Modern Wife

Tag: cranberries

  • Cranberry Cheesecake

    Cranberry Cheesecake

    From the moment I took my first ever bite of a cheesecake, I was hooked for life. For the longest time, though, I always bought it, never made it from scratch here at home. It took a friend coming over and making one right in my kitchen before I realized how easy it is. Back then I didn’t even have a KitchenAid Mixer . It was all made with elbow grease. (The trick is to make sure the cream cheese is completely soft.)

    Now that my dear husband bought me one, it’s even easier. Faster. Well, at least the prep is. So tempt your family with this cheesecake recipe if you want them to get you a KitchenAid Mixer for Christmas. It will be worth it, I promise.

    Cranberry Cheesecake

    Ingredients for Cheesecake:
    (Get certified organic ingredients when possible.)
    15 graham crackers, ground
    3 tablespoons butter, melted
    4 packages cream cheese (8 oz each)
    1 1/2 cups sugar
    3/4 cup almond milk
    4 eggs
    1 cup sour cream
    1 tablespoon vanilla
    1/4 cup all-purpose flour

    Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (175 degrees Celsius). Grease a 9 inch springform pan. Thrifty Tip: I save the wax paper from sticks of butter in the freezer. I use it to grease any and all baking pans.

    In a medium bowl, mix graham cracker crumbs with melted butter and press onto the bottom of the springform pan.

    In the KitchenAid Mixer bowl (or a large bowl), mix cream cheese with sugar until smooth. Add almond milk, eggs one at a time, sour cream, vanilla, and flour. Mix until smooth. Pour this cream cheese mix into springform pan, on top of the graham cracker crust.

    Bake for 1 hour. Turn the oven down to 300 degrees Fahrenheit for the next 30 minutes, then to 250 for another 30 minutes. Turn the oven off but let the cheesecake stand in the oven. Do not take the cheesecake out. Keep the oven door closed while it cools, approximately 5 hours. Once the oven and the cheesecake is cooled completely, take the cheesecake out of the oven and chill in the refrigerator.

    For cranberry topping, use my Maple Cranberry Sauce recipe.

    Cheers to you on this holiday season!

  • Cranberry Mini Tarts

    Cranberry Mini Tarts

    After many years of cooking a whole Thanksgiving dinner and getting my pace and timing down just right, I am taking a break. Tonight will be the first Thanksgiving dinner I will not be cooking. We are going to spend Thanksgiving with my husband’s side of the family, and Aunt Faye will be making us a fantastic old-fashioned Thanksgiving meal.

    Of course, I’m not coming empty-handed. I made these Cranberry Tarts at my daughter’s birthday party recently and they were a hit with everyone. The recipe is gluten-free and nut-free, very important since we have people with gluten and nut sensitivities in the family. I use Namaste Foods Gluten Free Flour Blend.

    Namaste Foods Gluten-Free Flour Blend

    My daughter helped me make these, and it was all we could do to keep ourselves from eating them all up before it’s time to go to Thanksgiving dinner.

    Before beginning, make sure you have the following kitchen tools:
    2 mixing bowls, small or medium
    measuring cups and measuring spoons
    whisk
    wooden spoon
    mini muffin pan
    colander
    oven

    Here we go…

    Cranberry Mini Tarts

    Ingredients for Crust:
    1 1/2 cups Gluten-Free Flour Blend
    3/4 cups organic butter
    6 oz. organic cream cheese

    Ingredients for Filling:
    1/2 cup organic sugar
    1 organic egg
    1/4 cup organic butter
    1 teaspoon organic vanilla extract
    8 oz. fresh cranberries

    Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease the mini muffin pan with butter wrapper.

    Beat together gluten-free flour, butter and cream cheese until it forms a ball of dough. I don’t have an electric mixer, so I just use a wooden spoon to combine the ingredients, then knead it by hand until it’s a nice smooth consistency.

    Pinch small portions, roll them up in balls, flatten and press evenly into the bottom and sides of mini muffin cups.

    Now we’re ready for the filling. Whisk together sugar, egg, butter and vanilla.

    Wash the fresh cranberries in a colander. Put about 5 cranberries in each mini muffin cup crust. This was like playing mancala.

    Pour a small spoonful of filling over the cranberries in each mini muffin cup crust.

    Cranberry Mini Tarts Before Baking

    Bake for 25 minutes, or until the tarts are golden. Let it cool completely then remove from pan.

    Cranberry Mini Tarts

    Share these treats with your family and friends!

  • Cranberry Apple Crisp

    Cranberry Apple Crisp

    It’s Christmas Eve, the wee one is asleep and we’re finishing up the last of the presents. Time for a little midnight snack. This Cranberry Apple Crisp makes kissing by the Christmas tree taste so good!

    Ingredients:
    3 organic granny smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced into 1/2 inch strips
    6 oz fresh cranberries
    1/4 cup organic sugar
    3/4 cups organic brown sugar
    1/2 cup organic all-purpose flour
    1/2 cup rolled oats
    3/4 teaspoon nutmeg
    3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
    1/3 cup organic butter, softened

    Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

    Rub a pie pan with butter wax paper covers (I save them in the freezer for greasing baking sheets and pie pans and such). Add apples and cranberries to the pie pan. Sprinkle with sugar and toss until coated.

    Combine brown sugar, flour, rolled oats, nutmeg, cinnamon and butter in a medium bowl until well incorporated. Sprinkle on top of the fruit.

    Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown.

    You can serve it hot with ice cream. I like it warm by itself on a cold winter night.