..: Heavy Cream

Day 4 of St. Patty's/Irish Themed Cheesecake - a day late, but not an ounce of flavor short!

So, I know a lot of you may not necessarily want to devote a solid hour - thirty (not including chilling time) to make a cheesecake. That being said, I thought I would offer up something a little easier (and less time consuming). The cheese pie whips together in about 8 minutes, and just needs an hour or two to set up enough for total enjoyment! I opted for a graham crust, but a chocolate crust would be great with this recipe, too. I also used Original Baileys, but caramel or mint would be just as delicious. Keep in mind, though, that the alcohol in the Baileys will not be cooked out, so your cheese pie will be a little tipsy!

No Bake Baileys Cheese Pie
Yields 8 servings

Ingredients

8 ounces softened cream cheese
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup Baileys Irish Cream
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 graham cracker crust

To Prepare the Cheese Pie
1. Blend together the cream cheese and heavy whipping cream until they are incorporated.
2. Add in the Baileys, sugar, and vanilla.
3. Blend them until the mixture is smooth and creamy.
4. Pour into the crust, and refrigerate for approximately 2 hours, or until firm enough to hold its form.

I used the left over heavy cream and whipped it with 1 tbsp sugar and 1 tsp vanilla, until it turned into whipped cream. I then "iced" the entire cheese pie with the whipped cream!

Let me start off by assuring you that you do not need a butter churn, or hoop skirt, in order to make homemade butter! Earlier this week I had used half a carton of heavy cream, and wanted to use the rest instead of letting it go bad in the back of the fridge. There is nothing I love more that fresh butter on a warm piece of bread, so butter was the first thing that came to mind when it came time to finish off the heavy cream! Because the container my heavy cream came in had a screw top, I was able to leave it in that container. If your cream came in a carton that does not screw shut, move the cream over to a large container, jar, or bottle that will screw shut...otherwise you will have a huge mess on your hands! Make sure that there is about the same amount of air as there is cream in whatever container you are using, as the cream will expand during the process! This is also the stage where you can add some flavor...a little maple syrup, salt, spices such as thyme or lavender, or pepper! Once you have your cream in the container, start shaking! You will need to shake it for 20 - 30 minutes, so this is a lot more fun to do while watching tv or having someone else to help you along!

When you first start you will definitely hear and feel the cream moving around. The more you shake it, the less you will hear it and feel it. If you open the container you will see that the cream is starting to turn into a foam and is expanding. It will feel like it is in this stage FOREVER! Keep shaking!!!

Starting to expand and foam!

Getting close to becoming butter!

All of the sudden you will feel and hear the cream moving again, but it will sound more like water than cream. When you open your container, you will see that the butter has separated! If you used a carton of cream, cut the container open so you can reach and see into the container, and if you used another container go ahead and open it. Gently pour off what liquid there is, and you will be left with just the butter in the container! You will need to store the butter. I like to put a little sea salt in the bottom of a silicon cupcake mold and then press the butter into it, and then scrape a knife across the top to smooth it out. It goes without saying to keep it in the fridge! Be creative with your storage...you can press the butter into small bowls, candy molds (which are really fun around the holidays!), or even leave it in the container you made it in!