About this time of year, as the strawberry season winds down - I feel a little wistful.  Nobody seems to get as excited about fresh strawberries as they did a few months ago.  Yet, I know that in a short time I will be craving them again.  So I continue to dream up ways to enjoy them while they are plentiful AND inexpensive...

I have an easy cheesecake recipe that I use when I’m especially lazy...  I cut that down in size, added slightly less sugar, and folded in some beautiful strawberries I found at the grocery store for a STEAL...  See why I get a little nostalgic about strawberries?  Just when I get a little weary of using them - they disappear for a really long time!

Ingredients:

One recipe cream puffs  (click HERE for my recipe posted a while back)

1/2 of an 8-oz pkg cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1 cup fresh strawberries, thinly sliced

additional powdered sugar (for dusting)

Use a small ice cream scoop to portion cream puff dough - you will probably end up with about 20-24 cream puffs.  Bake as directed, turn off oven,  and allow to cool with oven door ajar for a few hours.  Slice off the top 1/3 of each cream puff - using your fingers to remove the soft strands of dough inside (Take out just enough of the doughy strands, without leaving the walls of the cream puff too thin... You will need enough structure to hold your cheesecake filling without it falling apart!)

Rinse & clean fresh strawberries.  I LOVE to use a salad spinner to do this.  If you are gentle, you can spin the water completely off the fruit without bruising it.  Less water = better cheesecake!

In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese until fluffy.  Add 1/2 cup powdered sugar and vanilla - beating well until no lumps remain.  With hand mixer running, pour in whipping cream slowly while continuing to beat.  It will slowly turn into a thickened mixture.  Don’t beat too long, or the cream will turn to butter.  Fold in sliced strawberries. 

Using small portion scoop, fill each cream puff and replace tops.  Place back onto baking sheet and sift lightly with powdered sugar.  Serve immediately - allowing these to stand will cause the strawberry juice to seep into cheesecake filling.