Mystery author Jacqueline Seewald offers "Chicken to Die for Made Easy" recipe

Multiple-award winning author Jacqueline Seewald has taught creative, expository and technical writing at the university level as well as high school and middle school English. She also worked as an academic librarian and an educational media specialist/school librarian. Thirteen of her books of fiction have been published. Her short stories, poems, essays, reviews and articles have appeared in hundreds of publications and anthologies. Her mystery novels in the Kim Reynolds librarian sleuth series, published in hardcover, large print, paperback and e-book formats, include THE INFERNO COLLECTION, THE DROWNING POOL, and THE TRUTH SLEUTH.

The Inferno Collection and The Truth Sleuth are now available from Harlequin Worldwide Mystery in paperback editions.

The Inferno Collection and The Drowning Pool are available in all ebook formats from L&L Dreamspell.

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I eat most of my meals at home. This is because I have high cholesterol and am trying to control the problem with a healthy diet and exercise. The cholesterol is a family thing. My two female first cousins are slender and also watch their weight because they have the same problem.

Our dinners often consist of fish as a main course with either a salad or vegetables. We also eat a lot of chicken. Here’s a typical dinner at our house which I will call Chicken to Die for Made Easy.

Chicken to Die for Made Easy

Start with a one pound package of thin sliced chicken breasts

Shake ground ginger lightly over chicken

Do the same with ground cilantro

Bake in an open pan for approximately 20 minutes

Turn chicken over, draining any fat

Shake a little more ginger and cilantro over the chicken

(optional) cut up some mushrooms and arrange in baking pan

Bake in oven for 20 more minutes

For more flavorful taste, after ten minutes, pour some cranberry and/or orange juice over the chicken and then allow to bake for the remaining ten minutes.

Serve with baked potatoes and steamed vegetables and/or salad. My preference is for small, red potatoes or Idahoes.

Note: I use nonfat yogurt on the baked potatoes since it’s healthier than sour cream or butter. I don’t use salt but my husband adds pepper for himself.

I realize this may seem like a bland meal for some people, but it works well for us. And there’s never any heartburn.

For dessert, I serve grapefruit, grapes, pineapple, watermelon—whatever healthy fruits are in season.

Guest author Jo Hiestand & Split Level cookie recipe

Today I'm very pleased to introduce mystery writer, Jo Hiestand, who I met through our publisher, L&L Dreamspell.  

A month-long trip to England during her college years introduced Jo to the joys of Things British.  Since then, she has been lured back nearly a dozen times, and lived there during her professional folksinging stint.  This intimate knowledge of Britain forms the backbone of both the Taylor & Graham mysteries and the McLaren cold case mystery series. 

Jo’s insistence for accuracy--from police methods and location layout to the general “feel” of the area--has driven her innumerable times to Derbyshire for research.  These explorations and conferences with police friends provide the detail filling the books.

In 1999 Jo returned to Webster University to major in English.  She graduated in 2001 with a BA degree and departmental honors.

Her three cats--Chaucer, Dickens and Tennyson--share her St. Louis home.

 

If you were marooned on an island, and Pots & Pens granted your wish for only one book and one food, what would you choose? What a fun question!  I should say the book would be one of my own, but I'll have to go with "The Reckoning," by Charles Nicholl.  He examines the death of Christopher Marlowe, taking the historically "accepted" version that's come down to us, investigating the main players who were in the room with Marlowe, then looking at motive for Marlowe's death and concluding he died by murder, not in a fight.  Fascinating!  For food...I'd choose b'stilla, a Moroccan main dish of layers of cooked chicken, toasted almonds, "scrambled" eggs, powdered sugar, and cinnamon -- all encased in phyllo dough.  Without a doubt, my favorite food.

What’s your favorite kitchen accessory or appliance? How about a favorite writing accessory or reference?  I didn't think I had a favorite kitchen accessory until you asked this question.  But now that I think about it, it's my dough whisk.  Zany looking tool, but it works with delicate batters as well as with substantial bread dough.  My favorite writing reference is the Oxford-Duden Pictorial English (British) Dictionary.  When I'm writing my British mysteries I don't always know the correct British name for some noun.  I can usually find it in the pictorial dictionary.  It's laid out like movie scenes or photographs, a slice of life where everything is named.  Invaluable tool for my British writing!

