Oreo Cheesecake & Strawberry Oatmeal Jam Bars... and CIA!

I can't save this news for last; I got accepted to the Culinary Institute of America for Winter 2007 in the AOS program for Baking and Pastry! The woman called me yesterday on the phone to congratulate me; My dream come true is really happening.

Anyway, let me report on some backed up culinary adventures since there are gonna be another good handful with the upcoming days including my mother's birthday which is today. I am in the process of making a slightly altered version of an authentic Silician Cassata Cake or Cannoli Cake. Everyone is greatly anticipating this tonight for dessert... as am I.

Last weekend during my families time of mourning we all gathered everyday for about 4 days and what would any family event be without an over abundence of food. I wanted to keep morale up and tried to do so one of the best ways I know how - providing delicious comforting desserts. I received an interesting magazine from a co-worked who knew my love for baking and desserts after showing up at work with goodies to share; It was a Kraft Food and Family magazine she received in the mail. I browsed through and everything was mostly easy and quick recipes for food and desserts. Like, use these Kraft's products here, use this brownie mix for these... kinda thing; You get the picture. On the back cover however was a very inticing picture for Oreo Cheesecake Bars; Oreo's being a Kraft division product of course. The recipe is prepared with ease and minimal ingredients and looked so delicious; who doesn't love Oreos? This was my first venture in cheesecake and putting together the ingredients was simple however judging bake time and cutting these bars were not.
Oreo Cheesecake Bars
adapted from Kraft Food & Family Magazine (Backcover)

1 pkg. Oreo cookies, divided
1/4 cup butter, melted
4 pkg. (8 oz each) Cream Cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup sour cream
4 eggs

Preheat oven to 325 degrees and prepare a greased 13X9 baking dish (the original called for foil but I've never used that method).

Place 30 of the cookies into a food processor and process until finely ground. Add butter and mix well. Press firmly to bottom of prepared pan.

Beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add sour cream; mix well. Add eggs, one at a time, beating just until blended after each addition. Chop the remaining cookies and fold into cheesecake mixture (You can reserve some to sprinkle on top but I forgot).

Bake 45 minutes or until center is set. Cool and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight. Cut into bars and serve! I cut mine much more bite size than the original serving suggestion of 16; these are dense and filling.


I also made my favorite loved Oatmeal Jam Bars which I filled with Strawberry Preserves. I first blogged about them - here where you'll find the recipe as well. This time I actually had enough ingredients so I could double the crust and still put a generous amount of crumbles on top. Delicious as usual... I think raspberry preserves are still my favorite for these. These bars always get raved about and they are so adaptable to different fillings; Next time I would really like to tried a spiced pear butter. They work better in my opinion with a mild sweetness to the filling as opposed to very sweet.

I'm off to continue birthday baking and blog reading for the morning.

Oatmeal Blackberry Jam Bars and Irresistable Holiday Mags

Company is always an excuse to bake, even when it's not your own company. I love to feed others with my baking creations, try out and perfect recipes while they enjoy. Yesterday's recipe was a one I had done a couple weeks ago - raspberry jam bars but I mixed it up with some blackberry perserves instead.



Originally, I planned to double the crust to make them even more irresistable but I had only enough brown sugar for one recipes worth. The idea didn't occur to put it in a smaller pan to make the crust thicker until after it was well into baking.

When I got home from work, the pan was already half gone; success! I had my little share of bars as well when I got home. The buttery crust and crumble top were sandwiched between the not-too-sweet deep violet blackberry perserve creating the most wonderful slighty savory/sweet treat. Anything with crumbles has a special place in my heart; I hear an apple pie calling my name in the near future with homemade buttery crust, piled sky-high orchird apples, and mountain top crumbs.

Oatmeal Blackberry Jam Bars
adapted from Real Simple Magazine

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
3/4 cup unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats
1 1/2 cups blackberry preserves (or your choice jam/preserves)

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Place flour, sugar, salt, and baking soda and butter into a large bowl and combine with hands until a crumbly dough forms. Toss in oats lightly.

Press 2/3 of dough firmly into 9X13 greased baking pan. Spread jam evenly over crust. Sprinkle remaining dough over jam, gently pressing down. Bake until golden brown, let cool 2 hours. Cut into 24 bars (yea right!). Store in airtight container.

Original Yield - 2 dozen bars (or however many you'd like).

In other news, everytime I go to a supermarket, convenience store, ok- pretty much any store, I see holiday baking magazines calling my name from the rack. Praline and cream cake calls from the cover just begging to be bought; their wishes are answered and I, in turn, become more broke. I can't go to any of these places without leaving with one of these oh-so-special-limited-edition food porn magazines. For the $8.00 dollars I paid, Paula Dean should come to my house and show me how to make the recipes.


Alas, Family beware - get in your extra treadmill miles and stair stepping classes now; your probably doomed.