Sopapilla Cheesecake

            After church this Sunday my girlfriend’s family and I went to eat at her Aunt Pam’s house for lunch. Now I won’t get to off topic here however, when you walk into their house it’s like walking into a Southern Living Magazine. Every time we visit her house even when it is just us she always has something prepared that I have never heard of and this visit was no exception. I was introduced to the Sopapilla Cheesecake, I was a little skeptical at first until my girlfriend’s sister gave me a bite of hers, after that I was hooked. Now I am not a big sweet eater however, cheese cake is one of my most favorite deserts and I have always liked Sopapilla’s as well. The combination of the two floored me after I tried it. I told Pam about the assignment and she gave me recipe. Both Pam and I were excited about the assignment and she wanted me to let her know how it went.

            Now anything that Pam does with food I have learned that you follow it by the letter so that is exactly what I did. I was nervous at first because I really enjoyed it at her house but, was skeptical of how it was going to turn out for me. I provided the recipe that Pam gave me and followed the directions to a tee.

            To me the finished product turned out well, I was happy with the way it turned out but would choose Pam’s over mine any day. I really enjoyed the taste as well. The only thing that I added was honey following the tradition with the Sopapillas. I didn’t put cherry’s for the cheesecake though, thought that would be too much. I have requested for Pam to make it again however I’m not sure if it is going to be anything I am going to try to tackle again anytime soon.

Ingredients

 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

 1 cup white sugar

 1 teaspoon Mexican vanilla extract

 2 (8 ounce) cans refrigerated crescent rolls

 3/4 cup white sugar

 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

 1/2 cup butter, room temperature

Directions

1. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Prepare a 9x13 inch baking dish with cooking spray.

2. Beat the cream cheese with 1 cup of sugar and the vanilla extract in a bowl until smooth.

3. Unroll the cans of crescent roll dough, and use a rolling pin to shape each piece into 9x13 inch rectangles. Press one piece into the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Evenly spread the cream cheese mixture into the baking dish, then cover with the remaining piece of crescent dough. Stir together 3/4 cup of sugar, cinnamon, and butter. Dot the mixture over the top of the cheesecake.

4. Bake in the preheated oven until the crescent dough has puffed and turned golden brown, about 30 minutes.