Cherry-Balsamic Cheesecake Bars and Speed Blogging

Today is my Sister-In-Law's birthday and I wanted to bring a dessert with me to a dinner for her tonight, so I headed to the kitchen this afternoon and whipped up these Cherry-Balsamic Cheesecake bars.

Crust:
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt (I prefer Kosher, but we all have our issues)

Cheesecake Filling:
12 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup sour cream
1 egg
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste or extract

Balsamic-Cherry Topping:
10 ounces cherries, pitted
4 ounces sugar or about 1/2 cup
4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

1.  Add cherries, sugar, and vinegar to a medium sauce pan and bring to a boil on medium-high heat.  Stir often and let boil for 13-15 minutes until the topping is starting to thicken.

2.  Add butter, granulated sugar, flour ,and salt to the bowl of a food processor and pulse until just starting to combine.  You can use a bowl and cut the butter in with a pastry blender if you don't have a processor.

3.  Spray a 9" x 13" pan with no-stick spray, put crust in and pat down.  Bake for 15 minutes.  I'm always bringing desserts here and there and I have to tell you just how excited I was to spot this nice disposable one in the market.

4.  Add cream cheese, sugar, sour cream, egg, flour, and vanilla to the bowl of a food processor or blender and pulse until smooth.

5.  Pour the cheesecake over the warm crust (straight out of the oven is a little too hot).  Spread to the edges.

6.  Place dollops of the cherry topping every couple of inches over the top of the cheesecake.  I had a hard time with swirls before, but this time I poked the cherries a bit under the surface before swirling and had a better result.

7.  Bake for 25-28 minutes until the cheesecake is set.  Chill, because eating warm cheesecake is reserved for days when you are on the verge of hurting someone.

Do you ever have one of those weeks where you feel like every time you sit down you have to get back up? Well I've been having one of those weeks for the last few months (possibly years, but I do tend to be in denial from time to time).

I keep thinking maybe there is a better way to manage everything I have going on these days, perhaps speed blogging.  I could just hurl pictures of food at you every few hours and then let the chips fall where they may (although there is that whole law of gravity nonsense).

Say a prayer that these bars are cool before I have to run out of the house again.  (Too late, gotta run Hot Dog Dude is glaring at me it's time to go.)

Gina