Raspberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

It’s a lazy Sunday morning at Casa Catastrophe with nothing more pressing to do than get caught up on missed TV episodes, so my daughter, Bashful, and I decided to bake this coffee cake that we found in one of my old Pillsbury cookbooks. Not only did it taste delicious, but it looked lovely! Like something purchased from a fancy bakery. It was pretty easy to make, too. Don’t let the lengthy list of ingredients or instructions scare you. The hardest part to me was getting the crust evenly up the sides of the springform pan. But don’t worry about making it perfectly even. Ours was such a mess but it turned out looking great!

RASPBERRY CREAM CHEESE COFFEE CAKE

• 2¼ cups flour
• ¾ cup sugar
• ¾ cup butter or margarine
• ½ tsp. baking powder
• ½ tsp. baking soda
• ¼ tsp. salt
• ¾ cup sour cream
• 1 tsp. almond extract
• 1 egg
• 1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
• ¼ cup sugar
• 1 egg
• ½ cup raspberry preserves
• ½ cup sliced almonds

1. Heat oven to 350ºF.
2. Grease with shortening and flour bottom and sides of 9 or 10-inch springform pan.
3. In large bowl, mix flour and ¾ cup sugar.
4. With pastry blender or fork, cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
5. Reserve 1 cup crumb mixture.
6. To remaining crumb mixture in bowl, stir in baking powder, baking soda, salt, sour cream, almond extract and 1 egg until blended.
7. Spread batter about ¼-inch thick over bottom and 2 inches up sides of pan.
8. In small bowl, mix cream cheese, ¼ cup sugar and 1 egg until blended.
9. Pour into batter-lined pan.
10. Carefully spoon preserves evenly over cream cheese mixture.
11. In another small bowl, mix reserved crumb mixture and sliced almonds together.
12. Sprinkle over preserves.
13. Bake 45 to 55 minutes or until cream cheese filling is set and crust is deep golden brown.
14. Cool 15 minutes; remove side of pan.
15. Serve warm or cool.
16. Store in refrigerator.

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Weight Watchers Lime Panna Cotta

My family loves creamy, rich Panna Cotta, but let’s face it – it’s not exactly the lowest calorie dessert out there. However, I do have the Weight Watchers PointsPlus Cookbook sitting on my bookshelf, and browsing through it I was more than pleased to discover that it contained a recipe for a low-fat Panna Cotta! I decided to give it a try and was pleasantly surprised. Of course, there’s nothing like the flavor of a full-cream Panna Cotta, but when you’re trying to cut down on the calories, this really was a good substitute.

LIME PANNA COTTA WITH BERRY COMPOTE

• 1-1/2 tsp. unflavored gelatin
• 1 cup fat-free half-and-half
• 1/3 cup plus 1 tbsp. sugar
• 1 tsp. grated lime zest
• pinch salt
• 3/4 cup low-fat buttermilk
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 cup fresh raspberries
• 1/3 cup fresh blueberries
• 1 tbsp. water

1. Spray four 6-oz. custard cups or ramekins with nonstick spray.
2. Sprinkle gelatin over 1/2 cup of the half-and-half in small bowl. Let stand until gelatin softens, about 5 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, combine remaining 1/2 cup half-and-half, 1/3 cup of the sugar, the lime zest, and salt in medium saucepan and set over medium heat. Cook, whisking, until sugar is dissolved, about 2 minutes. Increase heat to medium-high, bring just to boil, and remove saucepan from heat. Whisk in gelatin mixture, cover, and let stand 10 minutes. Pour through fine sieve set over medium bowl.
4. Whisk buttermilk and vanilla into strained mixture. Divide mixture evenly among prepared custard cups. Refrigerate until thoroughly chilled and set, at least 4 hours or up to 1 day.
5. To make sauce, combine 1/2 cup of the raspberries, the blueberries, remaining 1 tablespoon sugar, and the water in small saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to boil and cook, stirring often, until blueberries pop and sauce begins to thicken, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in remaining 1/2 cup raspberries. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
6. To serve, run thin-bladed knife around edge of each custard cup; then dip cups into bowl of hot water, holding them there about 15 seconds. Immediately invert cups onto plate. Top each with 2 tablespoons of the sauce.

ONE SERVING (1 custard with 2 tablespoons sauce) = 4 POINTS

NOTE:  I followed the Panna Cotta recipe as is, but I didn’t have any raspberries or blueberries so instead of making the Berry Sauce, I made an Apricot Sauce to go with it by first draining a can of Lite Apricot Halves, and then pureeing the fruit with an immersion blender. Stir in a little squeeze of lemon juice and you’re good to go. If you want it sweeter, just add some Splenda to taste.