What’s that, you say? Cheesecake? Baked in peaches? Game over. Flight canceled. Shut the front door. We are most definitely interested!
Hmm, yes, yummy baked peaches with a cheesecake filling spooned on top – this is one easy dessert that pays off big. The hardest part? Just waiting on those peaches to ripen. It’s a hard life, isn’t it?
Nothing difficult about this group of ingredients. Let’s get to it!
We love peach recipes that don’t require the peaches to be peeled. Cuz, timesaver. Just split open, give the two halves a little wiggle to loosen them from their pits and we have beautiful peaches ready for some yummy cheesecake.
To give the cheesecake filling a better, more stabilized peach to sit on, slice a small sliver off the bottom, giving the peach a flat place to sit on. You may have to adjust your cut a time or two until the peach half is sitting fairly level.
Once we leveled the peaches, we realized that perhaps the cheesecake filling would need a little more room than the peaches allowed for. We used a melon baller tool to sightly scoop out some of the peach flesh. Not a lot. Just enough to make them a little roomier. Be careful with this step, especially if your peaches are particularly ripe. You don’t want to grip the peach too tightly and bruise it.
At this point, the peaches get a little bath in some butter. Studies have shown that this produces very happy peaches!
Also in the category of Things That Make Peaches Happy – cinnamon sugar.
And it’s finally time to fill the peaches with delectable cheesecake goodness. Not this was all taking a while or anything, because it wasn’t. It’s a very easy, pretty quick recipe. It’s just that CHEESECAKE. YES. OK, do just fill ‘em on up. We always do a little at a time, then go back and fill in with what’s left until we’ve used as much of the filling as possible. you can overfill the peach centers a little, but it will spread as it bakes.
And here’s the little beauties once they’ve baked! As you can see, the filling does indeed spread out a little, almost covering the peaches. Some may jump overboard, but that’s OK. We can handle it, yep!
Simple desserts can be just as complex in flavor and texture as desserts that are more time involved and ones that use tons of ingredients. This simple dessert tastes anything but simple. The peaches are soft and full of great flavor, some of it there own, some of it from marrying with the butter and cinnamon sugar. The cheesecake portion is obviously not going to be exactly like something from a springform pan, but it’s still pretty close to exceptional. It has more of a pudding-like texture in this, and it’s just as delicious. Together with the peaches, it’s mmm mmm good. Make that mmm MMM GOOD. Serve it with blackberries or raspberries as a garnish and get ready to feast!
Cheesecake-Stuffed Peaches
from Better Homes and Gardens
For the peaches:
- 6 peaches, halved and pitted
- 1/4 cup butter, melted
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
For the filling:
- 1/2 8 ounce package cream cheese, softened
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Line a 15x10x1-inch baking pan with parchment paper; set aside. Trim a very thin slice from the round side of each peach half so halves stand flat on the baking pan. Dip peach halves in melted butter to coat. Arrange peach halves, cut sides up, in prepared pan. Mix the three tablespoons sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle cut sides of peaches with cinnamon-sugar; set aside.
In a medium mixing bowl beat cream cheese with a mixer on medium speed until smooth. Add sugar, egg yolk, and vanilla. Beat until combined. Spoon cream cheese mixture into peach centers.
Bake, uncovered, about 30 minutes or until lightly browned and softened. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Notes:
If desired, scoop out a little of each peach to widen the area for the filling. A melon baller tool works well for this.