Gingersnaps Cherries and Cheesecake Oh My!

I purchased a springform pan 6 months ago in hopes it would inspire me to dive into the cheesecake making process. Well, considering the first time I made a cheesecake was yesterday....it's clear that buying kitchen tools to inspire me just doesn't work. I was reading November's Real Simple when I landed on a cheesecake recipe I just couldn't resist. After getting a ticket from a BIKE COP (I know, right?) I was off to get my supplies.

Gingersnap Cherry Cheesecake
(from Real Simple)

Ingredients

3 cups ground gingersnap cookies
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
3 8-ounce bars cream cheese, at room temperature
1 1/4 cups sugar
2 large eggs
2 cups sour cream
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup cherry preserves

So as I'm perusing the aisles of my local Trader Joes (and by the way, if you live in Los Feliz I'm sure you share my pain of this TJ's. The parking lot alone is a hot mess). The only ginger cookies I could find were these:

I felt almost inhumane crushing the poor little ginger kitties, but the show must go on. Since I don't have a food processor I had to get the job done the old fashioned way. With  a meat hammer, a plastic bag and a towel. And by the way, it's a great stress reliever.

In a large mixing bowl combine crushed cookies and melted butter. Press the mixture onto the bottom and 2" up the side of the spring form pan.



Using an electric mixer, combine cream cheese, 1 cup of sugar, eggs (beating them in one at a time) and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. After it's mostly smooth, mix in 1/2 cup of the sour cream.

Make sure to let the cream cheese soften up a bit prior to mixing it, I took mine straight outta the fridge and it was STUBBORN!

Pour the mixture on top of the crust and bake (at 350 degrees) until set - (40-45 minutes).

While it's baking, combine remaining sugar, sour cream and vanilla. Spread over top of cheesecake *while it's still hot!* And bake until set. An additional 5 or so minutes. Let the cheesecake cool off a bit, then refrigerate for at least 4 hours before serving.

Before removing the springform from the base, be sure to run a knife around the edges. Guess who DIDN'T do that?! ME! So my edges were a bit rough.

Layer cherry preserves (or even raspberry or blueberry would have been delish) over top of cake. I got the Trader Joe's brand and it was super good, and I normally don't do major grocery shopping there.

And there you have it! Impress your friends with this puppy. It's amazing. I may or may not have had 2 pieces last night,. Yum!

I know I usually post pictures of my kitchen footwear, but I figured you guys could get green with envy with THIS gem:

YES that is a Pat Benatar 1982 Get Nervous Tour concert tee. YES it's my most prized possesion and YES whenever I wear it random people start singing Pat Benatar songs to me. Last time I wore it the clerk ringing me up at Vons greeted me with "Well you're a real tough cookie with a long history....".  I love this shirt.

Peanut, Peanut Butter...No Jelly!

(If I lose followers because of my lame titles I won't be surprised.) Did you know that you can make fudge without chocolate? Well, my friends, you can. And I did. With peanut butter!
Let me tell you....this is the easiest recipe ever.

Ingredients:

1 lb (yes you read that right) powdered sugar

1 cup peanut butter

1 cup butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 tablespoon honey

Melt butter, vanilla and peanut butter over the stove on medium heat. Be careful to not heat too quickly or it WILL burn. Oh, and guess what I did? While I was spooning the PB into the pan I missed and got peanut butter ALLLLLLL Over the stove, the burner, and the sides of the pot. Typical me, always makin' a mess.

(My peanut butter mishap would explain how it got all the way to the top of my pan)

The mixture should look pretty soupy. Now, adding honey is optional, but since I lost the peanut butter battle to the stove, I wanted to add something to make sure I didn't lose flavor since I didn't have any more PB.

Reduce heat to low and mix in powdered sugar. There's no way possible to get it to blend perfectly smooth so don't even try it, ladies (and maybe a few gents). It will have the consistency of chunky peanut butter. kinda.

Line a 8x8 baking dish with parchment or wax paper. Spoon mixture into pan. (here I am again, making a mess)



Cover fudge with another piece of parchment paper and chill until completely cooled. About 3 hours. Cut into desired sizes and here you have it! Chocolate-less fudge! It's so delicious, and not too rich.

I think I want to make a giant fudge assortment for office gifts for the holidays. Thoughts? Concerns?

PS: Curtis wanted to say hey.



Pink Velvet?

Since it's FINALLY cold outside (I actually wore a sweater the entire day without getting too hot!), I decided it's high time to start on some serious Fall baking. In honor of yesterday's post and the baby shower this weekend for Sometimes Sweet, I decided to try my luck at red velvet cupcakes from scratch. I used Paula Deen's recipe and to my (pleasent) surprise, they weren't overly sugary.

Here's what you're gonna need.

(ps my bowls are from Urban Outfitters and Anthropologie as is my precious little egg holder)

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cocoa powder

1 1/2 cups vegetable oil

1 cup buttermilk, room temperature

2 large eggs, room temperature

2 tablespoons red food coloring

1 teaspoon white distilled vinegar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 

 

Now, what you're SUPPOSED to do is mix all dry ingredients seperately from the wet ones. This just goes to show that I'm a lazy baker. I  didn't want to have another bowl to clean so I just threw it all in the mixer together. You know what? They turned out fine! So suck it, sifting! (just kidding, sifting rules.)

 

For all of you un-lazy bakers combine all dry ingredients in a seperate bowl and use a mixer/hand mixer/wisk to combine your buttermilk, eggs, food coloring, oil and vinegar. Slowly add in dry ingredients.

Mix until the batter is smooth. Notice on my beautiful mixer how the front knob isn't there? Yeah it went flying into the batter when I turned it on because I didn't have it secured in there. Oopsy.

