June 24, 2008
Tardis Cake
I love this cake - it's the Tardis from Doctor Who.
On that note, I highly recommend the Doctor Who series from the BBC. Series 1 was good, but Series 2 with David Tennant? He is simply fantastic as The Doctor. It's hard to list my favorite episode, but I loved the one with Queen Victoria and the werewolves and the one with the devil? Amazing. Seriously.
June 04, 2007
Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble
Inspired by this recipe on Smitten Kitchen's site (an absolutely gorgeous site that I make a point of checking every day) and also by the first C.S.A. farm share delivery that included rhubarb, I made an absolutely scrumptious Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble on Thursday night.
It was so tart and so yummy that we made a point of walking into town on Saturday and buying more rhubarb at the farmer's market. And THEN on the way out of the farmer's market gauntlet, we saw our C.S.A. farmer and he gave us even more rhubarb for free. We couldn't find good organic strawberries anywhere so I made ANOTHER crumble with frozen blueberries, only this one was double the size. I ate my weight in rhubarb over the last few days is what I'm saying. Geez. AND I have a big bag of cut/sugared rhubarb now patiently waiting in the freezer.
Anyhoo, onto the recipe. I didn't change much from Smitten's. The main change is that I didn't have any of the fancy sugar in my cupboard. So I just used regular white sugar.
The photo above is of the strawberry version. I attempted to take photos of the blueberry rhubarb version but we're in the middle of selling a bunch of things on eBay (wanna buy some shoes? And some Germans?) and the photos were deleted in our posting frenzy. Trust me, it was completely scrumptious.
For the Blueberry Rhubarb version, I basically doubled the recipe, only used one lemon, added a bag of frozen blueberries, and put it all in a 9 x 13 pan. The best part of the recipe is the crumble. It's like crunchy-yet-chewy shortbread cookies (my favorites). I'm not sure I can even come close to describing how fantastic it tastes. Which is why I'm now going through rhubarb withdrawal because Aaron tells me he had only two servings and now the entire pan is gone. All fingers point to my belly.
For the topping:
1 1/3 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
6 tablespoons sugar
Zest of one lemon
1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
For the filling:
1 ½ cups rhubarb, chopped into 1-inch pieces
1 quart strawberries, quartered
Juice of one lemon
½ cup sugar
½ cup flour
Pinch of salt
1. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Prepare topping: In a mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, sugars and lemon zest and add the melted butter. Mix until small and large clumps form. Refrigerate until needed.
2. Prepare filling: Toss rhubarb, strawberries, lemon juice, sugar, flour and pinch of salt in an 8 x 8 square pan. Smitten used an oval pan, others have used pie plates.
3. Remove topping from refrigerator and cover fruit thickly and evenly with topping. Place pie plate on a baking sheet, and bake until crumble topping is golden brown in places and fruit is bubbling beneath, about 40 to 50 minutes.
Yield: 1 serving. ;)
Thank you to Smitten Kitchen for another amazing recipe.
March 14, 2007
Peanut Butter Cup Brownie Bottom Cheesecake
Here is my official entry into this month's "Hay, Hay, it's Donna Day" #10 -Cheesecake contest.
Update: Peabody's round-up of all the entries. Voting runs through March 24.
There was no way I was not going to enter this one.
I went back and forth and all around trying to figure out just which cheesecake I was going to make. Vanilla Blueberry? Raspberry Chocolate? English Toffee? And then my lovely coworker suggested Peanut Butter Cup and that sounded just too yummy not to try.
I hunted around for peanut butter chocolate cheesecake recipes and finally narrowed it down to two. I liked the brownie crust on one but the peanut butter cheesecake filling of the other.
I decided to pick the best parts of each recipe and combine them. And modify things a bit. Like change the milk chocolate chips to semi-sweet. And not use shortening in the decorative drizzle because, um, that sounded gross.
And then I found that the brownie bottom (makes my husband giggle every time) took up more space than planned in the pan, so I ended up with extra batter and another smaller cheesecake. Which is not necessarily a bad thing. Just something to keep in mind.
Presenting:
Peanut Butter Cup Brownie Bottom Cheesecake
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup peanut butter chips
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1-1/4 cups sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract (I used Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla)
2 eggs
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 lbs cream cheese, softened
5 eggs, at room temperature
1-1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup smooth peanut butter (not natural-style)
1/2 cups whipping cream
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
6 peanut butter cups, cut into quarters
(this made too much batter for me. Not sure how to cut down the portions. I was able to make an extra very slim 7" cheesecake with the leftover batter. So less than half was left over...)
Decoration:
6 peanut butter cups, cut carefully in half
1/2 cup whipping cream
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup peanut butter cups
(this makes a lot more than you'll need for decorative purposes. I plan on using the extra to serve with the individual slices)
---------------------------------
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease 9-inch springform pan with butter.
2. Stir together butter, sugar and vanilla in large bowl with spoon or wire whisk. Add eggs; stir until well blended. Stir in flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt; blend well. Spread in prepared pan.
3. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until brownie begins to pull away from side of pan. Meanwhile make cheesecake layer (see below).
4. Immediately after removing brownie from oven, sprinkle milk chocolate chips, peanut butter chips and peanut butter cups over brownie surface. Spoon cheesecake mixture over chips. Turn down oven 325°.
