Kristen Crossley is a baker extraordinaire. “My cooking isn’t very good, but the baking is great,” she said. She claims all those who know her would agree.
Crossley moved from Massachusetts to California five years ago and has lived in Mountain View for the last four years. She learned of the Wal-Mart Family Cookbook competition while working at the store’s local outlet in Mountain View, and it was there that she made her breakthrough as a baker.
Last year, Crossley’s recipe for her strawberry kiwi cream cheese tart was selected for the cookbook. This year, her peanut butter chocolate chip cheesecake was also a winner.
“It’s so delicious that I have had people purchase the cheesecake from me for parties and events,” Crossley said. “I figured, why not enter the dessert if it’s this good?”
In the end, the cheesecake was good enough to beat out thousands of other entries and become one of “96 prize-wining recipes,” as the book’s cover puts it.
Wal-Mart says its cookbook was created to develop a sense of camaraderie and community between customers and associates. Entries for the illustrated cookbook — which covers the whole meal, from appetizers to main courses to desserts — came only from Wal-Mart employees. Since the employees hail from all different cultures and ethnicities, their recipes vary widely.
“The cookbook is meant to take us back to the days of potlucks and parties when people used to sit down and enjoy a good meal together,” said Regina Walters, account services manager for Try-Foods International, a food industry promoter which represents Wal-Mart and publishes the book.
The contest is in its sixth year, and sales and entries have increased every year, Walters said. The cookbook is available at any Wal-Mart for $5.
Peanut Butter Cheesecake Recipe:
1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
2/3 cups sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/3 cup butter, melted
8 oz. softened cream cheese
14 oz. sweetened condensed milk
10 oz. peanut butter-flavored pieces, melted
4 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup swirled peanut butter and semisweet chocolate-flavored pieces
Directions:
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. To create the pie crust, combine graham cracker crumbs, sugar, cocoa powder and butter in a bowl. Press the mixture into a 9-inch baking pan. Next, beat the cream cheese with a mixer in a large mixing bowl for about 30 seconds. Add sweetened condensed milk gradually and mix with cream cheese. Mix in melted peanut butter pieces until smooth and then add the eggs and vanilla. Stir in peanut butter and semi-sweet chocolate pieces. Pour over the crust mixture and bake for 55-65 minutes. Use a sharp knife to remove the edges from the pan and cool completely over a wire rack, then cover and chill for at least four hours before serving.
E-mail Amber Cleave at acleave@mv-voice.com