 
Have your oven pre-heated to 350. Line 2 12 cup cupcake tins with papers. Fill them up 3/4 of the way. Don't do what I did and fill them up 100% of the way. It's my goal to have you all learn from my mishaps.
 

Set your timer for about 22 minutes and bake away. I'm really excited about my new timer being a magnet so I can't lose it.

   

The photobooth pictures are with my BFF from an event we went to a few weeks ago, please ignore (or praise) the 2nd picture down where I'm pickin' my nose. I'm not LITERALLY picking my nose, I just ran out of poses.

Anywho...here's what you'll need for the cream cheese frosting to make while your cupcakes are baking.

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:

1 pound cream cheese, softened

2 sticks butter, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar

 

I used closer to 3 cups of sugar, because this makes A LOT of frosting. Basically chuck it all into your mixer and let it do all the work. (If you can't tell I'm obsessed).

 

 

After your cupcakes are done take them out of the tins to let cool. Please be sure to let them cool completely before icing them or the frosting will melt. I've done that way too many times. Remember when I said I shouldn't have filled the papers up all the way? Yeah, this is why.

Oh well, extra big cupcakes then!

Go ahead and ice your cupcakes and enjoy! OH, wondering why I called the post pink velvet? Because I only had 1 1/2 tablespoons of red food coloring so theyre closer to hot pink than deep red. How girly!

 

I'll leave you on this note. At least I can make fun of myself for the way I look when I'm done baking. YIKES.

 

 I need an apron!

Snap Crackle Pop!

Hi guys. This is Jude. He's one of my favorite people in the entire world. He was my sous chef tonight in the kitchen. And boy is he a great right hand man. Helping to stir, letting me know it was ALL DONE (even when it wasn't...glad he was on his toes) and to cheer me on when I was helping with "YOU DID IT!". We made Rice Krispie Treats, and pasta for dinner. Well, I made pasta. After makin the fun stuff was over Jude decided he'd rather go rock out in the living room and discuss more important topics like trucks and trains. Anywho, this isn't a recipe post considering what we made literally consists of cereal, marshmallows and butter. It's just a "look how stinkin' cute he is" post.

He obviously loved it, but was calling it cake. Whatever works, right?

Grill Master.

We had a little BBQ get together last week and had quite a full grill.

We made:

Dill Roasted Potatoes
Grilled Peppers, Squash and Zuccini
Orzo Salad with Olives, Tomatoes and Feta
Italian Marinated Chicken

I'm not going to post recipes- most of it's pretty self explanitory but here's a picture or two. Ryan was head of the grill for the whole night and did the best job in the whole wide world.

Birthday apple tart for Andy.

Best summer dessert! Courtesy of our lovely neighbor Lauren.

Yay for summer dresses and BBQ's.

Oh, and yay for my hair finally being the color red that I want!

Tough Cookie.

I know I've posted about shortbread cookies before, but in my opinion, it's the best base for any cookie. A lot of people use sugar cookie dough for other things but I think it's too sweet. Shortbread is richer as far as butter goes, but not sugar.

Shortbread cookie base:

1 cup flour
1/2 cup confectioners sugar (powdered sugar)
1 stick + 1 tablespoon unsweetened  butter
Splash vanilla extract
Pinch kosher salt

For orange & poppy seed shortbread :

2 teaspoons orange zest
2 teaspoons poppy seeds

Combine all ingredients from cookie base in a large mixing bowl. If you are lucky enough to own a food processor then go ahead and combine them in that. I, on the other hand, use my hands.

Zest a navel orange until you reach 2 teaspoons- I did closer to 2 1/2 teaspoons..I like orange flavor a lot. Combine with mixture.

Measure 2 teaspoons poppy seeds and combine with mixture. I am in love with this coloring.

Press cookie dough into a round 9" buttered baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes, or until the top is golden brown.

Wait until cookie is cooled to cut. Cut with a bread knife to avoid breaking. I cut mine like a pizza!

Lemon Zing(er)

These tasty little gems are the perfect treat for after dinner, especially if you're having a couple of friends over. I assume you could make it in one dish, but what's the fun in that? You will need:

2 large eggs, separated

1/2 cup granulated sugar

3 tablespoons flour

2 tablespoons melted butter

Finely shredded zest of 1 lemon

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 cup low-fat (1%) milk

1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar

2 2/3 cups (12 oz.) blueberries, divided

Powdered sugar
 
Heat your oven to 350. In a medium bowl, whisk together egg YOLKS and granulated sugar. *make sure to hang on to your egg whites*

(You might see that I'm using more of things in photos- I was making 8 and the recipe calls for 6). After mixing yolks and sugar, whisk in flour, lemon zest/juice and milk until blended.

Zesting can be a real bitch! (sorry Mom)
 
Beat egg whites and cream of tartar until egg whites are stiff and hold still. If you're one of the lucky ones that has a mixer this will be an easy task for you. I, on the other hand, had to ask Ryan to help because my muscles aren't big enough to beat egg whites that much. Yikes.
Fold whites into mixture until blended. Add half blueberries.
 

 
Spoon batter into ramekins. Place ramekins in a baking pan (not sheet) and pour enough hot tap water in baking pan so that the water comes up 1" onto ramekins.

Bake until cake layers are set and top is golden. 30-35 minutes. Remove from water and let cool atleast 30 minutes before serving. Serve with extra berries on top and dusted powdered sugar. Tip- if you want the pudding part on the bottom to be a bit stiffer cook them closer to the 35 minute range. I took mine out at 30 and wish I left them in just a tad longer.