Okay, wait. My actual, real-life parents are going to freak when they read the title of this post. Let me clarify. I'm not adopted in real life (or at least, that *I* know of). Nope! But! My blog and I have been adopted in Dine and Dish's wonderful Adopt-a-Blogger program, now in it's fourth cycle!
Adopt-a-Blogger is this cool program where veteran bloggers take a new foodie blogger under their wing to answer all of us new blogger's silly and simple-minded questions. It's really a great deal for us newbies. And, I am very honored to announce that I've been adopted by Kristen from Dine and Dish herself no less! (On a side note, I must have some karma in this universe to be mentored by the Kristens of this world because my undergraduate thesis co-advisor's name was also "Kristin." Coincidence much?)
Kristen runs such a great blog over at Dine and Dish, and she does so much that I can't even imagine doing, like planning a whole week's menu in advance. I'm lucky if I even have the foresight to pick up enough frozen burritos and Hot Pockets to get me through the week (okay, now you are all going to question my culinary choices, but really! I eat far, far better when school isn't in session. e.g., four to five course home-cooked meals. My roommate can back me up on that.). She's also doing a great 365 day photo challenge that you can follow via her Flickr stream. Kristen has already been such a huge help in answering my questions, and participating in Adopt-a-blogger #4 has most definitely inspired me to make some of the long-needed changes that you see happening around the blog (like, the new header! and subscription links!). So, I'm definitely grateful to be a part of this program and am looking forward to learning a ton.
Now, on to food...
Remember those meyer lemon ricotta pancakes with lemon curd and blueberries from a few weeks back? Turns out that they were such a big hit that I really wanted to make a dessert encore with the same elements. At around the same time I was mulling the idea over, my roommate introduced me to these Cinnamon Graham cookies from Trader Joe's. They're kind of like graham crackers, but on super steroids! Packed with cinnamon-y flavor (oh boy, now I sound like a cereal commercial), the Cinnamon Grahams have this great, robust, earthy and wheaty texture to them, which actually reminded me of the texture of Finn Crisps (which, if you haven't tried yet, you must). They were so much more interesting that regular graham crackers are as boring as cardboard in comparison. Then, it hit me. These Cinnamon Graham crackers would make an amazing cheesecake crust. And everything fell into place. May I present to you...
Lemon blueberry cheesecakes,
made with Cinnamon Graham crusts
Om yum yum! These mini cheesecakes are infused with a rich blueberry reduction sauce, which packs them with creamy blueberry flavor. Then, they're topped with light and tart meyer lemon curd for the ultimate lemon blueberry experience. The cinnamon kick in the crusts makes them so much more interesting than your average cheesecake. And, as a further tribute to my Icelandic roommate, these cheesecakes were made partially with Icelandic skyr, which is this yogurt-like cheese. The Icelandic skyr lends these cheesecakes a great airy texture and tenderness, more so than when using all and only cream cheese. And, blueberries + skyr is, I've been told, a classic combination of flavors. I have to say, despite having questionable taste with their putrid shark, those Icelanders did get it right with their blueberry skyr.
I ended up making mini cheesecakes and a few larger, 4.5" ones, which I piled high with layers of lemon curd, blueberry sauce, fresh blueberries and a glaze of apricot jam. While we sold the mini cheesecakes at a bakesale, the larger cheesecakes were all ours to devour. Which we did, with great satisfaction.
Read on for recipe...
