Smoked sugared cream cheese meets fresh strawberries in a spread that’s bursting with flavor. Uncover the magic of this sweet and smoky fusion. Get ready to elevate your snacking experience with this irresistible combination.
Cream Cheese Reimagined
Growing up, it wasn’t a party until someone broke out a block of cream cheese and poured some type of jam/jelly over top of it. Now, it’s all about smoking cream cheese…and adding something on top of it.
I smoke cream cheese quite often as it’s such an amazing way to elevate a pretty bland ingredient. From seasonings to sauces, you can’t go wrong. Today I’m going to make a sweetened version of this that is reminiscent of cheesecake.
Grab Your Ingredients
This is only 3 ingredients:
- Cream cheese – go with full-fat
- Fresh Strawberries
- Sugar – I decided to go with Demerara sugar and white sugar
Prepare The Dish
The first thing you want to do is preheat your Yoder Smokers YS640 to 225F.
You’ll see in the picture below and the video that I score the top of the cream cheese with a criss-cross pattern. This isn’t necessary but by doing so it allows that smoky goodness (and sugars) to seep into the block itself.
- Place the cold cream cheese in a heat-safe dish. Using a paring knife, make shallow hash marks/criss-cross marks into the top of the cream cheese.
- Place the prepared strawberries around the cream cheese.
- Sprinkle the Demerara sugar all over the cream cheese and strawberries.
- Place the dish into the smoker, on the top rack. Smoke for 1 hour.
- After an hour, remove from the smoker and make the strawberry sauce
Strawberry Sauce
You’ll notice when you take the pan out of the smoker, the strawberries aren’t fully broken down. That’s normal. So this is where you make the strawberry sauce.
- Carefully remove the berries from the dish and place them into a saucepan. Pour on the white sugar and bring the dish to a boil.
- Once it starts to boil, reduce the heat to medium and gently mash down the berries. Allow this to cook down for 10-15 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and allow to rest for 10 minutes.
- Pour the warmed sauce around the smoked cream cheese and serve.
How To Serve Sugared Smoked Cream Cheese
Gosh, where do I even begin? If you can imagine it, you can serve it that way!
- Toast
- Crackers
- Crostini
- Bagels
Recipe Substitutions & Additions
I’m sure the first thing someone will ask is if they can use low-fat/whipped or even vegan cream cheese. I would say no to low fat or whipped as they don’t have enough body for it to hold up to the smoking.
As for Vegan, I’m not vegan so I have no reason to buy it. Please if you do smoke it, let me know how it turns out.
- Fruits – pretty much most fresh fruits will work. Raspberries, blackberries, peaches, and blueberries would be amazing
- Sugar – I prefer to use Demerara sugar versus Turbinado sugar. Turbinado has a finer grain and is less sticky. It doesn’t have that deep molasses flavor that lends perfectly to this dish.
Cream Cheese Reimagined
PrintSugared Cream Cheese & Strawberries On The Smoker
Smoked sugared cream cheese meets fresh strawberries in a spread that’s bursting with flavor. Uncover the magic of this sweet and smoky fusion. Get ready to elevate your snacking experience with this irresistible combination.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
- Category: Smoker, BBQ, Dips, Spreads, Sweet Treats, cookout foods, bbq, smoked cheese, smoked dessert
- Method: smoker
- Cuisine: Smoker, BBQ, Dips, Spreads, Sweet Treats, cookout foods, bbq, smoked cheese, smoked dessert
Ingredients
- 1 8-ounce block cold cream cheese, full fat
- 2 Tablespoons Demerara sugar
- 1-pint strawberries, hulled and halved
- 1/4 cup white sugar
Instructions
- Preheat the Yoder Smokers YS640 to 225°F. I prefer using a fruity type of wood pellet rather than a strong one. Go with apple, cherry, peach or the like. Place the cream cheese in the center of a heat-safe container. Lightly score the top of the cream cheese in a hashmark pattern. Add the prepared strawberries around the outside of the cream cheese. Sprinkle the 2 Tablespoons of Demerara sugar overtop of the cream cheese and strawberries.
- Place the dish onto the top rack of the smoker and smoke for 1 hour.
- Remove the strawberries from the smoker and transfer them to a small pan. Sprinkle the 1/4 cup of white sugar over the top and bring to a boil. Once the mixture starts to boil, reduce the heat to medium and gently mash the strawberries. Skim off any foam, then cook for 10-15 minutes, or until the mixture starts to slightly thicken. Allow to cool slightly and pour the mixture back into the cream cheese pan, around the smoked cream cheese. *To keep the smoked cream cheese warm, place it in a preheated 250°F oven while the strawberries are reduced down into a sauce.
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