Hot out of the oven: What inspired your latest book, and what ingredients do you hope make it a tasty treat for readers?  "False Step" comes out in October.  It's the ninth book in my Taylor & Graham British mystery series.  The backbone of the plot revolves around rapper sword dancing.  I got the idea to use this custom when I first saw a rapper dance performed.  I was so intrigued by the intricate twists and turns that the dancers did without letting go of their swords.  I thought this would make a super background for the murder, which it did!  Then, when I began writing the novel, I thought it'd be fun to weave in a bit of a historical mystery, so I chose Charles I's royal jewels (Charles I of England).  They really did disappear, but I invented the treasure hunt and the mystery.  Add to this an escaped killer who's out to avenge himself on my main character, Detective-Sgt Brenna Taylor, and I think there's enough mystery and plots to interest most readers.

If you could invite a character to dinner, who would it be and what would you serve?  I'd like to invite Michael McLaren, my ex-cop character in the McLaren mystery series.  He quit his job over a great injustice and now works repairing dry stone walls.  He investigates cold cases on his own.   I love his integrity and intelligence, his sense of dedication and caring.  There's a rough side to him that stands no nonsense from anyone.  He doesn't suffer fools at all, never mind gladly!  He's the guy who, by indifferent means, gets it right for the victim and the family.  I like the sense of hope he brings, that fact that he won't let scruples stop him when he's after justice for the victim.  I think I'd serve him baked trout in a crispy oatmeal batter, a broccoli/carrot/water chestnut/peanuts stir fry, a tossed salad of strawberries, cubed Swiss cheese and cashews, lemon muffins, and chocolate mousse.

Recipe Row: What favorite recipe do you have for us today? It's hard to choose one, but I'd like to share Split Levels.  It's a bar cookie: a chocolate/cream cheese/nut filling sandwiched between an almond-flavored base and topping.  Kind of like fudge between two layers of cookie dough.

Split Levels -- 24 cookies

Chocolate filling:

1 cup (6 ounce package) semisweet chocolate chips

3 ounces cream cheese

1/3 cup evaporated milk

1/2  cup chopped walnuts

1/4 tsp almond extract

Crumb crust:

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup butter, softened

1 egg

1/4 tsp almond extract

Preheat oven to 375 F. To make filling: in a saucepan, combine

chocolate chips, cream cheese and milk. Melt over low heat,

stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Stir in remaining filling

ingredients. Blend well and set aside.

To make crust: in a large bowl, combine all crust ingredients.

Blend well until particles are fine.

Press 2/3 of the crust mixture into a greased 11x7” pan. Spread

the filling over the crumb base. Drop the remaining crust mixture

in small bits over the filling.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Cool

and cut into 24 bars.

Thanks for joining us, today, Jo! Those cookies look amazing.

Janet Rudolph: Immersed in Mystery & Chocolate

 It's my pleasure to welcome playwright, editor and blogger, Janet Rudolph, who has immersed herself in two fields that happily often collide: Mystery & Chocolate. She is the Editor of the Mystery Readers Journal. She blogs daily at MysteryFanfare.com, facilitates a weekly mystery bookgroup, hosts literary salons with mystery authors, and has been a committee member on numerous mystery conventions. 

A long time contributor to the mystery genre, she received her Ph.D. in religion and literature, specializing in religious mystery fiction. Janet Rudolph also blogs daily at DyingforChocolate.com with all the news, reviews and recipes for the Chocoholic. She is a Judge at the International Chocolate Salons in San Francisco and Napa. Her companies TeamBuilding Unlimited & Murder on the Menu have a whole range of Chocolate Teambuilding events and entertainment ranging from Chocolate Tastings to the Chocolate Challenge to Chocolate Scavenger Hunts and Chocolate Tours.

She lives in the Berkeley/Oakland (CA) hills with her husband, a golden retriever, and 2 cats.

What a pleasure to be invited to blog here on Pots & Pens. Truly my world is full of both pots (chocolate) and pens (mystery). As a chocoholic, I post daily at DyingforChocolate.com with chocolate recipes, reviews and news. On Mystery Fanfare, I post mystery news, reviews and crime fiction holiday lists. And, sometimes, I post on both with chocolate recipes from mystery books or mystery books with chocolate. I also collect Literary, Movie, TV, Art & Music Tie-in Cookbooks, including several mystery cookbooks.

If you were marooned on an island, and Pots & Pens granted your wish for only one book and one food, what would you choose? Well, the book would be the complete works of William Shakespeare. It was a toss up between that and the Bible. They both are filled with mystery, romance, great characters, food, laughter, crime and love. Since I’ll have a lot of time on the island, if I’m not rescued early, I would have a lot of time to read and think about what I’m reading. Shakespeare is always good for a reread.

