, or in my case, put your dad to work), shake the jar to mix the chocolate sauce together until it's smooth.  

Caramel Sauce:

Melt butter in a small saucepan. Stir in the brown sugar and cream and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat to low and boil, uncovered, for 5 minutes. Cool slightly.  

Strawberry Sauce: 

Hull the berries then combine them with the sugar, water and zest in a saucepan.

Cook until the berries are soft and the liquid is thick (about 10 minutes).

Stir in the kirsch and cook for another minute.

My dad, an excellent sous-chef!

Remove from the heat and using a potato masher smoosh the strawberries until they are a consistency that you like.

Serve your cheesecake jars with the sauces and whatever else you’d like to include. I served mine with chocolate sauce, peanut butter sauce, caramel sauce, strawberry sauce, reeses cups, toffee chips, cashews, pecans and almond slivers. Needless to say, it was a wild success!