Loaded Goat Blueberry Cheescake

Yellow cake mix crust

From Shutter:  Normally Spoon does the writing here but this time I am taking the lead. First, she is a bit busy with a new venture she is involved in, Eater Maine, part of the Eater family of websites.  Secondly, she obviously had better things to do with her time other than spending countless hours watching the same episodes, over and over of The Andy Griffith Show.  Me, not so much.  I had a childhood misspent watching way too much TV and as an adult I say thank god for TV Land.

When the news broke on July 3 that Andy Griffith had died, I like so many others, started thinking of America’s favorite sheriff.  Yes, Andy had an amazing career on stage, movies, and TV with many different characters.  We could probably talk for hours, if not days, as to his best character or best performance.  But for me, it was his role as Sherriff Andy Taylor in The Andy Griffith Show.

I am embarrassed to say (OK, kind of proud) that within 20 seconds or so into any episode I pretty much know which story line it is.  And still, after numerous viewings of every episode, I never tire of the show.

So, like many others, I was saddened at Andy’s death. I remembered that in addition to the Mayberry board game – yes someone made it – I also have a copy of, “Aunt Bee’s Delightful Desserts” by Ken Beck and Jim Clark.  I don’t know how many copies of this were sold, but I am proud to own my copy.  We decided to pay tribute to Mayberry with a recipe from this book.  We chose “Loaded Goat Blueberry Cheesecake. Fans of the show may remember episode 18 from Season 3, “The Loaded Goat”.  This is the episode that has a blasting crew putting in a new highway.  When a farmer brings his goat to town, the goat gets away and apparently eats the dynamite. As hilarity continues at the end, the goat was not harmed.

So sit back, enjoy this dessert, and maybe whistle a bit.

Loaded Goat Blueberry Cheesecake

NOTE: The original recipe called for a can of blueberry pie filling.  Spoon just could not do that so she made the desert with fresh blueberries.

Serves 12

Crumb mixture:

1 box yellow cake mix

1/3 cup butter, softened

Filling:

3 large eggs

3/4 cup sugar

16 ounces cream cheese, softened

2 teaspoons vanilla

Topping:

2 cups sour cream

1/2 cup sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla

2 1/2 cups fresh blueberries

Preheat oven to 350.

For crumb mixture: mix cake mix butter, and 1 egg (I used my Kitchenaid stand mixer) until crumbled. Press lightly into a 9 x 13 baking dish.

For filling: beat 2 eggs, 3/4 cup sugar, cream cheese and 2 teaspoons vanilla until smooth. Pour over crumb mixture.

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until set. Top will just be starting to brown very lightly at the edges and the middle will not be jiggly.

While the cake bakes, combine blueberries and 1/4 cup sugar in a saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring often to dissolve the sugar; turn heat to low and cook for about 5 minutes or until some of the blueberries have “popped” but most remain whole and the mixture resembles blueberry pie filling. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.

For topping: mix sour cream, 1/4 cup sugar and 1 tablespoon vanilla. Spread over the cheesecake and cool completely. Spread cooled blueberry mixture over the top and refrigerate overnight before serving.