Share your favorite literary feast or treat. What makes this food and/or writing so memorable? Over the years of moderating my weekly mystery book group, I have assigned four 10-week sessions on food mysteries (culinary crime). In two of the sessions I led, I prepared the ‘suspect’ food in the book for our dining pleasure…sans poison, of course. This was over 30 years ago, and it was quite unique for its time. I even made my own Chocolate Truffles, as in Anthony Berkeley’s The Poisoned Chocolates Case. Another time I set up a Lord Peter Wimsey dinner at a local restaurant where everything was prepared from the recipes in the Lord Peter Wimsey Cookbook. Harriet Vane appeared half way through the dinner! Very exciting! I was able to arrange this since I write and produce mystery events. My company’s name? Murder on the Menu®! One year, I also set up a Nero Wolfe Dinner. Everyone came in costume, and I wore Yellow Silk Pajamas. Perhaps my other love --for orchids-- came from the Nero Wolfe books?

What’s your favorite kitchen accessory or appliance? My Kitchen-Aid stand mixer. Since I love to bake, I cannot imagine how I existed before owning this beauty. Mine, of course is a dark blue. You think it should be red? The color of blood? Perhaps. But it matches my dark blue stove!

What is your A+, number 1 writing/editing/query-reading snack? Chocolate. I always have some kind of fabulous truffle or chocolate bar in my desk. So convenient and helpful to get through editing and writing—and an inspiration for chocolate recipes.

What’s cooking? Can you share a bit about your next project? I’m currently working on an article on San Francisco Chocolate Shops for a new Foodie Magazine. I’ll have to taste a lot of chocolate. It’s a tough job, but someone’s got to do it.

Tell us about your edible specialty, and rate your skill in the kitchen: novice, not bad, or nominate me for a Michelin star. I no longer cook regular meals, but I’ve expanded my baking repertoire, specifically chocolate cakes, muffins, pies and more, now that I blog about chocolate. I would say I’m an ok cook, but certainly not a pastry chef or great baker. I do have three ovens—one is in my blue O’Keefe & Merritt 1950 stove. The other two are electric. I think I prefer the gas oven for baking, but being that it’s from 1950, the oven is small and not always accurate. Still, breads and cakes and brownies come out better!

Describe the best cook you know and something wonderful he or she has served you. Although I personally know many famous chefs and cooks, my immigrant grandmother ,who lived with us when I was growing up, was the best cook I know. She made everything from scratch with fresh ingredients.  I learned to bake from her. Every Friday, she would make Apple Pie in a huge rectangular pan. It would feed an army, and it did, as there were always extended family members dropping by. Now Apple Pie was not part of her heritage, but when I asked her why she made it every week, she said, “Because I am an American now, and Apple Pie is American.” Yes, as American as Apple Pie!

If you could invite a character to dinner, who would it be and what would you serve? Nero Wolfe, of course, but I’d ask him to bring his Chef Fritz! :)

TEQUILA TRUFFLES
INGREDIENTS
14 ounces white chocolate, chopped into small chunks
1/2 cup heavy cream
3 teaspoon white tequila
1 teaspoon grated lime zest
Drop of fresh lemon juice and drop of fresh lime juice or 1/4 tsp each of lime and lemon oil (natural) 

Coating
1 pound dark chocolate (70% cacao) for dipping, chopped into small chunks
Coarse sea salt

Directions for the Ganache:
1. Line shallow baking pan with saran wrap or any plastic wrap, overlapping 2 or more sheets as needed, and leaving a generous overhang on two sides (enough to cover the ganache once it is in the pan).
2. Place white chocolate in a food processor and process to a crumb consistency. Add tequila, zest, and juice or oils.
3. Bring cream to boil in small pan. With food processor on, pour the cream through the feed tube, processing for 20-30 seconds, until mixture is perfectly smooth. Scrape ganache into plastic wrap-lined pan and let cool at room temperature, without stirring it.
4. Once ganache is cool, fold plastic wrap over it and let sit at room temperature for several hours, preferably overnight, until firm enough to scoop. You can always refrigerate, but the texture of the truffles won’t be quite as silky. Once the ganache has set, chilling won’t hurt it.
5. To shape truffles, use a melon baller to form balls of ganache. If needed, smooth the surface with hands. (I do both)
6. Place centers (ganache balls) slightly apart on tray lined with parchment or wax paper. Let stand at room temperature, uncovered, until surface is dry and slightly crusted, at least 2 hours, preferably longer.

