feast.

traveling treats

My recent trip upstate was, selfishly, an escape from the city, but it was also a celebration of a dear friend’s birthday. Knowing that we’d be in a cabin in the woods, if not truly camping, I was skeptical about making a cake upstate. Even from a mix, cake baking requires adequate tools, pans, and even eggs and oil, which were not necessarily a given. So, in advance of our trip, I asked my friend for his treat of choice to make at home, where I have easy access to appropriate tools and goods, and could tote upstate. I imagined some simple cake, easily retooled in a loaf pan for near-camping ease. His response, “cheesecake,” proved somewhat of a challenge.

Normally, the challenge of cheesecake is the requisite bain marie, or water bath. While I remain skeptical of the merits of a bain marie, and whether it’s really necessary for a super-smooth and creamy cheesecake, this was less of a challenge than the fact that I’d have to sit with this cheesecake on my lap in a crammed car for four hours. So, I decided to make a version more amenable to transport — cheesecake bars: much more easily portable.

My friend also mentioned that he was a fan of fruit pies, so I tried to incorporate some fruit into the treat as well. While most fruity cheesecakes involve some goopy, sticky-sweet swirl or topping, I nixed that for being to too potentially messy, leave alone kind of gross. It’s high blueberry season, and that seemed the an appropriate fruit “filling.” Self-contained little buggers, I could just plop them into the cake batter whole, and they wouldn’t get too juicy, which meant they would neither change the consistency of the cheesecake batter nor would they dissolve into soup en route.

I adapted this recipe from and combination of a Tyler Florence recipe for blueberry lemon cheesecake bars and a Paula Deen recipe for cheesecake “cookies.” I liked Florence’s use of whole berries and less sugar. (I think Paula Deen is trying to kill us all with sugar and butter and all things fried, however a decadent and delicious death that may be.) However, I opted for Paula’s pecan crust, since I seemed sturdier than a traditional graham cracker crust. I also used a larger pan for nearly the same amount of filling, per Ms. Deen’s “cookies,” as I thought the greater surface area (and thus less height) might once again limit potential cheesecake dismemberment-by-travel. Carefully packed in plastic containers, and layered in wax paper, they held up perfectly. More importantly, they were delicious and the birthday boy loved them.

Blueberry pecan cheesecake bars
Adapted from Tyler Florence and Paula Deen.

You will never think your mixture will fill a full 9x13 pan. Have faith: carefully and patiently press the crust into your pan; it will stretch thin, but will indeed cover the entire base.

For the crust:

• 1 cup flour
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 1 stick (4 oz.) butter, melted.

For the filling:

• 1 lb. cream cheese (low fat is fine), at room temperature
• scant 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 pint blueberries

Preheat the oven to 350F.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, and pecans. Pour over melted butter and mix to combine. Press dough into an ungreased 13- x 9-inch pan. Bake 12 to 15 minutes, until golden.

Meanwhile, prepare the filling. Beat together cream cheese and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla and beat again. Pour over parbaked crust and smooth with a spatula. Scatter blueberries over filling; they will sink a little, but should remain partially exposed. Bake 20 minutes. Cool completely before cutting into bars.

Makes 24 bars.