Philadelphia New York Style Strawberry Swirl Cheesecake

After you buy that Junior’s Cheesecake Cookbook, you’ll be dreaming about stacking cheesecake in a three layered cake. You’ll decide to start off simple and use one of your favorite cheesecake recipes and a boxed betty crocker vanilla cake, just to experiment. Surprisingly, it comes out great, with nothing tumbling over or collapsing. This cheesecake has been a favorite for a while, I tend to reduce it to 4 blocks of cream cheese. Strawberries and vanilla cheesecake is timeless.

Dessert Pizza

I first tried these at Ms. Leahy’s after a long day holding our ultrasound seminar. Well, sort of. It’s Ramadan so I’m fasting and my classmates were eating that dessert pizza saying it’s to die for. But Ms. Leahy was sweet enough to wrap me one to take home. And that cookie was divine. Such simple ingredients too. This soft, chewy sugar cookie is topped with a cream cheese icing and fresh strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries. Perfect for a light, sweet summer snack. The longer they sit, the more juicy and flavorful they get.

Chocolate Mascarpone Brownies

I think I had you at mascarpone. Bake or break, I love you for these! And all of your other mouth watering recipes you post. These are nothing short of divine. Everyone needs to try them. They are decadently rich and chocolaty. Please don’t skip the ganache, it sends you to heaven.

Chocolate Mascarpone Brownies
Adapted from: Bake or Break via Food.com

Ingredients
1 cup unsalted butter (plus more for preparing pan)
3 ounces good quality semisweet chocolate, chips or finely chopped
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup mascarpone cheese, softened
3 large eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions
Preheat oven to 325°. Butter a 9-inch square glass baking pan and set aside.

Place the butter and chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave at half power in 30 second intervals, stirring between each heating. Continue until both are completely melted.

Sift sugar and cocoa powder. Add to the butter/chocolate mixture. Beat in (by hand) the mascarpone, eggs, and vanilla extract until smooth. Fold in flour and salt.

Pour batter into pan and spread evenly.

Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Chocolate Ganache
6 ounces good quality semisweet chocolate, chips or finely chopped
6 tablespoons heavy cream
3 tablespoons unsalted butter

Directions
Place chopped chocolate in a small bowl. Set aside.

In a small saucepan, heat the butter and cream over medium heat, stirring constantly. When mixture is almost boiling, pour over the chocolate. Let stand for 30 seconds. Then, stir until smooth.

Pour ganache over cooled brownies and spread evenly.

Allow ganache to firm before cutting brownies. Brownies may be placed in refrigerator to expedite this.

Apricot and White Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies

I think the title says it all- a wonderful triple flavor combination. Closet cooking is one of my favorite food blogs with diverse recipes and beautiful photography. These cookies come out voluminous and chewy. Sweet but earthy. I tried both a Lindt white chocolate bar and just a baking white chocolate bar and I am surprised to say that the baking chocolate actually had more flavor. If you’re short on time, just use white chocolate chips. Be sure to chop the dried apricots to about the size of a chocolate chip because they are pretty chewy. Mmm, the smell of oatmeal and butter. Ugh, why didn't I think of adding a pinch or two of nutmeg to the batter.

Apricot and White Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies
Adapted from: Closet Cooking

1/2 cup butter (softened)
1/2 cup brown sugar (packed)
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg or cinnamon or both (optional)
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup dried apricots (finely chopped)
1/2 cup white chocolate (coarsely chopped)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cream the butter and sugar in a bowl. Beat in the egg and vanilla extract. Mix the flour, baking soda and salt in another bowl. Mix the dry ingredients into the wet. Mix in the rolled oats, apricots and white chocolate. Place the dough onto a cookie sheet one table spoon at a time. Bake for 8-10 minutes.

Butterscotch Nut Fudge - Fail

Failure. Way too sweet. And I like sweet, so that’s saying a lot. Possible typo in the recipe? I don’t think you should be adding ANY sugar to a fudge recipe. Normally you get the sweetness from the chips. The butterscotch chips PLUS 1¾ cup sugar is just overkill. Just thought I’d share.