Directions for Coating:
1. Temper dark chocolate by melting about 75% of the chocolate either in double boiler or in microwave until it reaches about 100°F. Add remaining 25% of solid chocolate to bowl and mix until it all melts and temperature reaches about 90°F. Dip truffles one at a time (I use the two fork method—but there’s a device for this) in melted chocolate, let excess drip off and place on tray lined with parchment or wax paper.
2. Sprinkle with a little bit of sea salt before chocolate begins to harden. Continue with remaining truffles, but if dark chocolate begins to cool, reheat a bit until it gets back up to about 90°F.
3. Let sit at room temperature. Store the truffles in a covered container at cool room temperature for up to 10 days, or refrigerate for up to a month. I don't freeze chocolate, but you can.

Cream Cheese Brownies
Brownies
1/2 cup sweet butter
4 oz. 85-95% good quality chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 cup sugar
1 tsp Madagascar vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup dark fair trade dark chocolate (65-75% cacao), cut into smallish chunks

Cream Cheese Layer
8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp Madagascar vanilla extract
1 large egg

Directions  

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
1. Line 9 x 9 inch square baking pan with aluminum foil across the bottom and up two opposite sides of the pan.
2. In saucepan over a saucepan of simmering water, melt butter and chocolate.
3. Remove from heat and stir in sugar and vanilla. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Stir in flour and salt and beat until the batter is smooth and glossy and comes away from saucepan (about a minute).
4. Remove 1/2 cup of brownie batter and set it aside.
5. Fold chocolate chunks into remainder of brownie batter and then pour batter evenly into prepared pan.
6. Using stand mixer, whip cream cheese until smooth. Add sugar, vanilla, and egg and process until just smooth.
7. Spread cream cheese mixture over brownie layer. Spoon small clumps of reserved brownie batter on top of cream cheese filling. With knife or wooden skewer, swirl two batters without mixing them (don’t over swirl).
8. Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes or until brownies start to pull away from sides of pan and edges just begin to brown.
9. Remove from oven and place on wire rack to cool.
10. Refrigerate brownies until firm enough to cut into squares (at least two hours if you can wait).
11. Once chilled, remove brownies from pan by lifting with ends of foil and transfer to cutting board.
12. With sharp knife, cut into squares.

Fun idea: These brownies are very rich, but you can always frost them with a dark chocolate ganache (after cool). Put in refrigerator for an hour or two. Then cut the brownies into shapes (while still in pan) such as hearts using a deep cookie cutter. Make brownie pops with the extra brownie parts.

Thanks so much for joining us today, Janet! For those who can't get enough chocolate, on Saturday we'll have your recipe for Chocolate-covered Strawberries To Die For on The Writers' Lens: www.thewriterslens.com. And don't miss Janet's Dyingforchocolate blog!

Guest interview: Cindy Sample & Outrageous Hot Chipotle Cake

  

Today I'm pleased to welcome my friend Cindy Sample, a fellow L&L Dreamspell author who brings humor and romance to her murder mysteries. Having been an avid reader from the age of four, Cindy's third-grade career ambition was to become a detective just like Nancy Drew.  At sixteen, she realized her inherent klutziness could be an impediment to becoming a private eye or super spy.  Her new mission was to be a mystery writer.

With a degree in history and a family to support, Cindy put aside her literary longings for a weekly paycheck, landing a job as a receptionist with a real estate office.  Her career path eventually led to the position of CEO of a nationwide company.

After one too many corporate mergers, Cindy found herself plotting murder instead of plodding through paperwork. DYING FOR A DATE, Cindy's debut novel, was voted the # 1 Romance in the 2010 Preditors and Editors Readers Poll. Rave reviews are already rolling in for her latest release, DYING FOR A DANCE.

Let’s say a couple of your characters are raiding your fridge right now, are they disappointed or excited about what they find? My refrigerator contents are about as eclectic as my favorite books. I have nutritional items like tofu and probiotic yogurt which are probably well past their expiration date. Protein shakes (in chocolate, of course) and chocolate whipped cream because… it exists.

Chocolate whipped cream--really? I need to spend more time browsing at the grocery store. But it’s stretching your boundaries time--is there a food you’d love to learn how to cook or a different genre or type of book you’d love to try to write? I have a mild case of ADD so while I love perusing cookbooks I never want to spend the time to chop, dice, or make anything that requires more than four ingredients. Although I have no patience for cooking, I have more than enough for writing. And you don’t get published without patience. I love writing mysteries, especially my series since it concentrates more on humor than homicide. It’s a thrill when people tell me how entertaining my books are. I would like to write something a little deeper and darker in the women’s fiction arena. I’m playing around with a plot line right now. I can’t reveal anything other than the title which I love – THE TANGO LESSON.

