An Announcement and a Cheesecake

Drumroll Please!

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I'm a Daring Baker!

The Daring Bakers are a group of people from all over the world that participate in monthly baking challenges selected by the members themselves. And I was accepted into the group!!

Each month I will be making some kind of new adventurous baked good and posting about the experience on my blog.

And lucky for you tomorrow (the 1st of the month) is the appointed day! Come back tomorrow to see what kind of crazy challenge they came up with this month and what I had to go through to make it.

I'll share lots of pics and links to other Daring Bakers so you can check out their creations too.

Now, on to the cheesecake.

For a meeting of ladies that I am attending tonight I was asked to bring a cheesecake. (I'm kind of a cheesecake specialist.) I wanted to do something stunning, but not too difficult. When I opened up my latest issue of Woman's Day I found a gorgeous recipe that I just had to try.

Blueberry Key Lime Cheesecake

Crust

10 shortbread cookies, crushed (I used Pecan Sandies)

1 T. butter, melted

Filling

3 (8 oz) pkgs. cream cheese, softened

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup sour cream

3 eggs

1 T. grated lime zest

1/3 cup fresh lime juice

1 t. vanilla extract

1 drop green food color (optional)

Blueberry Topping

1/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 t. cornstarch

3 T. water

3 cups fresh blueberries

1 T. lime juice

Heat oven to 325 and spray an 8 inch springform pan with nonstick spray.

Mix cookies and butter until moist. Press into pan. Bake for 10 mins.

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add sour cream and mix well. Beat in eggs one at a time. Beat in remaining ingredients just until smooth and creamy. Pour over crust.

Bake for 60 minutes or until cake is almost set and center still jiggles slightly when touched. Remove to rack to cool. Slide knife around edge of pan. When cool, refrigerate overnight or at least 8 hours before serving. (Cake will sink as it cools).

In a small saucepan mix the sugar, cornstarch and water for topping. Add 1 cup blueberries. Mash with a potato masher and cook on medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture has boiled for at least one minute and has thickened. Add lime juice and 1/2 cup whole blueberries. Pour over cooled cake. Cover top of cake with remaining whole blueberries.

Isn't it beautiful? It really turned out exactly like the picture in the magazine. I can't wait to try it tonight.

Head over to Tempt My Tummy Tuesday for some more yummy recipes.