Cooking In, Dessert, Quick PostKerry Alaric CheeseboroDecember 22, 2014cheesecake, Cooking In, crust, Dessert, ginger, holidays, jam, jelly, nostalgia, peanut butter, pie, plum, Quick Post, sauce, strawberry, toppingComment

Tidings of Comfort Food and Joy

KAC FOOD HOME KITCHEN | I guess the holidays bring out the nostalgia in me, if not most people. And that nostalgia seems to seep into many as well, as the most innocuous of foods get doctored with flavors as pumpkin, mint, gingerbread, egg nog, and so on.

I was not immune to that particular inspiration, but chose to impart that type of culinary nostalgia into a dish that I could rightfully enjoy outside of the holiday season—any time of the year.

So I whipped some peanut butter into some softened cream cheese and sour cream, added a little vanilla and more than a little sugar, poured that into a pie shell and put that in the oven. While that baked, I heated some strawberry and plum jams in a sauce pan with fresh ginger, lemon juice, and just a tad more sugar. Once the cheesecake pie came out of the oven, I let that sit on the counter until it got to room temperature. Once the sauce got to room temperature I poured it over the chilled pie. I, somehow, left this PB&J Cheesecake Pie in the fridge for a couple more hours undisturbed, letting it further chill so the cheesecake would have that perfectly creamy firmness, the jam sauce would become even glaze, and the crust would stay flaky and crumbly.

By the time I allowed myself to sink my teeth into a slice, all the effort and patience was richly rewarded with two-tiered pleasure of enjoying the most nostalgic of comfort foods in such a traditional dessert format.

And now I have a recipe where I can celebrate the joys evoked by this holiday season any time of the year!