3.    If you could borrow one person’s zest for writing and/or life, whose and why? I admire several women who have taken their personal experiences, dosed them with humor, and provided wonderful articles, books, and screenplays.  My two favorites are Anne Lamott and Tina Fey. They are both brilliant in everything they write and produce.

 

Please share one cheesy “writing is like cooking” thought. Well, in my case, I throw in a lot of ingredients (the characters), add some spices (that would be the romance), stir it up and let them all simmer together until it’s cooked to perfection.  Sometimes the entrée is as much a surprise to me as it is to my readers.  Then the dessert would be something so delicious it just knocks them out of their chairs! 

Hot out of the oven: What inspired your latest book, and what ingredients do you hope make it a tasty treat for readers? My latest book, DYING FOR A DANCE was inspired when I took up ballroom dancing and discovered there is a wonderfully sleazy side to competitive ballroom dancing. My character, single mom Laurel McKay, is almost as klutzy as I am, so it was no surprise when she stumbled over a dead body while taking foxtrot lessons to learn a choreographed wedding routine for her best friend’s wedding. The grand finale includes an international ballroom competition with Laurel hot on the heels of the killer!  Also since I’m a firm believer in feeding the client, or now that I’m an author, feeding the fans, I love promoting with food, I bring dead body cookies and home-made two-inch chocolate stilettos to all of my book events.  I just purchased an eight-inch life-sized shoe mold and I can’t wait to use it for a contest!

What’s cooking? Can you share a bit about your next project? My next project will move the action from the California gold country to Kona, Hawaii. I’m planning on exploring coffee plantations (love that Kona coffee), vanilla plantations and macadamia nut farms. Not only will I be sampling coffee and nuts, since the title is DYING FOR A DAIQUIRI, I’ll be forced to sample a few daiquiris in search of the perfect recipe, which will definitely be included in the back of the book. 

Hmmm...do you need a research assistant? Well, we're almost done but first I have to ask, if you were marooned on an island and Pots & Pens granted your wish for only one book and one food, what would you choose? Everyone who knows me will get this answer right.  Chocolate, of course. And since this is my fantasy, dark chocolate salted caramels. I can’t imagine being stranded with only one book.  How about James Michener’s HAWAII. It’s long enough to entertain me yet again and hopefully will have useful tips on how to get off this island!

   

Recipe Row: What favorite recipe do you have for us today? I have a recipe that requires more than my usual four ingredients, but it is well worth it. I don’t have a photo handy because it’s our traditional Christmas Eve dessert, so you’ll just have to imagine it. 

OUTRAGEOUS HOT CHIPOTLE CAKE

10 oz. semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped

7 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into pieces

5 large eggs, room temperature

1 cup sugar

½ tsp chili powder (you can add more if your taste buds can handle it)

Dash of cayenne pepper

1 tsp. cinnamon

Pinch of sale

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line the bottom of a 9 ½ inch spring-form pan with parchment paper.  Grease the sides and bottom with cooking spray.

Melt the chocolate and butter together over a double boiler or in the microwave, stirring occasionally until smooth.

Whisk the eggs and sugar in a large bowl then slowly whisk in the melted chocolate. Add salt and spices and taste, adjusting spices if needed.

Pour into the pan and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes clean.  Cool completely then dust with powdered sugar or serve with whipped cream. If you’re eating it at my house, you get the chocolate whipped cream. 

Well, I surely had no problem imagining that--I can almost taste it! Thanks for joining us today. You can find out more about Cindy at:  http://cindysamplebooks.com/

AND she's offering a giveaway for DYING FOR A DATE. Just comment on this post or on The Writers' Lens by Friday, Dec. 23, to enter the contest for a free ebook.

Guest interview: Diana L. Driver

It’s my pleasure to introduce Diana L. Driver, who “writes the kind of stories you’d like to read.” Her books cross the genre lines from Young Adult adventure/suspense to Mystery to Romance. She’s currently working on a Cozy Mystery and a Norse Fantasy based on the myths and legends of the Northern Traditions, including Runelore.

Diana's Mayan books initially attracted me, but I've since discovered her expertise ranges from history to quantum physics to conspiracy theories--gotta love it! We now blog together on The Writers’ Lens.

