Sue's Winning Cheesecake - Light and Fluffy

Do you remember when I was asked by

The Sara Lee Company to create a recipe

using their Pound Cake?

Sue from I Need Mom described

her light (not calorie light, but texture light)

cheesecake with a Sara Lee Poundcake crust and

it reminded me of a cheesecake my mom and I

made out of a failed cake I had created when

I was first learning to cook with a flat cake layer

and a cheesecake on top, so for sentimental

reasons, Sue won and I promised to make

her cheesecake and feature it on my blog.

Well, if you have been following my life, it has

been pretty crazy with wedding plans, missionary

calls and a Pioneer Trek all going on within the

same week of June 

(definitely not pouring - a deluge!!)

So I had gone off to the store right away

and purchased the goodies for making this.

It's a good thing that cream cheese and

frozen pound cake last a long time.

Yes, you guessed it, we finally made it

for Sunday dinner.

Of course I had to tweak it and top it with 

CHOCOLATE

or it wouldn't be from 

Purple Chocolat Home.

Oh yes, and some fresh strawberries too.

Before I give you an inkling of the recipe 

I have to tell you that hubby said it was 

on the par with Cheesecake Factory

which he LOVES!  He said, "No one makes
cheesecake like this!"

I really loved the look of the Sara Lee crust.

It looks like petals.  

You begin by slicing the cake into thin layers

and lining the springform pan with the

slices of cake. Press them together.

The creamy filling is then spooned in, and this is creamy,

it uses 4 C. of sour cream in the filling.  That is 

what gives it the fabulous moistness.

It calls for a 10 inch springform pan and I only

had a 9 inch so I had some left over.  I used the

ends of my Sara Lee Pound cake and crumbled

them in the bottom of a small pan and poured

the remainder on the crust so hubby and I

were able to take a sneak taste test.  We

loved the way the crust tasted and thought

it was a great cheesecake.

Of course it disappeared quickly on

Sunday. 

I am in love with Sue's recipe

and it will be a family favorite from

now on.  She said that everywhere

she took it, people just loved it and

I believe it.

I really liked the flavor and texture of

the Sara Lee Pound Cake as a crust.

 Cheesecake:

1 loaf Sarah Lee frozen pound cake, thawed and cut into 1/8 inch slices

3 packages (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened

1 3/4 cups sugar

4 eggs

 4 cups (32 oz.) sour cream (yes, that isn't a typo!  It really is 4 C.!)

2 teaspoons vanilla

 Topping:

1 cup (8 oz.) sour cream

 Cherry pie filling (or whatever you like)

I substituted with a chocolate layer

Melt 1 1/2 C. semi sweet chips

with

2 T. vegetable oil

Stir together until the chips are all melted.

Spread on the cooled cheesecake.

     Arrange cake slices in two overlapping layers on the bottom and up the sides of a 10 inch spring form pan, press them together to close all gaps. Set aside. In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add eggs; beat on low just until combined. Add sour cream and vanilla; beat just until combined. Pour over cake slices. Bake at 350 degrees for 60-70 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Carefully run a knife around edge of pan to loosen; cool 1 hour longer. Refrigerate overnight. Remove sides of pan. Just before serving, spread chocolate or sour cream over cheese cake; top with fresh strawberries or cherry pie filling. 12-14 servings.

To serve the cheesecake topped with chocolate,

heat the knife up a little bit by dipping in hot

water or holding over the flame of a stove

for a few seconds.  Wipe and slice.  The

heat of the knife will help make a clean cut

through the chocolate. 

And The Winner Is.....

When the Sara Lee Corporation contacted me about creating

a recipe for them and offered me a giveaway for my

readers, I decided I wanted to make it fun and see

what you would create with a Sara Lee Poundcake.

So many, many wonderful ideas.

Berry Tiramisu with French Cream

Stuffed French Toast

Baked Alaska

Trifles Galore

Strawberry Shortcakes

Grilled Poundcake

Easter Egg Cakes

Easter Baskets,

Lavender Pistachio Cakes

and many more....

What wonderful ideas.  I hope you get some Sara Lee

Poundcake and create some run recipes for yourself.

Some of them brought back memories.

One of our favorite restaurants to go to when we

went home to Madison, Wisconsin was Ella's Deli.

You can see right here in the middle of their menu

board Grilled Pound Cake Hot Fudge Sundae.

(Photos from Ella's Deli web site)

It is a magical place where you are greeted by

this beautiful carousel outside and an unimaginable

collection of whimsical animated toys filling the

deli.  So everyone's suggestions for grilled pound

cake tugged at my heart strings.

