Cheesecake and Christmas Morning.

Oh Cheesecake... you will be the end of me!

I love this recipe from Baking Illustrated. The baking times in the recipe, however, have never worked for me. The recipe says to bake at 500 degrees for 10 minutes to start, but that burnt my cheesecake very quickly. This last time I put it in at 425 degrees for about 20 minutes and then 200 degrees for about 2 hours, I think. : )

This was the first time it didn't get that big crack down the middle of the cake.

For the raspberry syrup I smashed raspberries through a sieve, added some sugar, and reduced it over the stove until it was the right thickness.

Delicious!

It's a tradition of ours to all have hot chocolate together before any opening begins. We each have our own mug, but this year we needed one for Will too!

Can you guess which one is his?

Dom thinks it's torture to make them wait... but I love our tradition... and she doesn't look like she's suffering too much : )

With that out of the way we were ready!

We had lots of fun!

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas!!!

New York Cheesecake- Baking Illustrated

Ingredients-

8 graham crackers 6 tbsp of butter, melted shopping list

1 tbsp  sugar

6 tbsp melted butter
2 1/2 lbs. (5 packages)  cream cheese, softened to room temp.
1/8 tsp  salt
1 1/2 cups  sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons  fresh lemon juice
1/3 cup  sour cream
6 eggs
2 egg yolks

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Brush the bottom and sides of a 9" springform pan with 1/2 T. of the melted butter.

Finely crush the graham crackers.

Mix with the sugar and 5 1/2 tbsp of the butter with a fork until crumbly.
Press the crumbs in the bottom of the prepared pan, bake for 13 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove to rack to cool while you prepare the filling.

Turn oven up to 500 degrees ( I turn it up to 425 instead ).

In the large bowl of a standing mixer, beat the cream cheese for about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides. Add the salt and about 1/2 the sugar and beat at medium-low speed until combined, about 1 minute. Scrape the bowl. Beat in the remaining sugar about 1 minute.

Add the sour cream, lemon juice and vanilla.

Beat at low speed for 1 minute. Scrape the bowl.
Add the egg yolks and beat at medium-low speed until thoroughly combined, about 1 minute.

Scrape the bowl; add the remaining eggs 2 at a time, beating until thoroughly combined, about 1 minute, scraping the bowl between additions.

Brush sides of springform pan with remaining melted butter generously after the crust has cooled.

Pour into cooled crust and place on a lipped baking sheet in case there is spillover.

Bake at 500 (425 for me!)  degrees for 10 ( 20 minutes for me ) minutes. Reduce heat to 200 degrees.

Do not open the oven door.

Bake 90 minutes. (About 2 hours for me, until the center of the cake registers about 150 degrees.)

Remove from oven, cool for five minutes on wire rack.

Run knife around the outer edge of the cake.

Allow to cool for 3 hours at room temp.

Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

Best served 30 minutes out of the refrigerator.

Cream Puffs!

Mmmmm...

Cream Puffs are at the top of my list. I recently went to a yogurt place that had mini cream puffs as toppings,

 yes please!

They are so light and delicate they can give the impression of being difficult to make, but they're not!

Fresh sweet whipped cream is my favorite filling by far.

But who can argue with a little chocolate sauce?

I also made a vanilla bean pastry cream, so good.

It also holds up better than whipped cream if you are making them ahead of time.

Great for parties...

 or treat yourself and make them for no reason at all!

I can't find the particular recipe I used for these, but here is one that I found on Food Network. Once I find the one I used I will attach it also : )

Strawberry Cream Puffs Extraordinaire-

Recipe courtesy Clyde and Terryl Miller

Ingredients


Choux Paste:
3/4 cup butter
1 1/2 cup water
3/8 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
6 eggs

Almond Pastry Cream:
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups milk
6 egg yolks
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 tablespoon Whip Cream Aid (available online and at specialty baking supply stores)
1 pint strawberries

Chocolate Glaze:
2 squares semisweet chocolate
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup powdered sugar
3 tablespoons milk

Directions-

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

In 10-inch Dutch oven over medium heat, heat butter, water and salt until boiling. Remove from heat. Add flour all at once. With a wooden spoon, vigorously stir until mixture forms a ball and leaves the sides of the Dutch oven. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each, until smooth. Cool mixture slightly.

Using a pastry bag and large tip, drop 3-inch circles of choux paste around in a circle in a 12-inch shallow Dutch oven with a parchment paper circle on the bottom. Bake 50 to 70 minutes, or until golden, firm and dry. Take off heat and leave in oven for 15 minutes. Cool. Use a timer and rotate lid and pot.