Marshmallow Creme

I needed marshmallow creme for the fudge recipe but didn’t want to buy the jar and risk eating pig fat. This recipe came out great- like creamy marshmallows. I wonder if it tastes better than Jet-Puffed.

1 egg white
2/3 cup light corn syrup
pinch of salt
2/3 cup sifted powdered sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla (don’t forget, this is all your flavor!)

In a large mixing bowl, combine egg white, syrup, and salt. Beat for 10 minutes until thick. Add sugar at low speed. Then add vanilla and beat until blended. Makes 2 cups exactly.

Old Fashioned Peach Cobbler

This recipe has 371 reviews, 4.6 stars, and that “my grandmother made it” taste. The peaches are lightly seasoned with the warm flavors of nutmeg and cinnamon. The orange juice really adds a fresh touch, without it being too citric. Of course it tastes best with fresh peaches, but when those aren’t available, I have made this recipe many times with frozen peaches and it still comes out great. You could also try substituting a cup of brown sugar for white sugar. The pie dough is what pushes this recipe over the top good. It comes out perfectly- flaky (but not crumbly) and golden. I’ve tried using butter flavored shortening too- fabulous.

Mint Chocolate Covered Cream Cookies

A coffee table book is a heavy Barnes and Nobles book filled with vivid photography of either travel, food, architecture, or anything inspiring- the pictures are big and beautiful and it sits on your coffee table for guests to think you’re refined. Chocolate box is my coffee table book and here’s one recipe from it.

Now, fortunately these cookies came out way too plain and boring, so I added Andes on top and I swear they taste just like thin mints girl scout cookies. Yum.

Chocolate Creams

7 oz. semisweet chocolate, broken into pieces
2 tbsp heavy cream
2 cups powdered sugar
Andes mint chocolates, chopped

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Melt 2 oz. of the chocolate in a large, heatproof bowl and set over a saucepan of gently simmering water. Stir in the cream and remove the bowl from the heat.

Sift the powdered sugar into the melted chocolate and then, using a fork, mix well together. Knead to form a firm, smooth, pliable mixture.

Lightly dust a counter with drinking chocolate powder, turn out the mixture, and roll out to ¼ inch, then cut into circles, using a 1-inch round cutter.

Transfer to the prepared cookie sheet and let stand for about 12 hours, or overnight, until set and dry.

When the chocolate creams have set, line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Melt the remaining chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of gently simmering water. Using 2 forks, carefully dip each chocolate cream into the melted chocolate. Lift them quickly, letting any excess chocolate drain against the side of the bowl, and place on the prepared cookie sheet. Sprinkle with Andes. Let set. About 20 cookies.

Flower Bouquet Cupcakes

This video will cause you to go through a phase where you’ll google images of your favorite flowers and save them to your computer- just for references on how to pipe them on cupcakes. Just skip to 1:55 on the video to get to the good stuff.

My grandmother kept a variety of Wilson piping tips in an old cool whip container that I still use to this day. They are probably 30 years old- and still in the same cool whip container. Maybe this explains why my mom keeps cool whip containers.

You’ll get some good use out of practicing to pipe these flowers. You’ll help out with raising funds for your class bake sale and have a lot of fun teaching  your friends how to do it for a wonderful girl’s bridal shower. <3

        

White Chocolate Cheesecake

I knew 4 ounces of white chocolate would be really hard to taste so I used eight ounces and it came out wonderful. This cheesecake was dense and perfectly smooth, with no cracks. Even by doubling the chocolate, it has a slight white chocolate flavor that’s accentuated nicely with my raspberry sauce.

Of course, I did not make the brandy sauce. Ew.

Festive Fudge

This was my first fudge recipe. I’ll be honest and say I made them only once probably about eight years ago but I remember they were really good and my friends wanted the recipe. So there you go. It was not a creamy fudge- they were hard and kept their shape even out of the fridge, but they melted in your mouth. The nuts were a nice touch.

Tip: fudge makes a great gift! Especially in decorated boxes with pretty tissue paper.