National Cheesecake Day-Woohoo!

Hi everyone!  I feel like with all the hullabaloo (that’s right…I said hullabaloo) surrounding the zombie post, since I can’t ever top that post…..I will just quit.  Nah, I’m kidding.  But please don’t ever expect me to do better than that post.  Let’s just keep our expectations low.  That’s what I usually do with myself.  And that is why all my report cards always said that I wasn’t “living up to my potential”;)  Again, I’m kidding.  I will keep trying to provide recipes that are quick, easy and at least 100,000,000 calories.

So about a week ago, my friend asked me what I planned on making for National Cheesecake Day, which is July 30^th.  I said “cheesecake”.  Once the laughter died down (just mine-I don’t think she found me funny), I told her I would think of something!  Later that day, I was at Baskin Robbins with my kids, trying to gain even more weight, and I tried their new flavor….Pink Lemonade.  I decided right then and there that everything should be pink lemonade flavored.  Everything.  It is so sweet, tangy and refreshing all at the same time.  Pink Lemonade is a staple of summer.  I pretty much knew that it would rock in cheesecake form.

So now I had my flavor, but I still didn’t have my motivation.  Making a crust requires getting out the food processor, patting it into a pan, etc.  Need I remind you that I am lazy?  Instead I decided to make individual cheesecakes in a muffin tin, using Nilla wafers, in their true form, as a crust.  They turned out great!  And seriously easy.

To make these little babies, I used Nilla Wafers, cream cheese, pink lemonade concentrate, eggs, sugar and I had some cute little jelly candies for the tops.

I chose frozen juice concentrate because it has a super concentrated sweet and sour flavor.  Concentrated….hence the name.  You will have a lot left….try mixing the remaining concentrate with ginger ale for a yummy mocktail!!  Or vodka if you ain't playin’.

You can use low fat cream cheese, aka Neufchatel.  See that, food police?  Occasionally I try to save some calories;)

Don’t use fat-free though.  That is just gross.

I plopped one Nilla wafer down into the center of each cupcake/muffin paper liner.  They don’t quite fill up the whole bottom, but that is no big deal.  It still works.

To make the filling, I put the softened cream cheese, sugar and juice concentrate into a large mixing bowl.  I beat this until it is blended.  You really don’t want to overbeat your cheesecake.  If you incorporate too much air, your cake will collapse when you take it out of the oven.

I also beat the eggs in, one at a time.  Want to know a secret?  I also put in one drop of red food coloring just to make sure that I got a pretty pink color.

I filled each paper liner with a couple of tablespoons of filling.  Do not overfill….this can lead to cake collapse too.  They are ready to bake!  Did you know that making cheesecake was so easy?  I think it gets a bad rap….people always think it is super hard to make.  There is no need to buy a no-bake boxed mix.  This is just as easy.

These are a pretty quick bake since they are so small.  Once they come out of the oven, let them sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes.  Then, pop them in the fridge for a couple of hours.  The liners should peel off easily.

Ta-da!  So adorable!  They are such a refreshing treat in the middle of summer.  Cheesecake can get pretty heavy and rich, but these aren’t.  They are light and fluffy!

I think they are super cute topped with the jelly candies, but of course, those are optional.  A sprinkle of powdered sugar would be good too.

I feel like I have done a ton of desserts lately.  I know you are probably as sick of it as I am.  I will try to stay away from anything sweet next week.  As always, if you make this recipe….post a pic on my FB page!

Pink Lemonade Cheesecakes

24 Nilla Wafers

32 ounces cream cheese, softened

1 cup sugar

¾ cup Pink Lemonade Frozen Concentrate

4 eggs

Jelly candies for garnish

Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees.  Place liners into muffin tins, about 24 liners. 

Place one Nilla Wafer into the center of each paper liner. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, beat together cream cheese, sugar and juice concentrate with a hand mixer, just until mixed.  Beat in eggs, one at a time.

Fill paper liners with about 2 to 3 tablespoons of filling.  Bake at 325 degrees for about 20 to 24 minutes, or until cakes are “set”.  Let cakes sit at room temp for about 30 minutes, then chill for at least 2 hours.  Top with jelly candies.

Zombie Apocalypse....

