Pumpkin Cheesecake

I was in the mood to bake something festive and something I KNEW my dad would love. He LOVES cheesecake (as do I), but our stomachs hate us afterwords. SO I decided to make it a little different. I used organic cream cheese and organic sour cream, instead of the overly processed stuff (thank you mom for the idea). After I chilled it over night, I went into the kitchen in the morning and saw that a piece was taken out! Dad had some for breakfast! We both felt just fine after we ate it too (which was such a good thing!). Anyways, enough of this blabbering, here is the recipe!

Pumpkin Cheesecake:

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter, melted

FILLING:
3 packages (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 can (15 oz) solid-pack pumpkin
1 can (5 oz) evaporated milk
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 eggs, lightly beaten

TOPPING:
2 cups (16 oz) sour cream
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Additional ground cinnamon (for garnish)

Directions:
1. In a small bowl, combine crumbs and sugar; stir in butter. Press onto the bottom and 1 1/2 inches up the sides of a greased 9 inch springform pan. Bake at 350 for 5-7 minutes or until set. Cool for 10 minutes.
2. In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese, brown sugar, pumpkin, milk, cornstarch, cinnamon, and nutmeg until smooth. Add eggs; beat on low speed just until combined. Pour into crust.
3. Place pan on a baking sheet. Bake at 350 for 55-60 minutes or until center is almost set.
4. In a small bowl, combine the sour cream, sugar, and vanilla; spread over filling. Bake 5 minutes longer. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Carefully run a knife around edge of pan to loosen; cool 1 hour longer. Chill overnight.
5. Let stand at room temperature 30 minutes before slicing. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Refrigerate leftovers.
Yield 12-14 servings

Things I want for my kitchen...

This apple timer from amazon is so cute!

and this double timer is fun too

These Odd Size measuring spoons from uncommongoods.com were cool, because they have EVERY teaspoon and tablespoon you could think of. I wish they came in stainless steel...

And I thought this recipe binder was ADORABLE!

http://www.zazzle.com/custom_name_recipe_binder_with_french_chef-127297075906483764

I would have put up a picture but the website wouldn't let me...

Halloween Cookies!!

My mother and I decided to make some sugar cookies. Now, I'm not a huge fan of sugar cookies so I altered the recipe a bit to make them taste better! I added vanilla AND lemon zest to the recipe.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• Lemon Zest of half a lemon
• Powdered sugar, for rolling out dough

Directions:

Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. Place butter and sugar in large bowl of electric stand mixer and beat until light in color. Add egg and milk and beat to combine. Put mixer on low speed, gradually add flour, and beat until mixture pulls away from the side of the bowl. Divide the dough in half, wrap in waxed paper, and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Sprinkle surface where you will roll out dough with powdered sugar. Remove 1 wrapped pack of dough from refrigerator at a time, sprinkle rolling pin with powdered sugar, and roll out dough to 1/4-inch thick. Move the dough around and check underneath frequently to make sure it is not sticking. If dough has warmed during rolling, place cold cookie sheet on top for 10 minutes to chill. Cut into desired shape, place at least 1-inch apart on greased baking sheet, parchment, or silicone baking mat, and bake for 7 to 9 minutes or until cookies are just beginning to turn brown around the edges, rotating cookie sheet halfway through baking time. Let sit on baking sheet for 2 minutes after removal from oven and then move to complete cooling on wire rack. Serve as is or ice as desired. Store in airtight container for up to 1 week.

For the frosting I used this basic recipe. For the colors, instead of using the traditional watery food coloring, I used the gel food coloring by Wilton.

Ingredients:

• 1 stick butter
• 1lb powdered sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:
Mix all ingredients together to make a stiff frosting. If it is still a little runny or if you just want it thicker add more powdered sugar. If it is too thick add more water.

Class numbers 3 and 4

Well I have just concluded my Wilton Course 1 decorating class today! It was so much fun! I can't wait to start my Course 2 next week!
Anyways, I thought I would share with you what I learned!

