There's really nothing like a late-night run to a liquor store with your mom. It is definitely a memorable experience for sure! I don't remember where we were coming back from (that doesn't sound bad at all), but before heading home I decided that I wanted to make this awesome recipe the next day, 'cause I'm spontaneous and awesome like that. I had seen it in this Kraft magazine and I knew I had everything I needed to make the cheesecake except . . . maraschino cherries.
My mom, being a smart lady like she is, suggested that we could maybe find cherries in a nearby liquor store because everything else was closed. Yea, apparently I couldn't wait to make this cheesecake.
So, my mother and I stopped at the only liquor store that was open and walked in hoping to find cherries.
AND CHERRIES WE FOUND! Yea, that's right, we found the cherries! But that's not the point of this story. The point of this story is how awkward it was to have my mom browse the store for another 20 minutes after we found the cherries and trying to convince her NOT to purchase the six-pack of tequila shot glasses, or any other beverage that was fruity, or margarita-looking-like, or "ooh-ooh, Mira, este tiene chocolate, o el de durazno a de estar bueno." It was like trying to reign in a six-year-old at Toys-r-Us.
Thankfully, we only walked out with the cherries. And the next day, this amazing cheesecake was born! BAM!
I was so happy, because it ALMOST came out looking just like the one in the magazine. I mean, mine is a little rough around the edges, but for it being my first time making a pineapple upside-down anything, I think it came out pretty darn delicious, gosh darn it! It tasted (past-tense because this is long gone!) like graham crackers and vanilla, and for some reason it had a hint of banana pudding taste to me (I'm not sure where that came from). Nonetheless, it was creamy and had a great cheesecake consistency. I couldn't stop licking my spoon and I definitely had way more than I was supposed to. :)
Here's the recipe:
Ingredients
2 tbsp. of brown sugar
5 tbsp. of butter, melted, divided
2 cans of pineapple slices in juice (this is what the recipe calls for, but I used fresh pineapple)
7 maraschino cherries
1 cup of graham cracker crumbs
3/4 cup of granulated sugar, plus 3 tbsp., divided
3 pkg. of cream cheese, softened
3/4 of sour cream (I ran out of sour cream and used greek yogurt instead)
2 tsp. vanilla
2 tbsp. condensed milk
3 eggs
Instructions
1. Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Mix brown sugar and 2 tbsp. of butter in a 9-inch round pan. Spread the mixture to evenly cover the bottom of the pan. Top with pineapple slices (you might have to do some cutting to fit the slices in there nicely). Place the cherries in the center of the pineapple slices.
3. Mix the graham crackers, 3 tbsp. of granulated sugar, and the remaining butter until well blended. Pour over the pineapple slices and press gently.
4. Beat cream cheese and remaining granulated sugar with mixer until it is all blended. Add sour cream (or greek yogurt), vanilla, and condensed milk. Stir, stir, stir! Then, add eggs, one at a time. Beat at a low speed just until blended. Pour that sucker over the pineapple!
5. Bake for 55 minutes to 1 hour, or until center is almost set. Run a knife through the edge to loosen the cake, and cool for 40 minutes. Invert cheesecake onto a plate and refrigerate for 3 hours.
Gah, I love sweets so much! So bad. So bad.
Buen provecho!
Maria :)
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