Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Low-Fat Blueberry Swirl Cheesecake Cupcakes


I'm really loving this recipe! I found a cheesecake swirl recipe from Annie's Eats and changed it up a bit to my liking. I love cheesecake but I don't like all the fat that comes along with it so I made a low-fat version. And they are delicious! My only complaint is that the blueberry taste was not strong. Next time I'll experiment with different fruit flavors (like strawberry or raspberry) and see which one works best.

Adapted from: Annie's Eats
Printable Recipe

INGREDIENTS for the CRUST:

1 1/2 cups of finely ground graham cracker crumbs
3 tablespoons of sugar
1 teaspoon lemon zest
4 tablespoons melted margarine

INGREDIENTS for the CHEESECAKE FILLING:

2 pounds (32 ounces) of fat-free cream cheese - room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
4 large eggs

INGREDIENTS for the BLUEBERRY SWIRL:

1 cup blueberries
2 tablespoons lemon juice
4 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons sugar

DIRECTIONS for the CRUST:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

2. Line 24 muffin/cupcake tins with liners. In a small bowl, stir together the graham crackers, sugar and zest. Add the melted margarine and stir until combined. Take 1 full tablespoon of the graham cracker mixture and put into the bottom of each liner. Take a small glass and flatten the mixture into the bottom of each cupcake. Bake for 6 minutes then set aside to cool for 10 minutes.

DIRECTIONS for the CHEESECAKE FILLING:

1. In a large bowl, whip the cream cheese with an electric mixer until fluffy-about 4 minutes. Add the sugar and the vanilla and mix for another 1-2 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, while mixing and combine well.

2. Pour 3 tablespoons of cheesecake batter over each of the pre-baked crusts.

DIRECTIONS for the BLUEBERRY SWIRL:

1. Combine blueberries, lemon juice, water and sugar in a medium-sized pan. Cook on low heat for about 15 minutes or until the blueberries have broken down and become juicy.

2. Pour mixture through a fine mesh sieve. You want about 10-12 teaspoons worth of thick blueberry juice for the cupcakes.*

3. Using about 1/2 a teaspoon of the juice per cupcake, place 3 dots on each of the cupcakes.


4. Using a toothpick (and some creativity), swirl the blueberry mixture around.


5. Bake 325 F for 22-25 minutes or until the cupcakes have set.

6. Set aside to cool for 1 hour then put in the fridge for 3 hours to chill completely before serving.

* Save the remaining blueberry mixture to top ice cream or yogurt. It's delicious!

Also, be sure to 'Like' Baking Boy on Facebook or follow Baking Boy on Twitter!

Friday, September 16, 2011

MillerCoors Brewery Tour

I'm not a fan of Miller beer (sorry Miller). But recently, on a visit to Milwaukee, Rob and I decided to take a tour of the MillerCoors brewery. My favorite Milwaukee breweries are Lakefront (yum!) and Sprecher. The MillerCoors was a free tour with three free samples, so...why not. It's a massive operation so it was interesting to see. That's about it...ha! Enjoy the pics. :)

The Girl in the Moon logo...hey hey!

The bottling plant...huge.

We were like a herd of cattle being directed through the long hallways...moooove.

A massive Miller sign on the side of the brewing building. I'm dizzy.

The huge brew kettles

The Girl in the Moon, inside the cave.

If you look closely...

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

The Fonz!

So excited to finally see the famous Fonz statue in Milwaukee!

Ayyy!

Friday, September 2, 2011

Ferrante Winery

My motto: Never pass up a wine tasting opportunity.

I stick to this motto wholeheartedly. So of course when my parents suggested a wine tasting at Ferrante during my last visit to Ohio, I could not refuse. I recently got back and I miss my family already. Sad face. But I have lots of great memories. Specifically, the memory of drinking all of these wine samples in the course of 20 minutes and barely being able to walk.

Slurp, slurp, slurp.

Yeah, that was fun! Can I get a "Whooohoo!"?

The temps here have been HOT. Like 95 degrees HOT so no baking the past couple days. But...there is a cool-down this weekend and I have plans to bake now that the weather will be cooler. Can I get another "Whooohoo!"? Anyone?