I have done it.  I have reached the pinnacle of my career.  I know I have said it before, but this time I mean it.  For real.  I perfected the Zombie.  You know, the bread/roll type of thing that has a pocket of cheesy goodness?  Yep, that.  I always thought it was a Clayton Valley thing, until I talked about them with my husband, and he had the pleasure of eating Zombies at Acalanes!  If you haven’t heard of a zombie…I pity you.  Like I said above, it is a roll, stuffed with melted cheese.  Sounds simple, I know, but it is truly amazing.  Anyhoo, not only did I perfect it, I made it easy.  I have made my high school dreams come true.

Picture it, 1990….Clayton Valley High School.  I was a freshman.  I was rockin’ a bad bleach job from Sun-In, dark lip liner and anything from The Wet Seal.  I had my first experience with a cheese zombie at “brunch”, and I knew immediately that high school would be my glory days.  Sad, really.

By 1993, I was a junior, and I got to sell those things.  Yes, that’s right.  At Clayton Valley, juniors get the honor of selling the damn things out of carts to raise money for something….I can’t remember what.  I worked “brunch carts” mostly so I could be ensured a delicious zombie, but also because I got out of class a few minutes early.  Let’s not confuse this with when I pretended to be part of student council to get out of 4^th period early, or when I pretended to be on swim team for 2 years just to get out of 6^th period early.  My apologies Mrs. Glennon, but you really were easy to fool.  But if it makes you feel better, I can still type like nobody’s business.  But I digress…..I really did sell Zombies just to make sure I always got one.  I knew that someday I would grow up, and learn how to make them;)

I know that the wonderful lunch ladies working for the Mt. Diablo School District made their own bread dough for Zombies.  This isn’t something I am willing to do.  Mainly because yeast freaks me out.  You have to feed it!  I searched high and low and found the perfect substitute……

I used Bridgford Parkerhouse Style Rolls.  They are found in the freezer section of any grocery store.  They are basically just little balls of dough.  They will end up smaller than the Zombies that you remember, but they work!  They aren’t too dense or too flaky….they are perfect.

I started by laying out the frozen little balls of dough on a baking sheet that has been coated lightly with cooking spray.  They need to defrost for about 1 hour.

For the cheese, I will be using, duh, Velveeta.  You can’t use real cheese for these.  You just can’t.  I diced the Velveeta into chunks, about 1 inch square.

Once the dough is defrosted, I cut the rolls in half, but not all the way through.  I kind of just opened them up like a book.  I tucked the chunk of cheese in and made a pouch.  I sealed the pouch up and placed them back on the baking sheet, sealed side down.  Now, they need to rise for about 2 to 3 hours or until they double in size.  I set my pan in a cool, non-drafty place and let them do their thang;)

See?  Doubled.

I baked these according to the package directions….at 375 degrees for about 15 minutes.

When they were about 5 minutes from being done, I gave the tops a bath in melted butter.  This will help them get a browner top….sort of like when I used to put baby oil on to lay out in the sun.  Exact same thing…except cheese zombies don’t now have to constantly worry about skin cancer.

Isn’t that what you remember?  It tasted the exact same.  Or at least what I remember zombies tasting like.  I will be the first to admit that there is a strong chance I killed some brain cells in college, but still….I think they taste the same!

Cheesy deliciousness.

Ok, I am about to talk about something that might be sacrilegious to zombie purists.  If you are one….please don’t read on.  If you can stand the thought of a zombie with some embellishment…by all means…read on.

I thought that I might add some yummy things to the basic zombie….just to see how it would turn out. 

My first “fancy” zombie was a cheesesteak zombie.  Along with the Velveeta, I added cooked thin sliced steak and onion.

I sautéed the onions in a bit of oil, and then added the steak.  This stuff cooks in like a minute.  Have you ever had a steak-umm?  If not, you are missing out.

Once the steak was cooked, I added some Worcestershire sauce and salt & pepper.

I stuffed this in a roll too, and followed the exact same directions as above.

I have to say, there are few things in life as amazing as a cheesesteak zombie.  I should see if I can get a job as a lunch lady at CVHS. 

I also tried a combo of cheese, bacon, and tomatoes…

This is like a fancy grilled cheese.  You just have to remember to cut everything into super small chunks so that you can stuff it in a roll.

Seal the edges very tightly to prevent leakage.  Real zombies never leaked.

