A recipe for a beautiful cheesecake bar swirled with lime curd.
Source: A recipe by Heather at Sprinkle Bakes, which was guest-posted on Confessions of a Cookbook Queen.
Yield: 12 large bars
Regular readers of this blog have heard me mention Pinterest several times recently. I’ve been trolling some wonderful food blogs, and happily pinning my favorite recipes, saving them for later use. I have a pin board just for cookies, another for other desserts, one for breakfast, and a fourth for other foods. If you want a preview of coming attractions on this blog, just visit these boards! I can almost guarantee my next recipe is there somewhere. This week, however, Pinterest told me something interesting.
I pinned this Lime-Cheesecake Bar recipe, and within a couple days, it had over 150 re-pins. This is more than 4 times more than it’s nearest competitor on my boards. It seemed significant. Since I had been wanting to make it anyway, and there is the added bonus that St. Patrick’s Day is only a few days away, the high repin number put me over the edge. I made my husband drive me to the grocery store for fresh limes and cream cheese, and I got busy baking. (And cleaning the kitchen, if truth be told.)
Unfortunately, this dessert came with mixed feelings for me. A recent visit with my doctor convinced me to cut back on dessert foods, but I’m not really sure how that’s going to work, what with all the cookie blogging. I figured I could easily find people to give them to, so they would still be enjoyed. As I baked, my husband was getting prepared for a computer gaming get-together, and I fully intended to send the bars with him. But, alas! He left before the bars were done.
Meanwhile, my teenage sons were planning a late-night party with a bunch of buddies from the neighborhood, so I figured I could find some takers that way. I limited myself to just one bar.
Just ONE. PRECIOUS. Sweet-lime-swirled-cream-cheese-homemade-graham-cracker-crust BAR.
With water. (Diet Dr. Pepper is also on the chopping block.)
*le sigh*…
I dirtied a lot of dishes making this heavenly dessert, and although I had a lot of fun creating something so beautiful, I wondered whether it would be worth the effort. I guess dessert food is always worth the effort for me, though, because it didn’t stop me from making the effort. It is just fun to make something so deliciously beautiful!
And take pictures of something so deliciously beautiful.
And blog about something so deliciously beautiful.
If you want to impress people with your deliciously beautiful baking, I recommend this bar highly. Very highly.
- CRUST:
- 2 cups graham cracker crumbs
- ½ cup melted butter
- CHEESECAKE:
- 2- 8 oz. packages cream cheese
- ½ cup sugar
- 2 eggs + 1 egg white
- ½ cup sour cream
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 2 T. flour
- LIME CURD:
- ½ cup softened butter
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 eggs + 2 egg yolks
- 4-5 oz. fresh lime juice (I did not use key limes, just the regular variety)
- FOR CURD: Mix together butter and sugar.
- Add eggs and yolks one at a time, mixing between each.
- Add fresh lime juice, and stir.
- Put mixture on the stove over medium-high heat. Use a thermometer, and mix and cook until mixture reaches 170 degrees.
- Remove from stove and pour into a separate dish to cool. Use green and yellow food coloring to tint curd a bright lime-green color. Cover with plastic wrap, putting wrap right against the top of the curd to keep it from getting a skin. Chill in the fridge until cool.
- FOR CRUST: Mix cracker crumbs and butter together. Press into the bottom of a 9x13 or comparable sized pan.
- Bake at 325 degrees for 5 minutes.
- FOR CHEESECAKE: With electric beaters, mix ingredients in order, one at a time.
- Reserve 1 cup cheesecake mixture, and pour the rest over the baked crust.
- TO FINISH: Mix about half (or more) of the cooled lime curd with the reserved cheesecake mixture.
- Spoon lime-cheesecake mixture over the cheesecake in big dollops.
- Spoon remaining lime curd over cheesecake in big dollops.
- Use a knife to make long passes through the cheesecake and marble everything together.
- Bake at 325 degrees for 35 minutes. Allow to cool, then chill in refrigerator before cutting into bars.
If you enjoy this recipe, you might also enjoy:
Lattice Pie Bars from Sprinkle Bakes
Cherry Limeade Pie in a Jar from Confessions of a Cookbook Queen
Perfect No-Bake Cheesecake from Get Off Your Butt and Bake
Love lime flavored treats! These look yummy! I am trying to cut back on desserts too 🙁 Also Diet Coke 🙁
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