Cheesecake Recipe from Janis and Minnesota pictures

October 19, 2010

Wade and I are back in Destin after a long weekend trip to Minneapolis for a visit with my brother and sister in law, Edwin and Becky Everett. We had a wonderful time. Of course all of the leaves were changing colors and falling and everything was just gorgeous.
Edwin and Hammond, had lots to talk about and Becky and I had alot of fun catching up and shopping. Everyone in Wade's family calls him Hammond, his middle name..... but when I met him he was introduced as Wade so I end up using both, Wade and Hammond!  Becky took me to Pottery Barn and Renovation Hardware in Saint Paul Saturday. That was a treat for me!! Saturday night we all went to the Fitzgerald Theatre for Garrison Keillor's Prarie Home Companion. Everyone really enjoyed it even Dylan and Joey. Joey especially liked the sound affects guy! Dylan liked the music and Zac, like the rest of us, enjoyed everything. One of my favorite authors Alexander McCall Smith was a guest on the show. He is the author of the series of books The Number 1 Ladies Detective Agency.  I loved those stories and the HBO series based on the books was very good also.

The following pictures are of Gale Woods Farm, outside of Minneapolis. We were there
Thursday for a tract meet that nephew Zac was running in.

Edwin, Wade, Dylan, Becky and Joey waiting for the run to start.  Yes Dylan and Joey are almost as tall as their Mom. Sweet Boys!!

This view is of the left side of the barn complex. This section has a dinning hall/conference room, book store, showers and lockers. Metal screened structure on the side is the chicken pen. Doors on the side of the main barn allow the chickens to go into for their roost and to get out of the cold weather in winter.

Giant pumpkin and gourd display in front entrance.

The sheep were housed on the right side of the center section, where the cattle are housed. Very nice barn.  This farm is part of the park system, and is used for educational and recreational purposes by the community. Beautiful setting.

Picture of the Track teams lined up to start the 5K run.  Zac did great and came in with the top 10 percent of the group.  Not sure of the exact time but we were surprised they ran it so fast. They started coming in around 17 min. which I thought was really good. :) 

Zac was on the far side in solid blue tank.

Cheesecake Recipe From Janis

This cheesecake recipe was given to me by my dear friend and college room mate, Janis Vines. She passed away with cancer just before Tricia was born in 1982. I think of her often and especially during fall, her favorite time of year.

This cake has 3 layers. The crust or first layer has the consistency of a chocolate brownie, then the strawberry pie filling, and last the chocolate cream cheese layer.  Oh my goodness it is sooo good.  Great to make ahead and serve for dessert at a family get together or party during the holidays.


Chocolate Strawberry Cheesecake

1/2 cup butter room temperature
4 1ounce squares of unsweetened baking chocolate
1 1/2 cup sugar for 1st layer
3/4 cup sugar for 2nd layer
1/4 cup whole milk
2 tsp vanilla extract divided
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
3 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese softened
1/2 cup sour cream
2 1 oz. semisweet choco. baking squares melted
1 cup canned strawberry pie filling

First Layer:

Preheat oven to 325.
Lightly grease 9" springform pan.

Melt butter and unsweetened chocolate squares in a 3 qt. heavy saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and cool 5 min.
Stir in 1 1/2 cups sugar.
Add 2 eggs, 1 each time, stirring to blend well after each addition.
Add milk and 1 tsp vanilla
Add flour and salt, stirring until well blended. Spread mixture evenly into a lightly greased springform pan. Bake for 25 min. Remove from oven and let cool in pan on wire rack.

Second Layer:

Set oven to 300 degrees.

Melt semi sweet chocolate, stirring constantly, set aside.

Beat room temperature cream cheese and 3/4 cup sugar, using mixer medium speed, until well blended. Add 1 tsp of vanilla, beating just until blended.
Add 3 eggs, 1 each time, beating just until blended after each egg.....(when the yellow blends add another)
Add sour cream and melted semi sweet chocolate, beating just until blended.

Now you are ready to assemble the cheesecake.
Spoon strawberry filling over chocolate cake layer and then layer chocolate and cream cheese mixture over pie filling.
Bake at 300 for 65 to 70 min. or until edges of cheesecake are set, (the center will not appear set)
Turn off the oven and let cheesecake stand in oven for 15 min.  After 15 min. in the cooling oven, take the cheesecake out, run a knife around edge to loosen sides. Important to Cool completly on wire rack. Then cover and chill in refrigerator for at least 8 hours.....Serve with a dollop of whipped cream with a fresh strawberry on top or a teaspoon of pie filling.