Can I open a zombie restaurant?  Why don’t we eat these as adults?  Do you have to stop eating these at graduation?  Is this a pre-requisite to being a grown-up?  I say no!  Bring back the zombie, people!  I hope you try to make these.  I say, make a batch, bring them to work and make everyone take a break around 10:30am…..let’s do brunch again.  Let’s make it seem like 1993 all over again.  I will bring the Sun-In.

Cheese Zombies

Bridgford Parkerhouse Style Rolls, frozen

16 ounces Velveeta, chopped into 1 inch chunks

2 tablespoons butter

Lay individual frozen rolls on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray.  Let rolls defrost on counter top for about 1 hour.

Once rolls are deforested, cut in half, but don’t cut all the way through.  Place a chunk of Velveeta in the middle of open roll.  Bring together edges like a pouch.  Press edges together to seal.  Place back on baking sheet to let rise.  Let rolls rise for about 2 to 3 hours or until they double in size.

Once the rolls have risen, bake at 375 degrees for about 15 minutes.  When the rolls have about 5 minutes left, brush the tops with melted butter and then continue baking the remaining 5 minutes or until the rolls are browned on top.

If the rolls get too soft while you are stuffing them, stick them back in the fridge.  They should be defrosted, but still cold.

If You Like Pina Coladas....

Good afternoon!  I have to make this quick….Addy has cheerleading practice later that I have to get her to.  She just started on Tuesday.  Reno means business when it comes to football and cheerleading.  It’s like “Friday Night Lights”.  Seriously.  You would think we were in Texas.  It wasn’t like that in California where I am from.  Sure, the football players and cheerleaders were popular, but no more so then baseball players, basketball players, swimmers or deadbeats who did nothing remotely athletic, like me.  It is a big deal here.  So I am glad that I am starting her at 6.  There is nothing I won’t do for popularity.  I know you want to think that is a joke….so yeah, let’s go with that;)

I am kind of living my dream through Addy and her cheerleading.  I don’t like to admit this, but I tried out for cheerleading once in high school and didn’t make it.  It was then that I realized that I am a giant spaz.  You would think the fact that I couldn’t ride a bike till I was 9 would have told me something, but no.  I was still convinced that I was a hot dancer with tons of rhythm, and I clearly wasn’t.  The not making cheerleading thing was a huge blow to my ego.  I still might not be over it.  I’ll be honest….it’s a sore spot.

Anyhoo, back to the matter at hand…..Today is the final day of “Boozie Cakes”.  I will show you how to make a Pina Colada Cake.  A pina colada is a frozen, blended drink made from coconut milk, pineapple and rum.  They taste like Hawaii.  This cake was Chris’s favorite.  It is a pineapple and rum flavored Bundt cake with a coconut rum glaze…. So if you like pina coladas….

And getting caught in the rain.

If you’re not into yoga.

If you have half a brain.

Oh you knew I’d go there;)

To make the cake, I used a yellow cake mix.  Yep, boxed mix again.  You could make this from scratch if you are so inclined.  I also used oil and eggs just like the box told me to.  I replaced the water with rum, just like I did with the daiquiri cake.  I used a clear rum, but you can use whatever you have.  I also used a splash of coconut extract and some crushed pineapple.

I followed the box directions and beat the cake mix with eggs, oil, and the rum instead of water.  I also beat in the coconut extract.  Once this was thoroughly beaten, I added 1 cup of drained, crushed pineapple.  I folded the pineapple in gently.  Actually I just stirred it in with a spatula.  I said “fold” to sound cheffy.

I poured the batter into a Bundt pan that I had sprayed the bajesus out of with cooking spray.  There is nothing worse than trying to get a cake out of a pan and half of it stays in the pan.  I wanted this to be pretty!  But, if yours doesn’t come out in a pretty fashion, don’t worry.  You can cover that part with glaze.

I baked the cake according to the package directions, about 35 minutes.  OMG-it made my house smell like a tropical island.  And then I remembered that I am in Reno;)

Once the cake cooled for about 2 hours, I ran an offset spatula around the edges (pictured above).  I loosened in all over before I tried to flip it out of the pan.  I also said a prayer to the “pretty cake” gods.

