Raspberry-Pomegranate Cheesecake Bars

For Mom or just for you!

Welcome to issue #9 of Susanality, a free weekly newsletter. Paid content is starting up this week, with a new paid subscriber-only recipe post on Sunday. More features are coming soon— I’ll keep you posted! If you are already a paid subscriber, thank you!

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My computer is full of recipe gems that can't be found anywhere in print or online. The recipe below was commissioned by one of the many now-defunct publications that I used to work for. The digital presence of these magazines died along with them. It’s a shame that folded magazines can’t maintain their websites to keep their archives alive, but that just isn’t practical, and it rarely happens. Today I am sharing one of these lost recipes with you. 

Over the years, I have written hundreds— no, wait— thousands of recipes for magazines. The bulk of them were created at my alma mater, Martha Stewart Living. I was the very first food editor, a job I held for twelve years. (I can still search for my old recipes on the Martha Stewart website, which is handy!) I was one of the few food people from the era of Martha’s magazine career who got to work directly with her in the kitchen. I learned the craft of creating and styling recipes under her tutelage. It was a crash course. I worked with her on a few shoots in her kitchen in Westport and after that, I was on my own! Those first few projects and shoots gave me the confidence to apply my already considerable cooking experience to what was a brand-new medium for me. Finally, I had a way to combine my artist’s sensibility with my cooking skills. I didn’t even know that Martha broke all the rules of traditional food styling at the time, so I continued to break them. Ignorance is bliss, right?

Not a real cover, but this photo of Martha and me was on the inside flap of this book of which I was co-author, and it was taken in her Westport kitchen.

 I view writing recipes as an artform, but the writing part is just the endgame. It takes hours of creative thinking to come up with the concept, and then more hours in the kitchen trying to make it work. And it has to be as delicious as it can be. Did you know that recipe editors hate the word delicious and studiously avoid it? But this is my newsletter, and honestly, is there a better word? In fact, Martha herself would use the word (and probably still does) when assessing one’s work, saying, “That looks DELICIOUS”, or worse, “That doesn’t look DELICIOUS enough”. I think this is where my food styling ethos comes from: Just try to make their mouths water. 

As we built the brand, and our original test kitchen, we structured things differently than other magazines. Again, breaking all the rules. In the traditional test kitchen, each food editor would have their own little kitchen “bay” where they would work in solitude in an effort to mimic the conditions of a reader’s home kitchen. They would then hand their recipes over to a food stylist who would try to improve the looks of a recipe on a photo set far, far away. They were watering down the idea. Instead, we just built one big kitchen, which was more like a restaurant kitchen where we could cook elbow to elbow at the stove. The other big difference was that each editor, starting with me, styled their own recipes when the time came. This seemed like a more authentic and organic approach. It resulted in recipes that had the potential to be more beautiful, artistic, and somehow, expressive. They retained the integrity of the creator.

Some of my best recipes came from a specific challenge, which is generally what a magazine recipe assignment is. When an editor reaches out, they have a list of criteria you have to meet: a short ingredient list, a streamlined process, fit within a certain visual, be appropriate for a specific holiday or theme. You get the idea. 

These Raspberry-Pomegranate Cheesecake Bars were originally developed for a Fourth of July feature for a now-deceased magazine. Originally, they were published as “no-bake” cheesecake bars, but the recipe is better when the crust is baked. Since the filling isn’t baked, you really need that sturdiness that the baked crust provides — and it only takes ten minutes! The bars need to chill for at least four hours anyway. I guess “No-Bake” is a good selling point for a magazine cover, but luckily, I’m not selling magazines!

The point of scoring the bars before you glaze them is so you know where to put the fruit.

So, let me “sell” this recipe to you. They are easy. They are DELICIOUS. They are beautiful, with their gorgeous red and glossy glaze. They are perfect for an outdoor gathering: they transport well and are easy to eat out of hand, on a napkin. They are perfect for Mother’s Day. If the batch is too big, you can halve it, or share it with your neighbors. 

You’re welcome :)

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PS - I wanted to remind you that all of the recipes in my newsletters live permanently here. You can also scroll through public recipes on my site or keep up with me on Instagram. Or better yet, you can support me by ordering my book, Open Kitchen.

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Raspberry-Pomegranate Cheesecake Bars

click here for a printable version

Makes 12 bars

If you want to bring these to a picnic, a sheet pan with a lid will work best so the top doesn’t get ruined. You can also bake the bars in a traditional 9 by 13-inch baking pan which can be covered with foil or plastic wrap. If you can't find fresh pomegranate for the topping, just use raspberries.

For the crust:
Butter, for the pan
1¾ cup/206 g graham cracker crumbs (13 whole crackers, ground)
½ cup/113 g unsalted butter (1 stick), melted
¼ cup/50 g granulated sugar
Pinch of salt

For the filling:
1 8-oz package/226 g cream cheese, softened
½ cup/101 g granulated sugar
1 cup 2% Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
⅔ cup heavy cream

For the topping:
2 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoons cornstarch
1 cup pomegranate juice
1 cup fresh raspberries
¼ cup/50 g granulated sugar
Fresh raspberries, for garnish
Pomegranate seeds, for garnish (optional)

Heat oven to 350°F. Butter the bottom of a quarter sheet pan (9 by 13 inches) or a 9 by 13-inch baking pan and line with parchment paper, leaving overhang on the long sides so you can remove the bars easily later. Make the crust: combine the graham cracker crumbs, butter, sugar and salt, and mix thoroughly. Press the crust into the bottom of the pan and bake 8 to 10 minutes until fragrant and toasted.

In the bowl of a stand mixer and using the paddle, beat cream cheese and sugar on medium speed until smooth and fluffy, scraping once or twice. Add yogurt, lemon juice and vanilla and beat until smooth. Switch to the whip attachment and set on medium low speed. Pour in the cream, and whip on high speed until thick and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes.

Transfer the filling to the crust and spread out evenly using an offset spatula. Use the spatula to smooth and level the filling as best you can. Cover with a piece of foil, being careful not to mar the top. Chill at least 4 hours, or overnight.

Make the glaze: in a small saucepan, whisk the cornstarch and pomegranate juice together until smooth. Add the raspberries and sugar and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the raspberries have completely fallen apart. Strain through a fine mesh strainer into a small metal bowl. Place the bowl in a slightly larger bowl of ice, and stir occasionally until cool, but still pourable.

Score the top lightly into 12 almost square bars (4 along the long side and 3 along the short side). Pour the glaze over the surface, tipping pan to coat evenly. Decorate the center of each bar with a few raspberries and some pomegranate seeds. Chill again until firm, about 1 hour. Run a paring knife all around the edges to loosen. Lift the paper to remove the cheesecake from the pan, and carefully cut the bars along the score marks, wiping the knife each time. Transfer to a serving platter (or return them to the pan if you are transporting them).  Keep chilled until ready to serve, up to two days.