Blackberry Cheesecake Torte

I'm sure you've heard this from me before, but you're not going to find a lot of cheesecake recipes on here. Whenever I see a recipe that takes 4 blocks of cream cheese, I skip over it, no matter how good it looks. I could tell myself, "The serving sizes are very small, so it's not so bad." But who am I kidding? No one's taking a tiny slice if it's that good. But this recipe miraculously only uses ONE! And it is oh, so good. I got it off the back of the package of blackberries, which isn't always the best source, and I'm not a huge fan of blackberries anyway, but the result was amazing. You've got to try it!

Printable Recipe

Blackberry Cheesecake Torte

1 package (12 oz) frozen blackberries, thawed and drained

1 cup granulated sugar, divided

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

9-inch graham cracker crumb crust

1 package cream cheese (8 oz), softened

2 large eggs

In a small bowl, combine 1/2 cup sugar & cinnamon, and sprinkle over the berries, tumbling and coating them. Let sit 10 minutes.

In an ample bowl, beat cream cheese and 1/2 cup sugar on medium speed until well blended.

Beat in eggs, one at a time.

Pour filling into the crust.

Bake at 300 degrees for 40 minutes, until filling is set.

Remove from the oven, and arrange berries on top.

Bake 10 minutes, until the sugar on the berries is melted.

Let the torte cool partially.

Top with whipped cream if desired. Serve warm

Makes 8 servings.

Fluffy Pancakes

Pancakes are one of my absolute favorite breakfast foods, and I love it when they're tall and fluffy. But I've always had trouble getting them just right. We've tried several different recipes that have been pretty good, but this one had 5 stars and almost 4,000 reviews, so I figured it must be pretty good. It definitely lived up to it's name of "Fluffy Pancakes." They didn't take a lot of work, but I think in the future I'm going to try buttermilk instead of the soured milk, just to see if there's any difference in taste. If you have a smaller family, you can cut this recipe in half, but this barely fed three boys and I even without my husband home.

Printable Recipe

Fluffy Pancakes 

from All Recipes

1-1/2 cups milk

4 tablespoons white vinegar

2 cups all-purpose flour

4 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt

2 eggs
4 tablespoons butter, melted

Combine milk with vinegar in a medium bowl and set aside for 5 minutes to "sour".

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl.

Whisk eggs and butter into "soured" milk.

Pour the flour mixture into the wet ingredients and whisk until lumps are gone.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat, and coat with cooking spray.

Pour 1/4 cupfuls of batter onto the skillet, and cook until bubbles appear on the surface.

Flip with a spatula, and cook until browned on the other side.

Makes 16 pancakes.