Caramel Apple Cheesecake

Anything that Paula Deen cooks you can almost guarantee to be good.  She does not worry about calories, but you usually go away from the table saying that it was worth the calories.  I know I plan to have at least a small slice.  What a beautiful presentation.



Printable Version:
https://sites.google.com/site/whatscookingsherry/carmel-apple-cheesecake

Ingredients:
1- 21 ounce can apple pie filling
1- 9" graham cracker crust
2- 8ounce cream cheese - room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
1/4 cup carmel topping
12 pecan halves + 2 tablespoons chopped pecans
Method:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Reserve 3/4 cup apple pie filling; set aside.
3. Spoon remaining filling into the bottom of the crust.
4. Beat together cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla until smooth.
5. Add eggs and mix well. Pour over apple pie filling. Bake 30 minutes. Cool to room temperature.
6. Mix reserved pie filling and carmel topping in saucepan and heat 1 minute. Spoon mixture over top of cheesecake and spread evenly in the middle. Decorate the edges with the whole pecans. Add chopped pecans in the middle. Refrigerate.

Strawberry Pie

This is one of my favorite strawberry pie recipes. When I come to Oregon, Carolyn, our host, always asks for it.  Since she lets us stay in her little house for free, it is the least I can do.  I also pick her strawberries, which are more plentiful than one can imagine.



Printable Recipe:
https://sites.google.com/site/whatscookingattheedwards/strawberry-pie
Method
Mash 1/3 cup of strawberries with a potato masher or fork. Fill the rest of the cup with water. Add 1 cup sugar with 3 Tablespoons of cornstarch.  Cook over medium heat until thick. Add red food color to get the color you want.  When I buy strawberries in the grocery store, I like to add food coloring because they pick those while they are still green.  Chet and Carolyn's strawberries rippen on the vine before I pick them so they do not need one drop of food coloring.

Cool this mixture.  Put 2 pints of strawberries less the 1/3 cup you mashed into a pre-baked pie shell.  I like to use vanilla wafer crust or cocolate wafer pie crusts, but I couldn't find those in the grocery store in Newport. So I just bought a pie shell and cooked it ahead of time.  Top the whole strawberries with the strawberry mixture and top with whipped cream. If you aren't planning to eat the whole pie at one sitting, I suggest you leave the whipped cream off and top each piece of pie with dollops of whipped cream. You may want to garnish with an extra strawberry.

Coconut Cream Pie

I found the recipe for coconut cream pie in the Express New several years ago. Jud's favorite pie is coconut cream and I have made many variations of this pie.  Once I found this recipe and tried it, I threw away all the other recipes. Now, this is the only one I make.

Printable Recipe:
https://sites.google.com/site/whatscookingattheedwards/coconut-cream-pie


Ingredients for filling:
2 cups milk
3 eggs, separated (whites for meringue)
1/2 cup sugar \
4 Tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cup coconut, shredded
Ingredients for meringue
3 egg whites
1/2 cup sugar
pinch of salt

Use a prebaked pie shell and fill with cooled filling.  I use a double boiler and add milk, egg yolks, sugar, and flour.  Stir constantly over medium heat until thickened.  Take off heat and add vanilla and coconut.  While filling is cooling, beat egg whites with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Slowly add sugar and a pinch of salt. 

Pour filling into the prebaked pie shell and add meringue on top.  Put ina 359 degree oven and bake until meringue is slightly browned.  If you desire, you can add a sprinkle of coconut to the top of the meringue before you bake it.