Happy August, friends! August means its birthday season around here. Baby Frank turned 1 on July 29th, and we had a wonderful backyard BBQ for him! We grilled, ate cake, and splashed in a kiddie pool and it was a huge success. Next year though, I’ve got big plans! My husband, my mother-in-law, and my birthday all follows. So we’ll just be celebrating the entire month of August going forward, which is fine by me.

My new job has been keeping me very busy as well, in the best way. I’ve got a great kitchen family and we’re currently working on some fun holiday menus so we’ll be ready to go for that season.

I know it’s been a hot summer this year, but how can you not love this season when it brings all the best fruit! Whatever it is- a peach, a strawberry, or a cherry, sometimes the fruit is best served just as mother nature intended – by itself. But who would I be if I didn’t at least try to offer a better purpose for your fruit. =D

This cheesecake is light, fruity, and so easy to make. Each layer- crust, filling, and topping, are all made in a food processor. So you’ll need to clean it out for each layer you make. But the ingredients are simple and the process is easy. Have you ever made cheesecake filling in a food processor? It’s so easy! For a standard cheesecake, it’s usually too much filling to fit in a processor, but since this recipe is baked in an 8×8-inch baking dish, it’s a smaller yield. First, you make the crust with either sheets of graham cracker or already made crumbs. Once that’s made and baked, the cheesecake filling is next. Fresh cherry halves top the cheesecake filling, and a crumbly streusel finishes. If you can’t get fresh cherries, frozen works great! Just make sure they are thawed and halved before you make the recipe, and discard any extra juices.

I hope you all have a wonderful August! Pumpkin spice season is just around the corner. Wink wink.

Cherry Streusel Cheesecake

Yield 9 squares

Graham Cracker Crust

Graham Cracker 9 sheets or 1 ¼ cup crumbs

Brown Sugar 2 Tbsp.

Salt ¼ tsp

Melted Butter 4 Tbsp.

Cheesecake Filling

Cream Cheese, room temp 1 lb.

Eggs 3

Sugar ½ cup

Zest & juice of 1 lemon

Cherries, pitted and halved 3 cups

Streusel Topping

Brown sugar 1 cup

Flour ½ cup

Oats ¼ cup

Butter, cold 5 Tbsp.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

In a food processor, combine graham cracker, brown sugar, salt, and melted butter. Pulse until crumbly. Line an 8×8-inch baking dish with parchment paper. Pour graham crust into prepared baking dish and press the bottom down firmly with the back of a measuring cup. Bake crust for 10 minutes.

Clean out the food processor to use to prepare the filling. Place cream cheese, sugar, lemon juice and zest in the processor. Turn on and add eggs in one at a time. Process until smooth. Pour the filling over the cooled crust. Place a layer of halved cherries on top of the cheesecake.

Clean the food processor again to prepare the streusel topping. Place all streusel ingredients in the processor and pulse until crumbly. Top the cherries with streusel, then bake for 35-40 minutes, until the center appears set and not jiggly.

Remove from oven and allow to cool at room temperature for 1 hour, then chill for 2-4 hours before serving. Cut cheesecake in thirds, then rotate and cut in thirds again for 9 portions.