To make the glaze for this cake, I used powdered sugar, unsweetened coconut milk, and rum extract.  If you aren’t feeding kids, feel free to use regular rum.  I also have shredded coconut pictured because I will toss that all over the cake once it is glazed.

All I did for this glaze was whisk together the sugar, about 3 tablespoons of coconut milk and 1 tablespoon of rum extract.  I whisked it until it was all blended and smooth.  The coconut milk will be chunky, but the chunks will whisk right out.  FYI- you can get coconut milk in the Asian section of your grocery store.

I poured the glaze over the top of the cake.  It will run down the sides and pool in the middle, but that is Ok!  The more glaze…the better!

I sprinkled the shredded (sweetened) coconut all over the cake.  It will stick to the glaze.  You could toast the coconut if you like that flavor better, but I wanted to stay true to a pina colada.  Because I’m the lady you looked for, come with me and escape.  Can anyone actually tell me the name of who sings that?

This cake was soft, moist and really, really delicious.  This is a perfect cake for the summer.  Or anytime you need a quick tropical “moment”;)  I hope you try this cake or any of my other “Boozie Cakes”.  There isn’t really ever a time that I couldn’t use a drink, so these cakes really hit the spot.

Pina Colada Bundt Cake

1 box yellow cake mix

1/3 cup vegetable oil

3 eggs

1 cup rum

1 tablespoon coconut extract

1 cup crushed pineapple, drained

Coconut Rum Glaze

1 cup sweetened shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a Bundt pan with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, beat together cake mix, oil, eggs, rum and coconut extract with a hand mixer for 2 minutes.  Stir in drained pineapple.

Pour batter into greased Bundt pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 35 -38 minutes, or until a toothpick tester comes out clean.  Let cake cool, in pan, for at least 2 hours.

Once cake is cooled, invert onto cake plate.  Pour glaze over cake and top with shredded coconut.

Coconut Rum Glaze

2 to 3 cups powdered sugar

3 tablespoons unsweetened coconut milk

1 tablespoon rum extract

Whisk all ingredients together.  Start with 2 cups of powdered sugar and add small amounts as needed.  This will depend on the humidity where you live and the texture you desire.

Mexi-Burgers

Hi everybody!  We had a great weekend….how about you?  My sister and her family were up ‘round these parts.  They rented a condo in South Lake Tahoe.  We went and spent one night with them, as South Lake is only about 45 minutes from us.  It was super crowded in South Lake.  There is a “Celebrity Golf Tournament” every summer in South Lake and it just so happened that it was last weekend.  Ask me how many celebrities I saw……ummmmm, none. 

We were right down the beach from the tournament, and we went to Harrah’s and Harvey’s at night….where all the celebrities should have been.  I still saw none.  I was bummed until I looked at the list of “celebs” attending.  I am pretty sure I could have seen the majority of them, and I wouldn’t have had a clue.  They were mostly athletes.  Former athletes to be more specific.  The only celeb that I could have gotten excited about, or even recognized, was Alphonso Ribeiro.  I know nothing about sports, but I do know Silver Spoons and The Fresh Prince of Bel Air.  Also, I spent the majority of my time in the arcade….I guess that wouldn’t be the best spot for celeb spotting.

We still had a great time, and it was fun to spend time with Alison, John and Haleigh.  Alison and Haleigh made the trip over the mountain yesterday to come see us.  I made some yummy hamburgers for them.  I made my Mexi-Burgers, or “Nacho Mama Burgers” if you want a more clever name;)  These burgers are seasoned with homemade taco seasoning, green chilies, and onion, and they are topped with guacamole and nacho cheese.  Yum.  I will show you how I made them.

To start, I will show you how to make homemade taco seasoning with what you probably already have in your cabinet.  That little pack of taco seasoning that you buy at the grocery store is pretty much all salt.  Seriously, have you ever noticed how thirsty you are after eating tacos?  It’s the salt!  You can make it at home, and that way you control the salt.

To make this, I use sugar, black pepper, minced garlic (dried), chili powder, onion salt and paprika.  You also can add cayenne pepper if you like.

The recipe for this will be at the end.  It makes enough to season one pack of ground beef.  This is usually about 1 to 1 1/3 pounds when you buy it at the grocery store.  You will never have to buy that little packet from the grocery store again!

