Mushroom Stacks and Cheesecake Strawberries

We tried out this mushroom stack recipe for dinner tonight and it was fantastic. We could not get the porcinis that the recipe called for but we found some mid sized portobellos that worked out nicely. We had to buy scotch just for this dish. It certainly made things tasty but scotch is awfully expensive and neither of us drinks it so now we need more recipes that involve cooking with it.



For dessert I worked up a new creation, cheesecake strawberries. No not stawberry cheesecakes but cheesecake strawberries. This recipe is quick, easy, looks nice and doesn't involve one bit of baking. It also allows the berries to take center stage, instead of just the accent role they usually get with cheesecake.

For this recipe you need:
1/2 cup confectioners sugar
8 oz cream cheese (I used vegan cream cheese, I am sure the regular variety will also work just as well)
1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs
About 20 medium strawberries, washed and cored (If you can get the luxurious, giant, long-stemmed variety those would be nice, but they are not necessary. If you go that route you probably will need fewer berries)

First create your filling by combining the sugar and cream cheese in a medium bowl. Beat until smooth with an electric mixer. Stir in the cookie crumbs. Allow your filling to cool in the fridge for a bit while you gather your cake decorating gear. You will want to use a pastry bag with a star tip. (If you do not have this you can probably spoon your filling into your berries but it will not look as nice.) Fill your pastry bag with chilled filling and pipe some filling into the hollowed out center of your berries. Chill the berries until you are ready to serve them.