Black Lives Matter. Here’s a dessert to eat while we educate ourselves on how to be actively anti-racist in today’s society. # 176: Prosecco Nectarine Cheesecake

Small *but important* diversion from baking chatter:

I don’t know about you, but I struggled to find a balance this past weekend. Squeezing in mental health breaks, while trying to find the best way to support the anti-racist revolution that’s come to a boiling point in the US. And also, of course, not forgetting about our amazing front-line essential workers taking Covid 19 by storm. I’m exhausted just thinking about it all.

While it seems overwhelming to have both a viral and a racial pandemic to focus on – I think it’s a good thing. There’s no time like the present, and we seem to finally be at a place in the US where politicians can’t just ignore the Black Lives Matter movement and the cries to end police violence against people of color.

I’m just at the beginning of my journey, but I’m committing to educating myself and raising up the voices of activists and POC who have been fighting this whole time. They deserve not only major respect, but the amplification that my white privilege can provide. It’s time for some systemic change and it’s going to take effort and acknowledgement from everyone in this country to make it happen. I can only speak for myself, but I think if we all put in the time now to read up on the disparities in our society, then we’ll be more invested in local and national elections, and be motivated to use our votes to put forward-thinking, compassionate people in leadership roles.

I know I have very few followers, but if you read through all of that, thank you!! You deserve a piece of cheesecake to go with your new educational content. These are ones I’m checking out:

• Books – I’ve heard amazing things about these and can’t wait for my copies to arrive:
  • White Fragility by Robin DeAngelo
  • Me and White Supremacy by Layla Saad
• Podcasts:
  • Code Switch on NPR
• Social media follows:
  • Rachel Cargle
  • Black Lives Matter
  • Showing Up for Racial Justice
  • Color of Change

This cheesecake has been floating at the back of my mind for months. I saw a Tasty video about a peach version and loved the artsy aspect of the fruit suspended in the jelly! Also prosecco jelly? Yes, please.

It’s a fully no-bake recipe, so it’s perfect for this heat wave that’s rolling in!

I decided to make a mini version, since I had a half cup of prosecco and 4 oz of cream cheese hanging out in the fridge. Normally not two things I’d combine but in this case, it was fate!

I usually skip the line-your-pan-with-parchment-paper step, but I really wanted the edges of the cheesecake and jelly to be smooth. I used spray oil to “glue” it to the sides of the pan.

A freezer dive turned out a container of chocolate graham crackers, stored away for future ice cream sandwiches. Jackpot! No need to make cookies to crumble for crust.

Recipes always say to soak gelatin in water to “soften” it, but it hardens into a thick slab. A better word might be “hydrate,” since the goal is for the powder to absorb water to make the dissolving process easier later. It still smells really, really odd when heated – I wonder if the gelatin sheets smell the same?

Excuse the blurry photo – my hands were messy and I didn’t want to get cream cheese all over the camera! The cheesecake layer is just a whipped and chilled combo of cream cheese, vanilla, lemon juice, melted gelatin, cream and sugar. Magic.

A little bubbly, hot water, sugar and some more melted gelatin, and you’ve got yourself what looks like edible resin.

I picked a nectarine that was slightly under-ripe so it would slice neatly.

Half for the cheesecake, half for the baker. Yum! I may or may not have had the same policy with the prosecco.

Love a fruit pinwheel!

My pan wasn’t quuiiiite tall enough, so there were little shoulders and elbows of nectarine poking through the smooth surface of the jelly. C’est la vie.

It said to chill it overnight, but being me, I only gave it 4 hours before curiosity took over and I had to pull it out. The anxiety of pulling the parchment paper off was REAL.

Awww yeahhh. Lookit those layers.

To be honest, I thought this bake would fall into the infamous Style Over Substance category, and was afraid it wouldn’t have much flavor at all. But man, it packs a lot of flavor into each tiny bite! You first get a bright pop of necatrine and bubbly prosecco, then creamy richness and vanilla and finished off with a sweet/bitter cocoa aftertaste. I can’t wait to try it with other fruit and cheesecake flavors.

Happy munching!

P.S. –

I’ve found that my baking books make a great standing WFH desk! Luna wanted to be included – she spends most of the day sleeping or trying to attack my charging cord. A very helpful coworker.

Recipe inspired by: https://tasty.co/recipe/peaches-n-cream-cheesecake