RECIPE BY ALEXA WILKINSON (THEY/THEM/SHE/HER) BLUEBERRY CHEESECAKE COFFEE CAKE unsalted BUTTER granular SUGAR Confectioners sugar brown sugar large eggs VANILLA EXTRACT LIST UNBLEACHED AP FLOUR BAKING POWDER sour cream cream cheese heavy cream FRESH BLUEBERRIES graham crackers fresh lemons SHOPPING fresh thyme ground cinnamon BLUEBERRY CHEESECAKE COFFEE CAKE This recipe is comprised of a couple of different recipes slapped together. What makes it fun is that you can kind of take it in any direction you want. Want to try Blackberry instead of blueberry? Go for it. Candied orange peel instead of lemon? Your call my friend. Basil and lime glaze instead of thyme and lemon? NOPE THAT’S CRAZY. Just kidding, please do it. Then invite me over so I can have some. Anyways, this recipe is a combination of 1) A classic bundt cake 2) no bake cheese cake 3) coffee cake crumble made with graham cracker 4) candied citrus peel It’s fun. It’s yummy. and gosh darnit, you will love it. NO BAKE CHEESECAKE: 1 cup heavy cream 16 oz full fat cream cheese (room temp) 1/2 cup sugar 3 tbl confectioners sugar 1/4 cup sour cream 2 tsp lemon juice 1 tsp vanilla extract 1) Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attach- ment, whip the cold heavy cream into stiff peaks on medium-high speed, about 4-5 minutes. Set aside. 2) Using a hand mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a whisk or paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese and granulated sugar together on medium speed until perfectly smooth and creamy. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Add the confectioners’ sugar, sour cream, lem- on juice, and vanilla extract. Beat for 2-3 minutes on medium-high speed until smooth and combined. Make sure there are no large lumps of cream cheese. If there are lumps, keep beating until smooth. 3) Using your mixer on low speed or a rubber spatula, fold the whipped cream into the cheesecake filling until combined. This takes several turns of your rubber spatula. Combine slowly as you don’t want to deflate all the air in the whipped cream. 4) CHILL OVERNIGHT PRO TIP: PRE-PREP THE NO BAKE CHEESECAKE ONE DAY AHEAD OF TIME ALSO, IF YOU WANT TO JUST USE SOUR CREAM, CREAM CHEESE, OR PRE MADE NO BAKE CHEESECAKE AND NOT MAKE THIS AHEAD OF TIME, YOU TOTALLY CAN ingredients: 1 cup brown sugar, packed 1/2 cup sugar 2 teaspoons cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 cup unsalted butter, melted 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1 cup crushed graham cracker Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly coat a 9×13 baking dish with nonstick spray or use parchment paper. To make the crumb topping, combine sugars, cinnamon and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk in melted butter. Add flour & crushed graham cracker and stir using a rubber spatula just until moist. Spread out mixture on parchment paper to dry until ready to use. FOR THIS STEP: You can either pre cook it, and mix it in with the cake batter... OR... use it as GRAHAM CRACKER COFFEE CRUMB ingredients: This part is easy and can be done while other things are 2 CUPS SUGAR being made or baking. Basically, what you’re doing is boiling 8 CUPS WATER the bitterness out of the pith. So in a small pan, add as many 1/2 cup sugar (opt) lemon peels as you want to candy. I recommend 2 lemons worth of peels for extra. peel them with enough pith so they are thick and hearty, bring the peels and water to a boil. Strain, add fresh water, and repeat 3 more times. On the 4th time, add fresh 2 cups water & 2 cups sugar. simmer until pith is translucent, then either cool & reserve in syrup OR cool and toss in addi- tional sugar until coated. PRO TIP: SAVE THE SYRUP FOR COCKTAILS CANDIED LEMON PEEL LEMON THYME GLAZE ingredients: 4 tbl lemon juice 2 cups confectioners sugar 3 tbl chopped thyme Place confectioners’ sugar in a medium bowl or liquid measuring cup; stir in lemon juice (glaze should be thick, yet pourable). Add more sugar or lemon juice, as necessary, to achieve desired consistency. THIS TAKES ABOUT 3 MINUTES TOTAL TO MAKE PRO TIP: USE A PASTRY BAG OR ZIPLOCK BAG TO HELP PUT THIS ON YOUR YUMMY CAKE! IF NOT, A SPOON WILL DO JUST FINE OK, LET’S MAKE THIS THING AFTER YOU’VE PREPPED EVERYTHING: 1 CUP SOFTENED BUTTER 2 CUPS SUGAR 2 LARGE EGGS (ROOM TEMP) 1 TSP VANILLA EXTRACT 1-3/4 CUP UNBLEACHED AP FLOUR 1 TSP BAKING POWDER 1/4 TSP SALT 2 CUPS NO BAKE CHEESECAKE FILLING 2 PINTS FRESH BLUEBERRIES 1 TO 2 CUPS GRAHAM COFFEE CRUMB 1 CUP LEMON THYME GLAZE candied lemon peel fresh thyme In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 5-7 minutes. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Sift & combine the flour, baking powder and salt; add to the creamed mixture alternately with no bake cheesecake mix, beat- ing well after each addition. Fold in 2 cup blueberries, or honestly however many you want. Spoon half of batter into a greased and sugared 10-12 inch bundt pan (or 10in fluted pan). Now we add our coffee crumble in the middle! Top with remaining batter; sprinkle with remaining coffee crumble if you desire. (This batter is THICK, so don’t be afraid to use your hands when getting it into the pan) Bake at 350° until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean, 55-60 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack to cool completely. Just before serving, top with lemon thyme glaze, candied lemon peel, fresh thyme, and fresh blue- berries. “YOUR FRIEND MOURNS YOUR LOSSES WITH YOU, BECAUSE THEY EXPERIENCE THEM TOO. THE TRUTH IS, NO MATTER HOW LONELY YOU MIGHT FEEL, YOU’RE NEVER GOING THROUGH ANYTHING ALONE....YOU CAN CHOOSE YOUR FAMILY.” -JENNIFER LOPEZ NO JOKE .