Crunchy Cheesecake Filled French Toast Food

STRAWBERRY CHEESECAKE FRENCH TOAST

Steps:

• Preheat an oven to 100 degrees F ( 40 degrees C).
• Heat mashed strawberries and 1/2 cup white sugar in a saucepan over medium heat.
• Mix cornstarch and water together in a bowl, then stir into the strawberries.
• Cook and stir until thickened, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to low and simmer while preparing remaining ingredients, stirring occasionally.
• Whisk together the milk and eggs in a bowl; set aside.
• Mash cream cheese, vanilla extract, and 3/4 cup white sugar in a bowl until smooth.
• Spread the cream cheese mixture over a triangle-shaped piece of bread, and top with another piece. Repeat with remaining bread and cream cheese mixture to make 8 triangle-shaped sandwiches.
• Heat butter in a large skillet over medium heat.
• Dip the sandwiches into the egg mixture, 2 or 3 at a time, and place in the skillet.
• Cook until golden brown on both sides, about 3 minutes per side.
• Transfer pan-fried sandwiches to a baking sheet and place in the preheated oven to keep warm while cooking remaining sandwiches.
• To serve, top French toast with warm strawberry glaze and sliced fresh strawberries and sprinkle with confectioners' sugar. Serve with a dollop of whipped cream.

CHOCOLATE CHEESECAKE-STUFFED FRENCH TOAST

Steps:

• For the French toast: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Make an incision in the center of the Pullman loaf, as if you were slicing the loaf in half but taking care not to cut through the ends or the back side of the loaf. Stick your hand inside the incision and press lightly on the bread to make a pocket for stuffing.
• In a small bowl, mix together the cream cheese and chocolate-hazelnut spread with a rubber spatula until smooth. Spoon the mixture into a resealable plastic bag; snip off a corner from the bag. Pipe the mixture into the pocket and close the seam slightly around it.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, vanilla and salt. Soak the stuffed loaf in the egg mixture, rotating it, until all the custard is absorbed, about 12 minutes.
• Melt the butter over medium heat in a large oven-safe nonstick skillet. Gently remove the French toast from the custard pan and place in the hot skillet; cook until golden brown on all sides except the side with the pocket, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Transfer the skillet to oven and bake until firm and an inserted metal skewer comes out dry, about 15 minutes.
• For the raspberry compote: Meanwhile, place the raspberries, granulated sugar and orange juice in a small bowl. Partially mash the fruit with the back of a fork. Set aside to macerate.
• Remove the French toast from the oven and let rest for 10 minutes before cutting into slices. Serve drizzled with raspberry compote and dusted with powdered sugar.

PERFECT CHEESECAKE EVERYTIME

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Whisk together the crushed graham crackers, the 1 teaspoon sugar, cinnamon, and walnuts. Stir in the butter. Press the mixture into the bottom of a 9 inch springform pan.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes. Remove from oven; allow crust to cool.
• Beat the cream cheese with the eggs on medium-low with an electric mixer until smooth. Beat in the 1 cup sugar and vanilla. Fold in the sour cream just until blended. Do not overmix; ovemixing causes the cheesecake to crack. Pour into the cooled crust.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes. Turn oven off. When the cheesecake has reached room temperature, chill in refrigerator for 8 hours before serving.

STRAWBERRY CHEESECAKE FRENCH TOAST

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Grease an 8-inch round baking dish with butter or cooking spray and set aside. Cut 1-inch-wide and 1-inch-deep holes in each roll. Whisk together the eggs, milk, brown sugar and vanilla in a medium bowl. Dip each roll in the egg mixture and place in the baking dish.
• Beat the cream cheese with the lemon zest, honey and jam in a bowl with a mixer. Fold in the strawberries. Place the mixture in a piping bag and fill each hole in the rolls with the cream cheese mixture. Sprinkle the granulated sugar over the top of the rolls.
• Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the tops of the rolls are crisp and golden brown. Serve with more strawberries, confectioners' sugar and syrup for topping.

CRUNCHY CHEESECAKE-FILLED FRENCH TOAST

Steps:

• Heat oven to 350°F.
• Mix cream cheese and granulated sugar until blended. Spread each of 4 bread slices with 2 Tbsp. cream cheese mixture. Cover with remaining bread slices to make 4 sandwiches.
• Spray baking sheet with cooking spray. Whisk eggs and milk in shallow dish until blended. Place crushed cereal in separate shallow dish. Dip sandwiches, 1 at a time, into egg mixture, then cereal, turning to evenly coat both sides of each sandwich with each ingredient. Place on prepared baking sheet. Press cereal gently into sandwiches to secure.
• Bake 20 min. or until golden brown. Cut each sandwich diagonally in half; top with fruit. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Serve with syrup.

