Chinese New Year has come and gone, and with the holiday's closing, thoughts swirl to images of pink and red, hearts and chocolate. Valentine's Day, celebrated around the world with slight variations, allows friends and lovers to express their inner feelings through flowers, candies, cards, and acts of devotion. The saints honored on February 14th were not pioneers of love, but priests martyred over a thousand years ago. In 1382, Geoffrey Chaucer wrote a poem about King Richard II and his wife, Anne of Bohemia, intertwining the young couple's romantic bond with Valentine's Day. One of my favorite traditions exists in South Korea, where women give chocolate to men on February 14th, and men give non-chocolate candy to women on March 14th. On April 14th, all of the people who did not receive gifts flock to Korean restaurants and drown their sorrows in jajangmyeon - a dish of black noodles strewn with meats, vegetables, or seafood (I feel a vegetarian version in the making).
I typically don't celebrate Valentine's Day with too much enthusiasm. Maybe a pink cookie here, a chocolate-drenched candy there. One day to express love just isn't enough, especially for my little baby chinchilla (the best, furriest Valentine ever)! So while he sleeps in his hammock, slightly swaying in a serene slumber, I think of the cheesecake I made for another Valentine, however crabby he is at times. And I will share the recipe, although I must admit, I think the final product isn't at all up to my normal caliber of cheesecake excellency. But baking is trial and error, and now I know that Oreo cream cannot substitute for sugar. . .
Valentine's Day Oreo Cheesecake with Raspberry Jam
Crust:
1 1/2 - 2 cups crushed Oreo cookie crumbs, frosting removed and set aside
3 tbsp butter, melted (more if you use more crumbs for a higher crust)
1 tbsp sugar
Filling:
(4) 8 oz. packages of cream cheese
1 tsp. extract (I used vanilla, but raspberry would be good)
Leftover cream from separated Oreos (I used a package of Christmas Oreos, and the red fillings turned my cheesecake a pretty pink color)
4 eggs
1c. of sugar (here is where I went wrong)*
Optional Decoration: 2 tbsp raspberry jam
Directions: Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Combine Oreo crumbs, butter, and sugar in bowl, and press into 9-inch springform pan, patting crumbs evenly across the bottom and up the sides. Place cream cheese in microwave-safe bowl and heat for 1 minute, until cream cheese is softened. Mix together cream cheese, sugar, Oreo creams, and extract with electric mixer until incorporated. Add eggs one at a time, mixing until each disappears into batter. Meanwhile, heat raspberry jam for 30 seconds in microwave, until thin and runny. Pour batter into springform pan, and use a spoon to to drip raspberry jam over cheesecake in the pattern of a heart. Bake for about 55 minutes, until edges are set, but middle is slightly jiggly. Use a spatula to gently separate the cheesecake from the rim, leaving the latch on the pan secure. Cool at room temperate, then refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.
*Note: When making this cheesecake last night, I realized I didn't have enough sugar, my stockpile barren of the sweet stuff. So I remembered back to making a cheesecake, substituting white chocolate for sugar in specific ratios. Thinking the same would be true for Oreo filling, I used the cream instead of sugar. While I haven't tried the refrigerated product, I did taste a little piece out of the oven. The cake was creamy and cheesy, but more like the base for a savoury, not sweet, cheesecake. So I recommend using about 1 cup of sugar in addition to the Oreo creams to really reach that sugary bite.
Coupon Deals of the Week 2/12 - 2/18
Walgreens
LypSyl Extreme Cold Sore Relief 3 oz. $5, receive 5RR
Walgreens TRUEresult Meter $14.99, $14.99 mail-in rebate
Cardio Juice $7.99, $7.99 mail-in rebate
Got2b hair products $5.99, BOGO
- use (2) $3/1 Got2b products from RP 2/11
- Both for Free
CVS
Colgate Total 4-4.2 oz. $2.75, receive 2ECB
- use $.75/1 Colgate Total from SS 2/12
Nivea Lip Care .17-.2 oz. $2.50, spend $10, receive 3 ECB
- buy 4, use (2) $3/2 Nivea lip care products from RP 2/12
Lady Speed Stick Deodorant $1.99, spend $15, receive 5ECB
- buy 8, use (4) BOGO Speed Stick deodorants from SS 1/29
Summer's Eve Feminine Cleansing Cloths 16 ct. $2.99, BOGO
- use $2/2 Summer's Eve products
Target
(Buy any 2 participating Trojan or K-Y products, receive $10 GC)
Trojan Ultra-Thin Lubricating Condoms $13.76
- $2/1 Trojan condoms 10ct or larger
K-Y Yours+Mine Kissable Sensations Lubricant $14.99
K-Y Yours+Mine Intrigue Premium Personal Lubricant $15
- $7/1 K-Y Premium product
Enough with cheesecakes and coupons, go out there and tell someone you love them (but probably not that creepy guy down the street who always winks at you while reading the newspaper on his porch while rocking in a chair producing a sound reminiscent of bones creaking in a cellar).
~ The Vegetarian Cat
(Darth Fuzzy, my shadowy feline friend, I will love you and miss you forever).
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