We made some cupcakes and learned to fill the center of the cupcake. I used Mom's homemade cherry jam... yummmm

Then we learned how to make a Shaggy Mum flower

A Star Flower

And balloons and little flowers...

In our last class we learned how to make roses and to write with icing... My roses melted a bit on the ride home, because it was so darn hot...

I'm so excited about learning to do all of this and I'm so excited to start school soon!!! yay!

Wilton Cake Decorating Class #1

So on thursday we learned the basics about decorating with icing an buttercream using star tips and we decorated some sugar cookies (which of course I made, soooo tasty). That was alot of fun! I'm getting the hang of using the different decorating tips and a steady hand. Here are some of my cookies! haha I'm not too good at aligning things yet!

Today we actually decorated a cake. It was a white vanilla cake with strawberry jam yum! Anyways here is some of my progress!

 



Mind you I'm not wanting to decorate cakes all my life, I want to be a pastry chef in a classy restaurant. So I'm doing this for fun and for possible future interest. I'm sure I'll learn all of this when I get to school, but for now I'm just having fun learning!!!

WHOAH no dessert?!?!?!

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I decided to cook dinner tonight instead of baking! This evening I made Rosemary Chicken Breasts, Brown Butter and Balsalmic Ravioli, and Spinach Salad!! All this thanks to Rachel Ray!

Chicken:

• 4 pieces boneless, skinless chicken breast, 6 to 8 ounces each
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, eyeball it, just enough to coat chicken lightly
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 stems rosemary, leaves stripped and chopped, about 2 tablespoons
• Salt and coarse black pepper
• 4 cloves garlic, cracked away from skin with a whack against the flat of your knife

Ravioli:

• 1 package, 12 to 16 ounces, fresh ravioli, any flavor filling (I used Bertolli)
• 3 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 2 handfuls grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
• Salt and pepper
• 1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley, a couple of handfuls 
• Few sprigs fresh basil

Spinach Salad:

• Fresh baby spinach
• Red onion
• 4 hard boiled eggs
• 4 slices bacon of choice (I used turkey bacon, but pancetta works too)
• Mushrooms (optional)
• Spinach salad dressing (homemade or we used Marie's)

Directions:

Coat chicken in balsamic vinegar, then olive oil. Season chicken with rosemary, salt and pepper and let stand 10 minutes.


Bring a large pot of water to a boil for ravioli. Salt water and drop ravioli in water. Cook 8 minutes or until raviolis expand, float to top of water, and are al dente.


Heat a medium nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add chicken breasts and cracked garlic to the pan. Cook chicken 12 minutes, or until juices run clear, turning occasionally. The balsamic vinegar will produce a deep brown, sweet finish on the chicken as it cooks.


When the chicken is 2 or 3 minutes away from done, heat a second skillet over medium low to medium heat. To the second skillet, add butter to the pan and let it begin to brown.



When the butter for the ravioli has browned, add cooked ravioli to the pan and turn in butter to heat through. Add balsamic vinegar to the ravioli and cook a minute or 2 longer to reduce the vinegar and glaze the ravioli. The vinegar will become thick and syrup like. Add cheese, parsley, salt and pepper to the pasta and remove the pan from the heat.

Put spinach in either individual bowls or in a serving dish. After cooking the bacon to make it nice and crispy, crumble on top of spinach. Slice the hard boiled eggs and put a few slices of onion on each salad. Salad dressing on the side.


Dad told me, "This is good! I'd order it again!" thank you dad...

Hope you enjoy! If you decide to make it let me know how it turned out!!!

German Chocolate Mini Cakes!

I got these new Tasty Fill pans from Michaels and wanted to try them out! So I made a German Chocolate Cake with a whipped cream coconut filling. You can also use this recipe for German Chocolate Cupcakes.