For the burgers, I used one pack of ground beef (1.3 pounds), taco seasoning that I just made, fire roasted green chilies, chopped onion, hot sauce and a bit of olive oil.

I softened up the onions first in a smidge of olive oil.  I didn’t brown them; I just made the little buggers sweaty.  This takes about 4 minutes over medium heat.

In a large bowl, I mixed the ground beef, cooked onion, green chilies (drained), hot sauce, and taco seasoning….with my hands.  There is no way around it.  You have to mix hamburgers up with your hands.  It is the only way to get everything all mixed in.  Mix lightly….as I’ve said before, you don’t want to overwork your meat.  And again….am I right fellas?

Once the meat was mixed, I scored it into 6 portions while it was still in the bowl.  This will make 6 equal sized burgers.  I learned that little trick from Rachel Ray.  You see, all my Food Network watchin’ is all for you….my readers;)

I formed my patties to the size of the buns.  Remember, they will shrink a bit when you grill them.  You can also make them thinner right in the center because they will poof up in the middle as they cook.  Weird, I know.

These grilled pretty quickly, about 5 to 8 minutes per side.

We topped our burgers with Gourmet Rooster Smoky Chipotle sauce, guacamole, queso dip (nacho cheese) and shredded lettuce.  Salsa and tomatoes would be delish too.

These burgers taste just like a taco….but in a burger.  So if you like Mexican food, you will love these.  They are spicy, smoky and delicious!  Next time you grill burgers….try this recipe!

See you on Thursday…..Thursday=Pina Colada Cake!!  Yeah!!

Taco Seasoning

1 tablespoon Cumin

1 tablespoon Chili Powder

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon onion salt

1 teaspoon garlic powder

½ teaspoon black pepper

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)

Mix all ingredients together.  Makes enough to season 1 to 1 1/3 pounds ground beef.

Mexi-Burgers

1 1/3 pounds ground beef

Taco seasoning (from above)

1 teaspoon hot sauce

1 cup onion, chopped

4 ounces fire roasted green chilies, drained and chopped

1 tablespoon olive oil

In a large sauté pan, sauté onion in olive oil over medium heat.  Sauté onions until they are translucent, about 4 minutes.

In a large bowl, mix together ground beef, taco seasoning, hot sauce, sautéed onion, and chilies.  Form 6 equal sized patties.  Grill for 5 to 8 minutes each side.

Serve burgers with guacamole, nacho cheese sauce, lettuce, tomato and salsa.

Strawberry Daiquiri Cake

Good afternoon everyone!  As promised, today is part 2 of my series “Boozie Cakes”.  These are cakes that I have created that are awfully similar to their cocktail cousin……except my recipes are safe for the kiddies.  Today I will be showing you how to make my Strawberry Daiquiri Cake.  Yum.

A strawberry daiquiri, for those not in the know, is a yummy frozen blended cocktail.  It is basically strawberries, rum and ice.  It might get a simple syrup to sweeten it up, or even some lime juice.  Little known fact:  The daiquiri was the favorite cocktail of JFK.  And Ernest Hemingway.  I do picture Hemingway sipping one while sitting on the beach in Key West.  I picture JFK as more of a Scotch man though.

I can remember being in high school, and discussing what the very first drink I would order would be when I turned 21.  Because I obviously waited till I was 21 to have cocktails.  And yes, my mom is an avid reader of this blog.  I always thought that the first “real” drink I would order in a bar would be a strawberry daiquiri or a Pina Colada.  Yep, I was that cool.  Apparently I thought it would be awesome to be a 50 year old woman…in 1985.  Isn’t that who you picture drinking a daiquiri?  Needless to say, my first legal bar drink was not a daiquiri.  I think if I had ordered that in Chico, they would have laughed at me.  I probably had a beer.

The point to that story was that I always dreamed about drinking daiquiris.  Now, I can just eat it in a cake.  I make this cake as a layer cake.  It is a strawberry cake made with rum, a strawberry filling and a strawberry rum cream cheese frosting.   I will show you how I make it.

Let’s start with the cake.  I use a boxed mix, strawberry flavor.  I also use eggs and oil, just like the box tells me to.  However, instead of water, I used spiced rum.  I also add diced strawberries that have been tossed in a little bit of flour. 

