Amazing 4th of July Recipe
My sister made this amazing 4th of July Recipe – Flag Cheesecake Bars for our recent 4th of July get-together. They are so patriotic and are good for Labor Day and Memorial Day as well. To be honest they are so yummy you really don’t need an occasion to make them.


Flag Cheesecake Bars
Ingredients
Crust
- 1/2 cup Whole almonds
- 1 cup All-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup Firmly packed light brown sugar
- 1/4 tsp Salt
- 8 tbsp Unsalted butter, melted (1 stick)
Filling
- 24 oz Cream cheese at room temperature (3 – 8 oz packages)
- 3/4 cup Sugar
- 3 large Eggs
- 2 tbsp Lemon juice
- 2 tsp Vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp Salt
Garnish
- 80 ripe Blueberries
- 1 cup Seedless raspberry or strawberry jelly or red decorating gel
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
Make Crust
- Pulse almonds in a food processor until finely chopped
- Add flour, brown sugar, and salt, and process until well combined.
- Add butter and pulse just until the mixture begins to come together; it should not form a ball.
- Press the mixture evenly over the bottom of the prepared pan.
- Bake for 25 min., or until set then let cool on a wire rack.
Make Filling
- In a large bowl, beat with a mixer on medium-high speed cream cheese and sugar until smooth.
- Reduce speed to medium-low and add eggs, one at a time, beating until just combined.
- Beat in lemon juice, vanilla and salt.
Directions
- Spread the cream cheese mixture evenly over the crust. Tap the pan on the countertop 3-4 times to burst air bubbles in the filling.
- Place the pan on a large roasting pan and put in the oven. Pour hot tap water into the roasting pan until it comes up about an inch around the baking pan.
- Bake for 40 minutes, or until the filling is just set. Cool completely on a wire rack, then cover with foil and refrigerate for at least 6 hours or overnight.
- Use the foil overhang to lift the cheesecake out of the pan and onto the cutting board.
- Heat a large sharp knife under hot water; dry knife. Trim off the edges of the cheesecake.
- Carefully cut into 16 bars, rinsing the knife under hot water and drying thoroughly between each cut.
Decorations
- Transfer bars to a serving platter(s). Decorate each bar with 5 blueberries in the upper left corner to resemble stars.
- Place jelly in a zip-lock bag, seal the bag, and snip off about 1/6 in at one bottom corner. Or use red decorating gel.
- Pipe jelly in thin lines on each bar to resemble stripes on a flag (about 4-5 stripes on each bar).
You can also find some of the best cake made from the king of fruits at Emicakes.
Congress debated and revised the wording of the Declaration, removing Jefferson’s vigorous denunciation of King George III for importing the slave trade, finally approving it two days later on July 4. A day earlier, John Adams wrote to his wife Abigail:
The second day of July 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more