Neapolitan Cream Cheese Bars Food

NEAPOLITAN BARS

Steps:

• Line a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking pan with waxed paper; grease the paper and set aside., In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. , Divide dough in thirds. Tint one portion green and one portion red; leave the remaining portion white. Add chocolate chips to green portion, cherries to red portion and coconut and rum extract to white portion. Spread one portion into prepared pan. Bake at 350° for 7-9 minutes or until edges are golden brown., Immediately invert onto a wire rack and remove waxed paper. Place another wire rack on top and turn over. Cool completely. Repeat with remaining portions, preparing pan each time., Place pink layer on a large piece of plastic wrap, about 30 in. long. Spread with cherry preserves. Top with white layer and spread with apricot preserves. Top with green layer. Bring plastic over layers. Slide onto a baking sheet and set a cutting board on top to compress layers. Refrigerate overnight., With a sharp knife, trim 1/4 in. from each edge. Cut into bars. Store in an airtight container.

CONTEST-WINNING NEAPOLITAN CHEESECAKE

Steps:

• Place a greased 9-in. springform pan on a double thickness of heavy-duty foil (about 18 in. square). Securely wrap foil around pan. , In a small bowl, combine the cookie crumbs, sugar and butter. Press onto the bottom of pan; set aside., In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Beat in the flour, cream and extracts. Add eggs; beat on low speed just until combined. Divide batter into thirds., In a microwave, melt chocolate chips; cool to room temperature. Stir melted chocolate into one portion of batter; pour over crust. In a food processor, puree strawberries. Add pureed strawberries and food coloring if desired to another portion; gently spread over chocolate layer. Place springform pan in a large baking pan; add 1 in. of hot water to larger pan., Bake at 325° for 40 minutes or until center is just set and top appears dull. Gently spread remaining batter over top. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until top appears dull. Remove springform pan from water bath. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Carefully run a knife around edge of pan to loosen; cool 1 hour longer. Refrigerate overnight., Remove sides of pan. Drizzle jam over cheesecake; garnish with strawberries and whipped cream.

NEAPOLITAN CHEESECAKE BARS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350°F with the oven rack placed in the middle of the oven.
• Crust:
• In a medium bowl, stir the cookie crumbs, sugar, butter, and salt to combine. Spray a 9x13-inch pan with nonstick spray and line with parchment. Press the crumb mixture evenly onto the base of the pan.
• Transfer the pan to the oven and bake until the crust appears set and smells toasty, 10 to 12 min. Cool completely. Turn down the oven to 325°F.
• Filling:
• In a medium saucepan, combine the strawberries, lemon juice and 1/2 cup of the granulated sugar. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the berries have broken down and are very soft, 4 to 5 min. Press the mixture through a strainer; reserve the juice in a small bowl. Let cool while you make the cheesecake batter. Discard the strawberry solids in strainer.
• In the bowl of a food processor, process the cream cheese and the remaining 1-1/4 cups sugar to combine, 2 to 3 min. Add the eggs, one at a time, and process just until each is combined, stopping to scrape the bowl a few times throughout the process. Then, add the vanilla.
• Scoop 1/3 of the batter into the bowl with the strawberry juice and stir to combine. Scoop another 1/3 of the batter into another bowl. Melt the chocolate, then fold it into the second bowl of cheesecake batter. (This works best when the chocolate is freshly melted.) Transfer both the strawberry cheesecake batter and the chocolate cheesecake batter into separate disposable pastry bags or zip-top bags.
• Pour the remaining cheesecake batter over the cooled crust. Cut a 1/2-inch opening from one bottom corner of each pastry bag. Use the bags to drizzle many random lines of the chocolate and strawberry cheesecake batters on top of the plain cheesecake batter in pan.
• Gently transfer the cheesecake to the oven, and bake until the edges appear set but the center still appears slightly jiggly, 45 to 50 min. Cool at room temperature for 45 min., then refrigerate for at least 4 hours before slicing and serving.

NEAPOLITAN FUDGE

Steps:

• Line a 13x9-in. pan with foil and grease foil with butter. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese until fluffy. Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar. Beat in melted milk chocolate. Spread into prepared pan. Refrigerate 10 minutes., For vanilla layer, in a large bowl, beat cream cheese until fluffy. Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar. Beat in melted white chocolate and vanilla. Spread over chocolate layer. Refrigerate 10 minutes., For raspberry layer, in a large bowl, beat cream cheese until fluffy. Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar. Beat in melted white chocolate and raspberry extract. If desired, tint with food coloring. Spread over top. Refrigerate, covered, at least 8 hours or overnight., Using foil, lift fudge out of pan. Remove foil; cut fudge into 1-in. squares. Store between layers of waxed paper in an airtight container in the refrigerator.