So, Diana, if you were marooned on an island, and Pots & Pens granted your wish for only one book and one food, what would you choose? One Book – The Boy Scouts Outdoor Field Guide! I know nothing about foraging for food, building a shelter, or which plants might or might not be poisonous. And, if Pots and Pens were to offer me a choice of one food it’d be cherry cheesecake!

Taking a survival guide—that makes perfect sense. And yum, I love cherry cheesecake! Have you also got a favorite literary feast or treat? I’d have to say the “A Martha’s Vineyard Mystery” series by the late Philip A. Craig. Each book is set in Martha’s Vineyard and I love not only the setting, but his characters and plots. My sister lives on Orcas Island, Washington and (except for the murders), Philip Craig knew his island personalities. 

It’s stretching your boundaries time. Is there a food you’d love to learn how to cook or a different genre or type of book you’d love to try to write? I’m currently working on an historical fantasy series which is turning out to be extremely challenging and very much a stretch of my boundaries. I’ve been reading and rereading old manuscripts just to get a feel of Norse thinking and priorities during the 700’s. Then, of course there’s all the background information that’s needed to make the book feel authentic. 
 

Hot out of the oven: What inspired your latest book, and what ingredients do you hope make it a tasty treat for readers? My latest book, The Maya, People of the Maize, is a companion book to my novel, Ninth Lord of the Night. I think of it as a sample of Mayan information that encourages the reader to explore further the various aspects of the Mayan culture. Just as Ninth Lord of the Night offers the reader a full course of mystery and suspense with a touch of paranormal, The Maya, People of the Maize offers the reader a solid background from which they can choose to continue learning about this fascinating culture.    

Since I love ancient Mesoamerican cultures, those were certainly a tasty treat for me! At Pots & Pens, we know too much salt can ruin an exquisite meal, and the perfect dessert tempers earlier mistakes. What ingredients can destroy a book through overuse or salvage a book despite its flaws? Any overused writing technique will detract from a story, but if the plot is exciting and the characters are well-developed, then I can forgive a lot. Stephen King wrote in one of books, that “It’s not the teller, it’s the tale.” I agree with that. 

Recipe Row: I see you’re getting prepared for that desert island with today’s recipe—very clever!

New York Cherry Cheesecake!!

Crust:

2 cups (200 grams) of graham cracker crumbs

½ cup unsalted butter, melted

¼ cup granulated sugar

Filling

32 ounces cream cheese, room temperature (use full fat, not reduced or fat free cream cheese)

1 cup granulated white sugar

3 tablespoons all purpose flour

5 large eggs, room temperature

1/3 cup heavy whipping cream (double cream)

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Topping

1 can Comstock pitted Cherries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees with rack in center of oven.

Grease, or spray with Pam, a 9 inch (23 cm) springform pan. Place the springform pan on a larger baking pan to catch any leakage while the cheesecake is baking.

 

For Crust: In a medium sized bowl combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and melted butter. Press the crumbs evenly over the bottom and about 1 inch (2.5 cm) up the sides of the springform pan. Cover and refrigerate while you make the filling.

For Filling: In bowl of your electric mixer place the cream cheese, sugar, and flour. Beat on medium speed until smooth (about 2 minutes), scraping down the bowl as needed. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well (about 30 seconds) after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the whipping cream, vanilla extract and beat until incorporated. Remove the crust from the refrigerator and pour in the filling. Place the cheesecake pan on a larger baking pan and place in the oven.

 

Bake for 15 minutes and then lower the oven temperature to 250 degrees and continue to bake for about another 60 - 90 minutes or until firm and only the center of the cheesecake looks a little wet and wobbly. (The baking time can vary due to the differences in ovens, so make sure to check that the cheesecake is firm with only the center being a little wet and wobbly.) Remove from oven and place on a wire rack.

Remove from oven and carefully run a knife or spatula around the inside edge of pan to loosen the cheesecake (helps prevent the surface from cracking as it cools).

Let cool completely before covering with plastic wrap. Refrigerate several hours, preferably overnight. Top with one can of Comstock’s cherry filling (undrained) and serve

Tips:  Sometimes the surface of the cheesecake cracks.  To help prevent this from happening do not over beat the batter, especially when creaming the cheese and sugar. Another reason for cracking is overbaking the cheesecake.  Your cheesecake is done when it is firm but the middle may still look a little wet. Also, make sure the springform pan is well greased as cracking can occur if the cheesecake sticks to the sides as it cools. 

Learn more about Diana and her books at her website