Thursday, March 27, 2014

Chocolate-Raspberry Cheesecake

I'm a terrible blogger! I made this AMAZING cheesecake a month ago and forgot to post the recipe!
I know what you are thinking "cheesecake!?  I can't do this! it must be so hard! I thought that at first two... guess what It's not actually hard at all.

This is a TWO DAY process

Chocolate - Raspberry Cheesecake.

You will Need

For the Crust:
1 (5.3.oz)    pack of  pure butter shortbread cookies. to crush up.
2 Tbs           unsalted butter
1/4 cup        raspberry preserves, melted.

For the Cheesecake part:
1 (10oz)     pack of frozen raspberries. Thawed (I know this sounds silly but because they are frozen they work better in the cheesecake mix than fresh ones)
3 (8oz)       pack of cream cheese, softened (I just go spreadable cream cheese)
1/2 cup       unsalted butter, softened (this is important. I always forget to soften my butter)
1 cup          sugar
2 Tbs          flour
1/2 tsp        lemon juice
2                 eggs

For the topping: (Which you make THE NEXT DAY)
6 oz.          semisweet chocolate, chopped (I would say go for the chocolate chips so you don't have to cut up the chocolate but it turned out amazing and I think chocolate chips have more sugar in them and stuff.)
1 Tbs         light corn syrup
1 Tbs          unsalted butter
1/2 cup       whipping cream
1 1/3 cups  fresh raspberries (buy extra so you can snack on them!)

Day 1:
Part 1-
1. Heat oven to 350* F.
2. Wrap springform pan (That's one of those pans with the removable bottom and the clasp thing on the side) with foil.
3. combine: Crushed cookies and melted butter into small bowl.
4. after they are mixed press the cookies and butter into the bottom of the pan. This makes your crust!
5. bake this for 8-10 min. until it's a nice golden brown color.
6. spread the raspberry preserves over it once it has cooled a little.

Part 2-
1. puree thawed raspberries in food processor or blender until smooth. strain through medium strainer, pressing spatula. You want to remove the seeds and just have yummy raspberry juice.
2. once done you only need 1/2 cup of the puree. (But I saved the rest to be fancy with when serving the cheesecake)
3. beat cream cheese and 1/2 cup butter at med-low speed until smooth. beat in sugar and flour until JUST blended.
4. beat in sour cream, raspberry puree and lemon juice.
5. beat in eggs ONE AT A TIME.
6. pour over crust.

Part 3-
1. Place spring form pan in large shallow pan. add enough hot water to come halfway up the sides of the springform pan. (this makes a kind of steam environment to cook the cheesecake)
2. bake 40-45 min. until edges are puffed up and top is dry to touch. The center should move slightly when pan is tapped but not ripple.
3. remove from water bath and place on  cooing rack.
4. once cool refrigerate over night.

Day 2:

1, Place chocolate, (remember you chopped it up!), corn syrup and 1 Tbs. butter in med bowl.
2. boil whipping cream in a small saucepan.
3. pour hot whipping cream over chocolate mixture.
4. stir until melted smooth. (if the chocolate isn't melting like mine didn't just stick the bowl in a bigger bowl of hot water and mix it until it's melted.)
5. once cooled a bit but still able to be poured. Pour that stuck over the Cheesecake. which should still be in the springform pan!
6. refrigerate until the chocolate is hard.
7. decorate with raspberries.

ENJOY!
this cheesecake is SO good! Make it!

Thursday, January 23, 2014

Caramel- Pear Pie

CookingClub 2013 calender.

OMG this Pie was amazing! I probably ate WAY too much of it.

DISCLAIMER: You are making your own caramel. Which takes FOREVER so this isn't something that you can do quickly.

You will Need...