So you see my brown eggs?  My kids made me buy those.  They were convinced the insides would be a different color.  Since I am a mom who believes that kids need some disappointment in their lives, I bought them.

I mix the batter according to the package directions.  I told you above that I tossed the diced strawberries in some flour.  I do this to keep the strawberries from falling to the bottom of the cake.  Don’t ask me why this works.  I am not a scientist.  I got a D in Chemistry.  It just works.

This is what the batter looks like when it is ready.  It is beautiful shade of pink.  Love it.

I baked my cakes in two nine inch cake pans.  I lined the bottom of the cakes pans with parchment paper and sprayed the paper with cooking spray.  I wanted to do whatever I could to ensure these babies were coming out the way they were supposed to.

I baked the cakes like the box told me too.  I let them cool for a good 2 hours before I touched them.

Ok, quick tip before you put your cakes on a plate or a cake stand.  Line the plate with 4 pieces of waxed paper.  This way, when you frost the cake, you won’t make the world’s biggest mess.  You pull the sheets out when you are done frosting and the waxed paper takes the mess with it.

Another quick tip is to slice the round part off the top of your bottom cake.  This will help it sit flat.

What is that pictured above, you ask?  It is plain strawberry preserves.  I used about a 1/2 cup of this as the layer between my 2 cakes.  I stirred it up a bit to “loosen” it before I spread it on.  I wouldn’t use jelly for this, only jam or preserves.

I spread the preserves onto the cake, and then I sprinkled some more diced strawberries onto the cake.  I ended up using a whole container of strawberries for this recipe.

I left about a half inch border around the cake.  When you put the second cake layer on top, it will cause the preserves and strawberries to squish towards the edges.  If you have a left a border, you won’t get anything squishing all the way out.

If you aren’t serving this cake to children, I would totally drizzle a bit of spiced rum over the filling.  My kids tend to just stick with beer ;)

To make the frosting for this cake, I used more strawberry preserves, softened cream cheese, softened butter, rum extract and powdered sugar.  This is a basic cream cheese frosting recipe, just embellished a bit.

I started by beating the butter, cream cheese and rum extract together.  Once that was fluffy, I added the preserves and powdered sugar.

Don’t wear black when you make frosting.  Wear white.  Then you won’t feel nearly as stupid when you are covered in powdered sugar.  I don’t care how low I start my beaters.  I always end up wearing half of the powdered sugar.  I look like Pablo Escobar when I am done. 

That was a joke if you couldn’t tell. 

Don’t forget to tip your waitress.

I made double the recipe because I am on a diet that is heavy on the frosting.

This is the finished cake.  Isn’t it pretty?  Layer cakes always feel so fancy to me.  And celebratory.  We love this cake.   So much so that we had it for breakfast today too.  You will love it also.  The rum makes it special and different.  It really does taste like a daiquiri! 

Next Thursday I will show you how to make a Pina Colada Bundt Cake.  Yummers!!

Strawberry Daiquiri Cake

1 box strawberry cake mix

3 eggs

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 cup spiced rum

2 cups strawberries, diced

2 tablespoons flour

1 cup strawberry preserves

Strawberry rum cream cheese frosting (recipe to follow)

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Toss 1 cup diced strawberries in flour.

In a large bowl, beat together cake mix, oil, eggs and rum with a hand mixer.  Beat for about 2 minutes, scraping the sides as needed.  Once batter is mixed, stir in strawberries and flour.  Stir gently.

Pour batter into 2 greased nine inch cake pans.

Bake according to box directions.

Once cake has cooled, remove cakes from pans.  With a knife, slice rounded top off of one cake to make cake flat.  Place that cake on a plate with cut side up. 

Spread top of cake with strawberry preserves and sprinkle ½ cup diced strawberries over the preserves, leaving a ½ inch border all the way around.  Place 2^nd cake directly on top of the first cake.

Frost entire cake and sprinkle with remaining diced strawberries.

Strawberry Rum Cream Cheese Frosting

4 ounces cream cheese, softened

½ cup butter (1 stick), softened

½ cup strawberry preserves

1 tablespoon rum extract

16 ounces powdered sugar

Beat together cream cheese, butter and extract until light and fluffy.  Add preserves and continue beating.  Slowly beat in powdered sugar until desired consistency is reached.