Red, White, and Blue Pan Griddled Cheesecakes
with lemon ricotta, blueberry balsamic, and strawberry balsamic sauce
featuring Hellmann's Products
45 min|Easy|Sweet & Tangy
This quick take on "cheese cake" features a melting slice of sharp cheddar cheese over a piece of traditional sweet pound cake that's been grilled on both sides with Hellmann's Olive Oil Mayonnaise. The next layer features some cool and fluffy sweet lemon ricotta filling, and then each of the three mini stacks is topped with a different flavor... strawberry balsamic sauce (red), open faced with granulated honey and toasted pistachios (white), and blueberry balsamic sauce (blue)… and then finished with a sprig of mint for a little additional color and texture!
Any one of these tasty little morsels could totally be made by themselves as a stand-alone dessert, instead of all three for the mini cheesecake flight I've shown here! The sauces and the sweet lemon ricotta filling scale up fairly easily, so if you would like to try "all strawberry" just double the recipe!
About Digital Food Works
This recipe was developed by Curtis Lawyer for use on the Digital Food Works website and for the 2019 Hellmann's Red, White, and Blue Mini Challenge. DFW provides photography, design, and ideation services for businesses with things to eat and drink!
Balsamic glaze is not the same as balsamic vinegar, it's a sugar added, thicker, sticky, reduction of... balsamic vinegar. You can make your own at home if you have a couple of ingredients on-hand, but it's pretty stinky. I'd recommend just buying some at the store.
If you would like to make your own, here's what I've used in the past...
Combine all ingredients and simmer in small sauce pan until reduced by half. Be careful not to burn the mix, it's a little hard to judge by sight, because it's already pretty dark in color.
Any one of these tasty little morsels could totally be made by themselves as a stand-alone dessert, instead of all three for the mini cheesecake flight I've shown here! The sauces and the sweet lemon ricotta filling scale up fairly easily, so if you would like to try "all strawberry" just double the recipe!
This recipe was developed by Curtis Lawyer for use on the Digital Food Works website and for the 2019 Hellmann's Red, White, and Blue Mini Challenge. DFW provides photography, design, and ideation services for businesses with things to eat and drink!
Featuring
Recipe Notes
Balsamic GlazeBalsamic glaze is not the same as balsamic vinegar, it's a sugar added, thicker, sticky, reduction of... balsamic vinegar. You can make your own at home if you have a couple of ingredients on-hand, but it's pretty stinky. I'd recommend just buying some at the store.
If you would like to make your own, here's what I've used in the past...
- 1 cup balsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon white sugar
Combine all ingredients and simmer in small sauce pan until reduced by half. Be careful not to burn the mix, it's a little hard to judge by sight, because it's already pretty dark in color.
Ingredients
Cheesecake Stacks
- 18 pieces of traditional pound cake (approximately 2 inches square and 1/2 inch thick), if you want "open faced cakes" only prep 9 pieces
- Hellmann's Olive Oil Mayonnaise (enough to spread a small amount on each side of the cakes for grilling)
- 9 slices of sharp cheddar cheese
Lemon Ricotta Filling
- 1⁄2 cup whole milk ricotta cheese
- 1 tablespoon powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon of lemon zest
Balsamic Strawberry Sauce
- 3⁄4 cup chopped strawberries
- 1⁄4 cup sliced strawberries
- 1⁄4 cup white sugar
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1⁄2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1⁄2 teaspoon balsamic glaze
Balsamic Blueberry Sauce
Step by Step Instructions
1
Balsamic Strawberry Sauce
In a saucepan, combine 75% of the chopped strawberries (reserve 25% for a later step), and all of the sugar, lemon juice, water and balsamic.
Place over medium heat and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.
Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes or until sauce is thick, stirring occasionally.
Remove from heat and add remaining 25% of sliced strawberries and stir.
Chill the sauce to cool.
Place over medium heat and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.
Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes or until sauce is thick, stirring occasionally.
Remove from heat and add remaining 25% of sliced strawberries and stir.
Chill the sauce to cool.
2
Balsamic Blueberry Sauce
In a small bowl, mix the cornstarch with 1 tablespoon of cold water, set aside.
In a saucepan, combine blueberries, water, sugar, lemon juice, and balsamic glaze.
Place over medium heat and bring to a low boil, stirring occasionally.
Reduce heat to a simmer and slowly stir the cornstarch slurry into the blueberries.
Continue to stir occasionally until the sauce thickens (about 5 minutes).
Remove from heat and gently stir in vanilla. Chill the sauce to cool.
In a saucepan, combine blueberries, water, sugar, lemon juice, and balsamic glaze.
Place over medium heat and bring to a low boil, stirring occasionally.
Reduce heat to a simmer and slowly stir the cornstarch slurry into the blueberries.
Continue to stir occasionally until the sauce thickens (about 5 minutes).
Remove from heat and gently stir in vanilla. Chill the sauce to cool.
3
Lemon Ricotta Filling
Mix the whole milk ricotta cheese, powdered sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest together in a bowl. Chill the filling before using.
4
Assembly
Spread Hellmann's Olive Oil Mayonnaise on both sides of the pound cake slices.
Grill on a flat pan until golden brown.
Flip poundcake over (to grill the other side) and place sharp cheddar cheese slices on half of the pound cakes.
Once the cheese starts to melt and the other side is golden, remove all pound cake slices from the pan for assembly.
Start with one pound cake with melted sharp cheddar cheese, place one heaping teaspoon of Lemon Ricotta Filling on top of the cheddar cheese, top that with a non-cheese slice of grilled pound cake, and top with your choice of sauce!
Grill on a flat pan until golden brown.
Flip poundcake over (to grill the other side) and place sharp cheddar cheese slices on half of the pound cakes.
Once the cheese starts to melt and the other side is golden, remove all pound cake slices from the pan for assembly.
Start with one pound cake with melted sharp cheddar cheese, place one heaping teaspoon of Lemon Ricotta Filling on top of the cheddar cheese, top that with a non-cheese slice of grilled pound cake, and top with your choice of sauce!
Red, White, and Blue Pan Griddled Cheesecakes
with lemon ricotta, blueberry balsamic, and strawberry balsamic sauce