**Dough for 1 (9 in) DOUBLE crust pie
3 Tbs     all purpose flour
1 Tbs     ground almonds
3 lb        Barlett pears (6) (I just used some pears that I found at the market), Peeled and quartered
1 Tbs     pear or apple cognac (I'm poor I can't afford this)
2 Tbs     Unsalted butter
1/2 cup  Sugar.

Steps!

1. Heat oven to 400* F. Line 9-in pie pan with 1 circle of dough. Sprinkle 1 Tbs of the flour and ground almonds over bottom of crust; refrigerate while preparing filling.
2. Toss pears with cognac in large bowl (or you know don't).
3. Melt butter in large skillet over Med. heat.
4. Add Sugar. cook and stir 7-8 min. or until golden brown.
**At first,  caramel will appear crystallized, followed  by a separating of the butter and sugar. It will smooth out as it begins to brown).
5. Whisk in remaining 2 Tbs flour until combined.
6. Add pears. Reduce heat to low.
** Some caramel will harden and that's ok
7. Cook and stir 3-5 min. or until caramel melts and coats pears.
8. place pears in pie crust. Pour remaining caramel over pears.
9. Cut remaining circle of dough into 10 (3/4 in wide strips. Weave strips into lattice over pie filling. letting strips overhang pie pan. Trim strips into 1/2 in. overhang. fold under edge of bottom crust. Press down gently to seal. flute or crimp edge. (First of all do whatever the hell you want with the top of your pie. don't measure your strips that's stupid we aren't Pro's over here. Second the hell does "flute" the edges mean?!)
10. Bake 45-55 Min or until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cool on wire rack to room temp. (Or just dig in and eat your pie)


OK So if you don't know I'm living in England for the year so some thing I have to make up. Cooking shouldn't be about following a recipe exactly. Let me tell you I NEVER do exactly what the recipe says.
For this Pie I couldn't find pre made dough so I asked my friend Hannah to help me and teach me to make Pie Crust Dough. So this pie was legit made from scratch.
Also, I'm not sure how I feel about making my own caramel. It was definitely a learning experience. I though for sure I was doing it wrong about 3 times but I decided to just wait and it ended up turning out right. I didn't get all of it to melt again after adding the pears so I had a few hard chunks in my pie. some melted some didn't. but hey if you get one that's not melted that's a bonus for you because you get a little candy treat in your pie!



I must say this pie was amazing! I think I ate way too much of it and gave myself a stomachache but it was TOTALLY worth it!




Red Cabbage-Apple Slaw with Spiced Walnuts

From CookingClub 2014 calendar.

You will need....

2          Tbs packed dark brown sugar
1          tsp chili powder
1/8       tsp dried thyme
3 1/2    Tbs Olive oil (Divided into 1 1/2 and 2 Tbs)
1 Cup   coarsely chopped walnuts, toasted
8 cups   thinly sliced red cabbage (1 1/2 lbs)
2            Medium Granny Smith Apples, cut into slices
2 Tbs    balsamic vinegar
2 Tbs    orange or apple juice
3.4 tsp   coarse salt.


Steps!

** Toast walnuts, place on baking sheet, bake at 375* F for 4-6 Min. or until pale brown and fragrant.

1. Combine brown sugar, chili powder and thyme in medium bowl. Stir in 1 1/2 Tbs oil. Add walnuts while still warm, toss well.
2. Combine cabbage and apples in large bowl. Stir in vinegar, orange juice, remaining 2 Tbs oil and salt. Add spiced walnuts; Toss.


That's it! I'm not a huge fan of cabbage but I will try anything once. This is a good side dish. But being that I am in Grad School and only cooking for myself even doing this recipe as a half. I was eating it for days and I got rather bored with it.
I think it would be something good to take to a summer or fall out door event though!


New Year 2 recipes a month. Let's do this!

Hello People!

My mom got me a calender from "cooking club" it has a recipe for every month. I have one from last year that I never cooked from so I took all of those and now I have 2 recipes to try every month. One a meal or side and one a dessert each month... Usually.

So let's get cooking!