Cheesecake Filling:
5. Beat cream cheese in bowl of electric mixer until smooth.
6. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
7. Add sugar, peanut butter and cream; mix until smooth.
8. Stir in vanilla.
9. Pour filling into prepared crust.
[I had extra batter that I put in a smaller springform pan at this point]
10. Double-wrap springform pan with aluminum foil to prevent water seeping in.
11. Place springform pan into a larger baking pan.
12. Pour hot water into the larger pan so that the water comes 1 inch up the sides of the springform pan.
13. Bake at 325 degrees 1-1/2 hours, or until firm and lightly browned.
14. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack for one hour.
15. Run a knife along the edge of the cake to loosen it from the pan somewhat.
16. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours before decorating. I tend to make cheesecakes a day ahead to let things set.
Cheesecake tip: to get the cake off the bottom of the springform pan, because most crusts have butter in them, you just need to heat up the bottom of the pan a bit and the cake should come off easily. I remove the sides, then hold the pan over a burner on my stove - set to LOW - for about 15 or so seconds. Whatever you can handle. Then run a long cake spatula under the cake and it should slip easily off the pan. Just be careful - the bottom of the cake is now very slippery.
17. Remove cake from pan and put on a pretty plate.
18. Bring whipping cream to boil in a small saucepan.
19. Remove from heat and add semi-sweet and peanut butter chips. Stir, stir, stir until melted and smooth.
20. Drizzle over cake and then add peanut butter cup halves around the edge of the cake.
Recipe credits:
Ruggles Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake
Brownie Bottomed Peanut Butter and Milk Chocolate Chip Cheesecake
Peanut Butter Cup Brownie Bottom Cheesecake
Here is my official entry into this month's "Hay, Hay, it's Donna Day" #10 -Cheesecake contest.
Update: Peabody's round-up of all the entries. Voting runs through March 24.
There was no way I was not going to enter this one.
I went back and forth and all around trying to figure out just which cheesecake I was going to make. Vanilla Blueberry? Raspberry Chocolate? English Toffee? And then my lovely coworker suggested Peanut Butter Cup and that sounded just too yummy not to try.
I hunted around for peanut butter chocolate cheesecake recipes and finally narrowed it down to two. I liked the brownie crust on one but the peanut butter cheesecake filling of the other.
I decided to pick the best parts of each recipe and combine them. And modify things a bit. Like change the milk chocolate chips to semi-sweet. And not use shortening in the decorative drizzle because, um, that sounded gross.
And then I found that the brownie bottom (makes my husband giggle every time) took up more space than planned in the pan, so I ended up with extra batter and another smaller cheesecake. Which is not necessarily a bad thing. Just something to keep in mind.
Presenting:
Peanut Butter Cup Brownie Bottom Cheesecake
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup peanut butter chips
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1-1/4 cups sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract (I used Madagascar Bourbon Vanilla)
2 eggs
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 lbs cream cheese, softened
5 eggs, at room temperature
1-1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup smooth peanut butter (not natural-style)
1/2 cups whipping cream
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
6 peanut butter cups, cut into quarters
(this made too much batter for me. Not sure how to cut down the portions. I was able to make an extra very slim 7" cheesecake with the leftover batter. So less than half was left over...)
Decoration:
6 peanut butter cups, cut carefully in half
1/2 cup whipping cream
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 cup peanut butter cups
(this makes a lot more than you'll need for decorative purposes. I plan on using the extra to serve with the individual slices)
---------------------------------
1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease 9-inch springform pan with butter.
2. Stir together butter, sugar and vanilla in large bowl with spoon or wire whisk. Add eggs; stir until well blended. Stir in flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt; blend well. Spread in prepared pan.
3. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until brownie begins to pull away from side of pan. Meanwhile make cheesecake layer (see below).
4. Immediately after removing brownie from oven, sprinkle milk chocolate chips, peanut butter chips and peanut butter cups over brownie surface. Spoon cheesecake mixture over chips. Turn down oven 325°.
Cheesecake Filling:
5. Beat cream cheese in bowl of electric mixer until smooth.
6. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
7. Add sugar, peanut butter and cream; mix until smooth.
8. Stir in vanilla.
9. Pour filling into prepared crust.
[I had extra batter that I put in a smaller springform pan at this point]
10. Double-wrap springform pan with aluminum foil to prevent water seeping in.
11. Place springform pan into a larger baking pan.
12. Pour hot water into the larger pan so that the water comes 1 inch up the sides of the springform pan.
13. Bake at 325 degrees 1-1/2 hours, or until firm and lightly browned.
14. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack for one hour.
15. Run a knife along the edge of the cake to loosen it from the pan somewhat.
16. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours before decorating. I tend to make cheesecakes a day ahead to let things set.
Cheesecake tip: to get the cake off the bottom of the springform pan, because most crusts have butter in them, you just need to heat up the bottom of the pan a bit and the cake should come off easily. I remove the sides, then hold the pan over a burner on my stove - set to LOW - for about 15 or so seconds. Whatever you can handle. Then run a long cake spatula under the cake and it should slip easily off the pan. Just be careful - the bottom of the cake is now very slippery.
17. Remove cake from pan and put on a pretty plate.
18. Bring whipping cream to boil in a small saucepan.
19. Remove from heat and add semi-sweet and peanut butter chips. Stir, stir, stir until melted and smooth.
20. Drizzle over cake and then add peanut butter cup halves around the edge of the cake.
Recipe credits:
Ruggles Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake
Brownie Bottomed Peanut Butter and Milk Chocolate Chip Cheesecake