….And who doesn’t love a Crunchy Cheesecake! One of our favorite restaurants that moved into Lexington, Ky around 1998 was –Up The Creek- This was the first time my husband and I eaten a dessert of Fried Cheesecake. We immediately fell in love with it! They also had a sandwich that was Fried Green Tomato Sandwich. Oh my, every night this was what I ate for weeks!
Fried Cheesecake
• 3 -8 oz. Cream Cheese
• 2/3 c. sugar
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 3 1/2 c. vegetable oil
• 1 stick butter, melted
• 15-20 small flour tortillas
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• SAUCE
• 1 lb. strawberries, diced
• 1/4 c. sugar
• 1/8 c. water
• 1/8 c. strawberry preserves
Directions:
1. For the sauce: In a medium sauce pan, add the strawberries, sugar, water, and place on low to medium heat and allow to simmer for 10 minutes. Using a potato smasher, smash the strawberries while in the sauce pan. Add the strawberry preserves and allow to simmer for approximately 5-7 minutes OR until sauce thickens. Remove from heat.
2. In a large bowl, cream the cream cheese; add the sugar, and vanilla. Take a flour tortilla and add about a spoonful and a half of the cream cheese mixture and spread in the middle of the tortilla. Begin to roll the tortilla away from you; half way through tuck in the sides; and roll to the end of the other side of the tortilla making a roll. Complete the process until all of the cream cheese mixture is gone.
3. In a large sauce pan on medium heat (make sure it isn’t too high) heat the vegetable oil. Add a couple of the tortillas to the pan seam side up. Allow to fry for 1 minute on each side. Using a slotted spoon remove from oil once it is golden brown on both sides. Repeat until all tortillas are cooked.
4. Using a pastry brush swipe each tortilla with butter, sprinkle with cinnamon sugar mixture, and allow to cool before serving. Use the strawberry sauce for dipping.
Please note: Allow to cool before serving. The tortilla will remain crunchy even after cooled. I prefer the cinnamon be left out of the recipe but that is a personal choice. Enjoy!
I remember trying to teach my sister how to cook these fritters. It was such a disaster the first time. She ended up with either raw centers or burned edges…oh she was a toughie. They are wonderful discs of crispy fried onions and corny perfection! We actually use whatever onions we have at the time, green onions, vidalia, red onions, sweet…what ever is available! You can also finely chop up green/ red peppers or banana peppers/pepperonicini’s for variety. 
God does reassemble shattered pieces 