Another one that brought back memories of 

younger years was Sue's suggestion (from I Need Mom)

that you line your cheesecake pan with the pound cake.

Unfortunately I don't have the recipe, but one of the

first cheesecakes I made was a concoction my mom

and I created after I had blown a cake recipe.  The cake

turned out flat as a pancake and she suggested we top it

with a cheesecake layer.  The combination of the two

were amazing.  For sentimental reasons, and because

I want Sue's recipe, I am choosing Sue as the

$50 Visa card winner.  

Sue, email me your recipe and I will make it and

feature it on my blog.

But Linda's 

Maple and Banana Layered dessert

(from More Fun, Less Laundry)

sounds so great that I am awarding her a $50 Visa

card also.

Contact me by email and give me your emails so

I can send these out to you.

Thanks everyone.  I had almost 500 page views

on this contest.

Raspberry Lemon Mousse Mini Cakes and A Giveaway

Any mini dessert is just the rage whether at restaurants 

or at home and especially here at 

Purple Chocolat Home.

Did you know that March 4th is National Pound Cake Day?

I was honored to be contacted by Sara Lee (yes, THE Sara Lee)

to create a recipe using one of their ready made pound cakes

to help celebrate National Pound Cake Day.

Of course my mind started spinning about all of the fun

things I could do with Sara Lee Pound Cakes.  

I had made the Valentine's Petit Fours and found

their pound cake to be so much fun to work with.

It is flavorful and has such a great, firm texture.

What better flavors than raspberry, lemon and cream

to go along with a Sara Lee All Butter Pound cake!

I began by cutting the cake loaf into thirds and then turning those

thirds on their sides and cutting them into thirds again.  Use

a bread knife.  Keep the bottom crust on but cut the rounded

top crust off before you cut the last third.

So each third will give you three slices of cake.

Using a 2 1/4 inch round cookie or biscuit cutter,

cut each cake slice into a round.

You should now have three rounds for each third of the loaf.

Cut the center out of the third piece so that you end up with

a ring using a 1 1/4 inch cookie or biscuit cutter or as I did,

using the wide end of my largest frosting tip.

Now spread raspberry jam on the top and bottom pieces - the ones

without the hole in the center and then stack the middle piece

on the bottom piece.

Pipe your lemon mousse into the center and then place the top

on with the jam side down.

The towers are then frosted with additional lemon mousse.

When you slice into the mini cake you have a raspberry and lemon mousse

filled center.

Raspberry Lemon Mousse Mini Cakes

(Makes 6 mini cakes)

2 - 10.75 oz Sara Lee All Butter Pound Cakes, thawed

Raspberry jam

1 C. heavy whipping cream

1/2 C. lemon curd

Fresh raspberries

Powdered sugar

Raspberry Sauce if desired.

Prepare and slice the pound cakes as directed above.

You will end up with 18 rounds, six with holes in the

center and twelve without.

Set the cake aside.

In mixer bowl using a wire whisk beat the heavy

whipping cream with the lemon curd until soft peaks

form.  You will want it stiff enough to be able to frost

with.

Spread one side of the twelve rounds without holes

with raspberry jam.  Do not spread all the way to the

edge.  

Stack the center round with the hole on top of the

bottom round.  

Place half of the mousse in a pastry bag.

Pipe the mousse into the center of the cakes.

Top with the last round, jam side down.

Frost each cake with additional mousse.  I

sat mine on top of a tiny glass - like a shot glass.

Garnish with fresh raspberries and powdered sugar.

Serve with raspberry sauce if desired. 

Click here for a printable recipe.

This is so light tasting and refreshing, perfect for Spring celebrations.

So let me just tell you my taste tester's reactions -

My daughter and her boyfriend were fighting over their piece, even

grabbing the plate and running off with it.

I had already wolfed one down earlier in the day.

My hubby came home from work and I cut it in half

to show him how pretty it was (thinking I would get half)

and he gobbled the whole thing down saying, "That was

fantastic!"  Needless to say, this was a big hit here.

Thank you Sara Lee for asking me to participate.

Not only did Sara Lee send me a $50 Visa gift card and coupons

for participating,

they sent me a 

$50 Visa gift card and coupons

for a giveaway to my readers.

Tell me what creative recipe you would make

 with a 

Sara Lee Pound Cake by leaving

me a comment (and the recipe if needed)

and I will choose my favorite idea.  

The winner will

receive the $50 Visa gift card and coupons.  

All entries must

be received by Midnight March 9th.

Then I will make and feature the winning

recipe on my blog!

I will be posting this with

On The Menu Monday

Foodie Fridays