Cooking With Camille - Sopapilla Cheesecake

It had been a while since we made a cooking show, and it amazes me how much Camille seems to grow in every way between each episode - how much older, how much more confident, more mature she is. When we began this adventure, I wouldn't allow her near the mixer. Then last year, I offered to let her turn it on but she preferred to flee the room with her hands clamped over her ears because of the loud noise. This time, she turned it on herself and even used her piggy spatula to scrape the edges of the bowl while it loudly spun and mixed.

We were invited to have Mexican food at our friend's home yesterday and were asked to bring dessert. I found a recipe for a Mexican Sopapilla Cheesecake and thought it sounded like something Camille could make. And when you see the amount of sugar, cream cheese and butter used, you'll see why this recipe could be nothing but delicious.

And now, for your viewing pleasure, I present episode #5 of Cooking With Camille!



Mexican Sopapilla Cheesecake
3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 (8 ounce) cans crescent roll dough

1/2 cup melted butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
honey

1. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees.
2. Beat the cream cheese with 1 1/2 cups of sugar, and the vanilla extract in a bowl until smooth. Unroll the cans of crescent roll dough, and use a rolling pin to shape the each piece into 9x13 inch rectangles (lightly flour your surface and the rolling pin if necessary to keep dough from sticking). 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.
3. Drizzle the melted butter evenly over the top of the cheesecake. Stir the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar together with the cinnamon in a small bowl, and sprinkle over the cheesecake along with the almonds.
4. Bake in the preheated oven until the crescent dough has puffed and turned golden brown, about 45 minutes. Drizzle honey over the top of the cheesecake. Cool completely in the pan before cutting into squares.