RICH AND CREAMY CHEESECAKE

Steps:

• Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 325 degrees. Place foil over bottom disk of a 9-inch springform pan, tucking excess underneath disk; assemble pan. Pull up foil around pan sides. Brush interior of pan with butter. Sprinkle graham cracker crumbs into pan, tilting it in all directions to coat evenly with crumbs. Cover exterior of pan with a sheet of heavy-duty foil and set in a large roasting pan. Bring a kettle of water to a boil for water bath.
• Meanwhile, beat cream cheese with an electric mixer until smooth. Gradually add sugar and beat on medium speed until it is fully incorporated, about 3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until just incorporated and scraping down bowl after each addition. Add zest and vanilla and beat until just incorporated. Stir in cream and sour cream by hand.
• Pour batter into springform pan. Set roasting pan on oven rack, set springform pan in it, and pour in enough boiling water to come about halfway up the side of springform pan. Bake until perimeter of cake is set but center jiggles when pan is tapped, 55 to 60 minutes. Turn off heat and leave oven door ajar, using a long-handled kitchen fork or spoon if necessary to hold it open for 1 hour. Remove springform pan from water bath and set on a wire rack; cool to room temperature. Cover and refrigerate until chilled, at least 4 hours. Cheesecake can be refrigerated for up to 4 days.

TALL AND CREAMY CHEESECAKE

Steps:

• To make the crust: Butter a 9-inch springform pan - choose one that has sides that are 2 3/4 inches high (if the sides are lower, you will have cheesecake batter left over) - and wrap the bottom of the pan in a double layer of aluminum foil.
• Stir the crumbs, sugar and salt together in a medium bowl. Pour over the melted butter and stir until all of the dry ingredients are uniformly moist. (I do this with my fingers.) Turn the ingredients into the springform pan and use your fingers to pat an even layer of crumbs along the bottom of the pan and about halfway up the sides. Don't worry if the sides are not perfectly even or if the crumbs reach above or below the midway point on the sides. Put the pan in the freezer while you preheat the over. (The crust can be covered and frozen for up to 2 months.)
• Center a rack in the over, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and place the springform on a baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes. Set the crust aside to cool on a rack while you make the cheesecake.
• Reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees.
• To make the cheesecake: Put a kettle of water on to boil.
• Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with the paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the cream cheese at medium speed until it is soft and creamy, about 4 minutes. With the mixer running, add the sugar and salt and continue to beat for another 4 minutes or so, until the cream cheese is light. Beat in the vanilla. Add the eggs, one by one, beating for 1 full minute after each addition - you want a well-aerated batter. Reduce the mixer speed to low and stir in the sour cream and/or heavy cream.
• Put the foil-wrapped springform pan in a roasting pan that is large enough to hold the pan with some space around it.
• Give the batter a few stirs with a rubber spatula, just to make sure that nothing has been left unmixed at the bottom of the bowl, and scrape the batter into the springform pan. The batter will reach the rim of the pan. (If you have a pan with lower sides and have leftover batter, you can bake the batter in a buttered ramekin or small soufflé mold.) Put the roasting pan in the oven and pour enough boiling water into the roaster to come halfway up the sides of the springform pan.
• Bake the cheesecake for 1 hour 30 minutes, at which point the top will be browned (and perhaps cracked) and may have risen just a little above the rim of the pan. Turn off the oven's heat and prop the oven door open with a wooden spoon. Allow the cheesecake to luxuriate in its water bath for another hour.
• After 1 hour, carefully pull the setup out of the oven, lift the springform pan out of the roaster - be careful, there may be some hot water in the aluminum foil - and remove the foil. Let the cheesecake come to room temperature on a cooling rack.
• When the cake is cool, cover the top lightly and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, although overnight is better.
• At serving time, remove the sides of the springform pan - you can use a hairdryer to do this - and set the cake on a serving platter.

CRUNCHY STRAWBERRY STUFFED FRENCH TOAST

Steps:

• In a small bowl, mix together cream cheese, strawberry preserves and powdered sugar until smooth.
• In a shallow bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, sugar and vanilla.
• Place crushed corn flakes in another shallow bowl.
• Spread cream cheese mixture thickly on one side of one piece of bread.
• Top with another slice of bread, making a sandwich.
• Cut in half diagonally.
• Melt a little butter in skillet.
• Dip both sides of sandwich in egg mixture and then in corn flakes.
• Fry in melted butter until golden brown on both sides. (Add a little more butter to pan with each batch.).
• Place on serving dish and sprinkle with additional powdered sugar.
• Garnish with strawberry fans.
• Serve with maple syrup and whipped cream, if desired.