German Chocolate Cakes:
Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter softened
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 3 eggs
• 6 ounces German sweet chocolate melted
• 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups buttermilk 

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line standard muffin pan with baking cups. In medium bowl combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In large bowl, beat butter and sugar with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs; mix well. Add chocolate and vanilla; beat until well blended. Add dry ingredients in thirds alternating with buttermilk, beating after each addition until smooth. Spoon into baking cups. Bake 18-20 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool cupcakes in pan on cooling rack for 5-8 minutes. Remove cupcakes from pan; cool completely.

Any of our cupcake recipes may be prepared in our Mini Tasty-Fill pans. Spray pans with vegetable pan spray, then fill each with about 1/2 cup batter. Place pans on cookie sheet and bake 14-16 minutes. Cool in pan on cooling grid for about 8 minutes; remove from pan and cool completely before filling and icing

Filling:
Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup flaked coconut
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup grated or shaved semi-sweet chocolate
• Freshly made whipped cream

In medium bowl, gently fold coconut and chocolate into thawed whipped topping. Refrigerate until ready to use.
Ganache Glaze
Ingredients:

• 14 oz chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup whipping cream 

Heat whipping cream in saucepan just to boiling point. DO NOT BOIL. Remove from heat, add chocolate chips, stir until smooth and glossy. If mixture is too thick, add 1 to 2 tablespoons warm whipping cream. Place cake on cake board cut to fit; position on wire rack over drip pan. Pour glaze into center and work out toward edges. Note: Cake may be iced first in buttercream icing. Let icing set, then pour on ganache. If cake is one layer or perfectly smooth, buttercream icing is not needed.
Whipped Ganache: follow recipe above, using 1 cup whipping cream and making these changes: Allow mixture to set and cool to room temperature (it will have the consistency of pudding, this may take 1 to 2 hours.) Whip on high speed until light and soft peaks form.

Sfogllatella (Lobster Tails)

I was watching TLC's Cake Boss and got inspired to try making their Sfogllatella! Now I've learned that Buddy's Lobster Tails are Americanized, and the recipe I used is a traditional Italian one. It's not a fluffy and crunchy as Buddy's was, but if that was the texture you were going for I would use a puff pastry recipe for the shell instead of the one I used.

Sfogllatella (lobstertail) Italian Pastry
Source: Immigrant's Kitchen Italian by Cassandra Vivian

Pastry
2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup semolina flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butter
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup lard or butter, melted

Combine flours, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Mix well. Add butter,
cutting it into the dough until blended. Slowly add water. Knead until firm.
Form into a ball, cover, and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Filling
1 cup milk
1/4 cup semolina flour
1 cup ricotta cheese
1 large egg, beaten
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon of either
candied orange peel
lemon zest
candied fruit of choice
pinch of cinnamon
confectioners sugar
parchment paper, optional

Place a saucepan over medium heat. Add milk. Bring to a boil and slowly add
semolina flour. Stir constantly so as to avoid lumps. Simmer three to four
minutes, remove from the heat, pour into a bowl and allow to cool.

After five minutes add ricotta (which has been passed through a sieve), egg,
sugar, candied fruit, and sugar to semolina. Beat well. Set aside.

Remove dough from refrigerator. Divided it into two equal parts. Place on a
dusted pastry board and roll with a rolling pin into an 18 inch square. It
will become very, very, thin.

Brush the thin pastry with butter. Begin at one end and roll it like a jelly
roll. Cut the roll into a number of 3-4 inch pieces. Pick up one piece of
the dough in your hand. Press your thumb in the center of the pastry and
push it down to form a hole like a cup.

Fill the cup with 2 tablespoons of filling. Fold the cup until the open
edges touch. Gently press the edges together to seal the pastry. Set it in
front of you. Gently pull out the sides of the front to form a shell. Brush
the top with beaten egg yolk.

Repeat above until all pastry and filling are used. Preheat over to 425
degrees. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Place the shells on
the paper and bake for 15 minutes or until brown. Let the pastry cool on the
cookie sheet for five minutes. It will harden a bit. Then place on a rack.
When ready to serve and completely cool, sprinkle with confectioners sugar.