Side Orders: Sopapilla Cheesecake is genius

I always knew my friend Lynda Gayle Vincent was a wonderful person and a good cook, but I never realized what an awesome cook she is until I took my first bite of her Sopapilla Cheesecake.

When I was in high school, my friends and I would frequent a Mexican restaurant near the foot of Lookout Mountain on the Tiftonia side; there were just a couple of Mexican eateries in town back then. And as much as I loved the novel cuisine with all the burritos and enchiladas choices, I rarely finished them. Not that they weren’t delicious, it’s just that I was waiting in anticipation for dessert: Warm sopapillas that came with a pitcher of honey we could lather over the deep-fried delights dusted with confectioner’s sugar. My mouth waters at the thought.

And who doesn’t like cheesecake? When my youngest daughter and her husband married, in addition to their wedding cake, they had a table filled with cheesecakes in all sorts of flavors. No surprise that the cheesecakes were gone well in advance of the cake. I didn’t even get a bite. That says something about Americans’ love of cheesecake.

So, to combine the two is pure culinary genius. Vincent says every time she makes it, it’s gone in no time. “Everyone loves it,” she says. In fact, she took it to a recent party and it was gone before dinner was served.

One tip she’s found that makes it easier is to roll out and mash the crescent roll dough on your countertop or cutting board before transferring it to the baking dish.

Vincent got the recipe from a Facebook friend. She shared it with me, and now I’m sharing it with you. That’s how recipes work among friends.

Sopapilla Cheesecake

2 cans crescent rolls

2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

1 1/2 cups sugar, divided

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 stick butter, melted

Cinnamon (as much as you like)

Unroll and spread one can of crescent rolls, sealing edges, in a 13-by-9-inch pan or glass dish. Mix softened cream cheese, 1 cup of the sugar and vanilla until smooth. Spread this mixture on top of the first layer, then top with remaining crescent rolls and seal the edges. Pour melted butter over all and sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup sugar combined with as much cinnamon as you desire. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

Contact Anne Braly at abraly@timesfreepress.com.