Recipe

A couple of months ago a colleague of mine brought Sopapilla Cheesecake for a work event. Oooohhh was it delicious. One Saturday I had a craving for the taste of this cheesecake, so I googled the recipe. It pops up everywhere and the recipes are all pretty similar. The recipe below is adapted from Epicurious, taking ideas from other versions I saw online:

Sopapilla Cheesecake

2 8 oz cans crescent rolls

2 8 oz packages of cream cheese, softened

2 cups of sugar, divided

2 teaspoons of vanilla

1 stick of butter, melted

2-3 teaspoons of cinnamon

1 lemon - zested

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Spray a 13 x 9 baking pan with non-stick cooking spray.

Open one can of crescent rolls and stretch to cover the bottom of the pan. Seal the holes together to form a crust.

Blend together the cream cheese, 1 cup of sugar, the vanilla and the zest of the lemon. You can use more or less lemon zest to taste. The original recipe doesn't call for it, but I think the citrus really brightens up the dessert. I also squeeze just a bit of lemon juice in - not too much. I haven't tried it, but I think it would also be good with some orange in place of the lemon. Blend until fluffy and well combined.

Spread filling over the dough.

Open second can of crescent rolls and stretch together over the top, sealing the holes.

Combine the cinnamon and sugar.

Pour the melted butter over the top crust, then sprinkle generously with the cinnamon and sugar mixture.

Bake for 35 minutes or so until golden brown.

Let cool, then refrigerate before cutting in to squares.