Tommy Bahama Pineapple Caramel Cheesecake - tweaked recipe.

Have you heard of Tommy Bahama clothing? It's the island-style wear that's pretty darned expensive but it's all made of beautiful quality material. It's long-lasting. I like to go into the store and simply touch the clothing to feel the textures. Have you ever done that? LOL

Well, Tommy Bahama also has a chain of restaurants. I was lucky enough to be invited to dinner. Imagine island music (or at least Jimmy Buffet), fruity drinks, palm trees in pots, rattan furniture. It all puts you in a relaxing mood. Whenever I go to places like this, I try to drink in all the environment, and if I can, remember to put that into my writing.

Setting is so important, isn’t it?

Lucky for me, the restaurant had a gluten-free menu. Isn't that fabulous! So many places are getting into the swing of this. PF Chang's, Outback Steakhouse, even Wendy's! People with allergies are able to eat out again.

But I digress. At Tommy B's, I had the most delicious gluten-free ribs with blueberry sauce, and though I'd like to share that recipe, I couldn't snag that one from the waitress. It will be out in a Tommy B cookbook...not sure of that publication date, but you can bet I'll track it down. In the meantime, I had a fabulous dessert, Pineapple Cheesecake with Caramel Sauce, and the chef was willing to part with the recipe.

Sure he was..because the recipe was for 100 portions!  LOL.

A couple of months ago, I shared a soup recipe that I'd seen in the "art" on the wall at a Chef Prudhomme restaurant in New Orleans. I copied the recipe and went home and realized it was a recipe for over 100. I narrowed it down to a recipe for 8 servings, and it worked.

So I decided to try to do the same for this Tommy Bahama cheesecake. At the restaurant, the cheesecakes were served in little rounds. The kitchen must have dozens/hundreds of little cheesecake springform pans. I didn't, so I had to work with my single springform (that serves 8) and hope it worked. It did. The deliciousness is in the sauce. Pineapple (which I’ll bet doesn't have to be fresh, though I used fresh) and caramel.

Now...the really, really fun part of this is I didn't have eight people to serve it to, so the cheesecake made a terrific mid-afternoon snack the next day and the next and the next... Cool, refreshing, and totally delicious.

Enjoy.

Note: the caramel does get "hard" after it's made, so it must be served right away or reheated.

Second Note: This looks difficult to make but it isn’t. And not even time consuming until it’s in the oven. It’s sort of a dump method. :)

TOMMY BAHAMA'S PINEAPPLE CARAMEL CHEESECAKE 
tweaked by Avery

Ingredients:

 Topping:

 1 cup pineapple diced

 1 cup light brown sugar

 1 teaspoon vanilla (or vanillin)

Caramel sauce:

4 ounces dark brown sugar

2 tablespoons water

1 tablespoon butter

Cheesecake batter:

1 pound cream cheese (16 oz)

1 pound cottage cheese (16 oz)

1 cup white sugar

2 tablespoons butter, softened

4 eggs

1/2 cup sour cream

1 tablespoon lemon zest

1 tablespoon vanilla extract (or vanillin)

Directions:

Topping: mix all together in a saucepan. Toss well and spread thin. Cook on medium low until caramelized on one side. Toss and caramelize on the other side. (About 5 minutes) Remove from heat. Cool.

Caramel sauce:

Heat brown sugar, water, and butter until sugar dissolves and mixture is at a high boil. (About 2 minutes) Set aside to cool.

Cheesecake:

Cream the cheese, sugar, butter. Add the eggs, one at a time until fluffy. Add the sour cream, zest, and vanilla together. Fold into the mixture, making sure there are no pockets of cheeses.

Cut a round of baking paper that matches the bottom of a springform cheesecake mold. Set it in the bottom of the mold. Spray the sides of the springform pan with Pam spray (or brush with oil). Pour mixture evenly into the mold.

Set the mold on a 15 x 9 baking sheet filled with a low level of water. Bake the cake at 300 degrees for 1 and 1/4 hours or until top is tender to the touch (but not hard). Turn the oven OFF oven. Let the cake STAND IN OVEN for 2 hours.

Remove from the oven and cool for 30 minutes. [I set the cake into the refrigerator for 2 more hours before assembling.]

Assemble:

Spread the pineapple topping on the top of the cake. Serve each slice with a drizzle of the caramel sauce. [Note: the caramel sauce will harden when not warm. If it hardens, reheat on low-low-low heat until liquid.]

Aloha!


* * *
Note, last week, KittCatt (a commenter) won a prize from me, but KC, you never wrote me an email with your mailing address. If I don't hear from you by tomorrow, I'll have to choose another winner. Best, Avery
* * *

You can learn more about Avery by clicking this link.

Chat with Avery on Facebook and Twitter.

And watch for CLOBBERED BY CAMEMBERT, coming out February 2012.

* * * * * * * *

 

BOOKSELLERS LINK