While puff ring is cooking, prepare Almond Pastry Cream. Mix sugar, flour, salt and milk together and cooking over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture thickens and boils. Boil 1 minute. In a small bowl beat egg yolks slightly. Temper the egg yolks by beating a small amount of the hot mixture into the eggs. Slowly pour the egg mixture back into the milk mixture, stirring well. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly until mixture thickens and coats spoon well. Do not boil. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla and almond extracts and cool. Whip heavy whipping cream to stiff peaks, adding whip cream aid now, and fold into cooled pastry cream.

After puff ring cools, with a sharp knife, carefully cut puff ring in half horizontally. With spoon, remove soft interior and discard, leaving hollow ring shell. Fill bottom shell with cream, then place sliced strawberries on the top and then replace the top of the shell. Refrigerate to set up.

Prepare chocolate glaze by melting the chocolate and butter together in a 5-inch Dutch oven, stirring constantly. Stir in powdered sugar and milk until smooth. Cool. Spread on top of ring while slightly warm. Refrigerate ring.

To serve, fill center of ring with fresh chocolate-dipped strawberries and serve immediately.







Gingerbread!

Christmas is on its way!

Just like a fresh snow ; )

Yes, there is gingerbread under that sugar!

This recipe is from King Arthur Flour and it was very good, but not great. The search is still on for an awesome recipe, does anyone have one?



With winter in Phoenix comes green green grass!

This was one of the warm days before the chill moved in, so nice!!!

I feel like the blog has been a little neglected. We recently moved into a two story house and the computer is all the way upstairs ;) It was easier when I had a few spare moments, now I have to go to the computer with purpose.

I'll get it figured out : ) 



Hee hee.   : )

Cardamom Crumb Cake, New Crayons, and a Sweet Rain.

Fresh muffins in the morning sun...

I wasn't familiar with cardamom.

So I gave it a shot.

It had a very nice, warm flavor. Similar to cinnamon. The crumb cake was very good. Next time I might add nectarines and lavender... now we're talkin'!

This recipe was also an experiment with parchment paper. I've been wanting to make muffins wrapped in parchment for forever, I think they're so pretty that way!

Just cut 5 inch squares of parchment paper. Then press each into the muffin pan. Press a crease into the paper wherever it seems to naturally want to fold. Filling them with batter will keep them down in the pan. It couldn't be easier, I love it!

Tie a bow around them and they are a perfect little gift.



This particular morning was a little slice of heaven. Bella and I found ourselves alone at home on a cozy, rainy, thundery Saturday morning. I turned on some classical music, we opened the door, and enjoyed new crayons.

Does this make you want to grab a coloring book or what?!

New markers too!

So long for now!

Cardamom Crumb Cake- Everyday Food
Ingredients- Serves 9
nonstick cooking spray
3 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
2/3 cup milk
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/3 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
2 cups fresh berries, for serving

Directions-
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 9-inch square baking pan with cooking spray. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. With a fork or dough cutter, cut in butter until crumbs form. Reserve 1 cup crumb mixture.

2.Whisk milk, eggs, sour cream, vanilla, cardamom, and lemon zest into remaining crumb mixture until combined. Pour batter into pan and sprinkle reserved crumb mixture on top. Bake until top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Let cool in pan on a wire rack, 30 minutes. Serve cake warm or at room temperature with fresh berries. (Store cooled cake in an airtight container, at room temperature, up to 3 days.)







Halloween Party 2010!

It's my favorite party of the year!

We had s'mores bark, seven layer bars, sugar cookies, double-chocolate chip cookies, cupcakes, candy corn, malted milk balls, yogurt covered pretzels...

... kettle corn, peanut butter bars, churros, bit 'o honeys, more cupcakes, more sugar cookies...

... salad with candied pecans, brie and apple bruschetta, smoked salmon with creme fraiche and dill bruschetta, deviled eggs, pumpkin soup, meatballs, and sharp cheddar macaroni and cheese... there was so much food I could'nt even remember what we had when it was time to put it all out!

It's so fun to go all out just once a year : )

And of course we had shrunken head apple cider, the party isn't complete without it!

Don't forget to add the spiced rum!

We now have 3 time defending champions!

Best Costume went to Beauty and the Beast!



The Magician and his lovely assistant a close second.

Ricky couldn't smile without his mustache falling off.   : )

Let the games begin!!!



"Minute to Win It" was my favorite part of the night!

Spider Man was especially nimble, as you would expect  ; )

Another Halloween has come and gone, and it was so much fun!

'Til next year!!!