Chocolate Chip Cookie Cheesecake Bars

These sounded tasty and I was looking for a new sweet treat to try.

Notes:

• I used regular size sugar free chocolate chips because I didn't want to go looking for mini ones.

Verdict: They were less sweet tasting than I was hoping for, but I did like them generally and would make them again. My sugar eating husband liked them too.

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RECIPE: Keto Chocolate Chip Cookie Cheesecake Bars (Carolyn Ketchum, All Day I Dream About Food)

 

Carrot Layer Cake

I make carrot cake so infrequently that I never remember which recipe I used. This is an attempt to stop that trend :) I know for sure I have used Orangette's recipe (a lot of work but good, and has a funny memory attached because my cat stood on it and ate a chunk of it through plastic wrap while it sat on the counter overnight).

I wanted to make a carrot layer cake for my partner and me for our 10th wedding anniversary celebration at home. Me having COVID and needing to quarantine kind of limited our plans a bit (we've hit double digits and wanted to do something extra special!) but I felt well enough to want to contribute somehow. I picked this recipe because it was small enough that I wouldn't have to do any math to refigure it for the size I wanted (6 in/15 cm diameter 2-layer cake) -- many recipes I found were either a single layer or 3 layers, and three pans seemed overwhelming to me dishes wise and also because the cake is only for 2 people. Plus I was still sick and made plans to do this the same day so I didn't want to overcomplicate things.

Shout out to the Great British Baking Show for being an eternal wellspring of motivation. It always seems to be able to give me a big push to get in the kitchen and actually make what I am thinking about making.

Notes:

• I did not have fresh ginger so I used 1/2 tsp of powdered.
  
• I used a different recipe for icing than the one the recipe suggests because I had ingredients bought before I picked a recipe, and I didn't plan for mascarpone. The Cream Cheese Frosting I used is really great structurally for building a layer cake, but after having it on a couple of cakes like this I think it might be a little too sugary/rich to use in such large quantities. (Normally I use it to decorate gingerbread cookies.) I halved the recipe and it frosted this cake generously, with a little bit (maybe 1/3 to 1/2 cup) left over.
• I decorated the cake with toasted walnuts and loved it, especially since there were no nuts in the cake itself. It adds something to offset the sweetness of the frosting.
  

Verdict: The cake itself baked a little funny -- parts of it looked straight up burnt when I pulled it out of the oven. Almost like the sugar started separating out from the batter. This might have been from the butter I used to grease the pans, too. However, the finished product ultimately tasted good, if a bit rich, and worked well as a layer cake. If making a layer cake will probably try a different recipe next time even if I have to do some math. And I really gotta stop using this cream cheese frosting, even though it's really good in smaller quantities on cookies.

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RECIPE: My Perfect Carrot Cake (I Am a Food Blog)

Fruit Pizza

A friend left us a block of cream cheese and thought this would be the perfect thing to make after picking 10 pounds of strawberries. We used to make fruit pizza sometimes when I was a kid but it had been a long time since I'd had it. It's a giant sugar cookie frosted with cream cheese frosting, then topped with any kind of fresh fruit you like.

Notes:

• You can make it on a sheet pan (like I did) if you don't have a pizza pan.
• You can use whatever fresh fruit you like; I used all strawberries because it was what I had.

Verdict: Just as good as I remember from when I was a kid. A 12-inch round seems like a lot but it was way easier to finish than I expected. This would be a really good thing to bring to parties since it doesn't keep especially well. I would definitely make this again, especially for a summer party.

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RECIPE: Fruit Pizza (Sally's Baking Addiction)

Pumpkin Cheesecake Swirl Brownies

I wanted a Halloween-y dessert with pumpkin, and also brownies, and was inspired by a friend's post of pumpkin cheesecake bars decorated with chocolate. Why not make both? At the SAME TIME?

Notes:

• I doubled the recipe and made it in a 9 x 13 inch pan.
  
• I reduced the sugar in the brownie part significantly, from 1 1/4 cups to 3/4 cup because it seemed like a LOT for an 8x8 pan, and I wanted the brownie part to taste like chocolate and not just sugar.
• I omitted the cinnamon from the brownie portion because I don't like the combination of cinnamon and chocolate.
• These freeze really well!
  

Verdict: I thought these looked really pretty and tasted fine (so glad I reduced the sugar!) but I just don't think pumpkin + chocolate is my thing. I would make them if someone asked me to, but I don't think I'll go out of my way to make them again.

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RECIPE: Pumpkin Cheesecake Brownies (The Recipe Critic)

Turtle Cheesecake

My family was asked to make two desserts for my brother's wedding, and my new sister-in-law requested a turtle cheesecake. Neither my mom nor I had made a cheesecake before and we settled on this recipe because it looked relatively simple compared to others we found.

NOTES

• We used regular vanilla extract instead of clear imitation vanilla. (The clear stuff is only for looks, so that your cream cheese filling stays as white as possible.)
• Be sure your cookie crumbs are ground very finely and evenly. It will help the crust stay together. Definitely use a blender or food processor, and not just a rolling pin.
• We skipped the hot fudge sauce and used chocolate pieces to decorate the top instead.
• Our cake got a big crack in the top but we just filled it with caramel sauce since we were flooding the top of the cake.
• I think a from-scratch caramel sauce would really bring this to another level for just a small bit of extra effort. If you've never made your own, there is something incredible about how much flavor can result from something as simple as browning sugar. You could make it while the cheesecake bakes. I recommend this one, with or without the bourbon!

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RECIPE: Turtle Cheesecake

Cream Cheese Frosting

I am unsure of the provenance of this recipe, but thank Sarah forever for bringing it into my life. We have frosted our holiday gingerbread cookies with it for a good long time and I have also used it to frost cakes. It has a nice tang to it that makes it taste a little less sugary sweet than regular buttercream.

Notes

• As listed, the recipe is enough to frost and pipe decorations onto a large batch of the gingerbread cookies with some left over depending on how you decorate, and I believe enough to frost an 8 or 9 inch round cake. Halve the recipe if you are making a 6 inch round cake.
• Update 9/22/22: Half a recipe will generously frost a 6 inch cake with 2 layers, and would probably be a perfect amount for a 3 or even 4 layer cake. However, it's pretty rich in large quantities so it may be too heavy if the cake is also quite sweet. Structure wise it is really nice and sets up firm in the fridge (probably thanks to all the butter).
  
• This pipes well but gets pretty loose when it's warm; if it gets too soft and won't hold its shape, place the bag in the refrigerator for 10-15 minutes to firm up.

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RECIPE:

Cream Cheese Frosting
Makes about 5 cups

8 oz (1 cup, 2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
16 oz (2 bricks) cream cheese, at room temperature
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 lb powdered sugar (about 1 bag)
Milk, to thin if needed
Food coloring (optional, to tint the frosting)
Sprinkles (optional, to put on top of the frosting)

Cream butter and cream cheese together in the bowl of a stand mixer or with a hand mixer. Add vanilla and beat until incorporated. Mix in powdered sugar in several additions, mixing well after each one, until completely combined.

Chip Dip

Posting a recipe in honor of my grandmother because it is her birthday today and this recipe is one that I know from her. I realize it sounds low-key gross just looking at the ingredient list, and maybe it is, but for me nostalgia wins on this one. This takes me straight back to family reunion cookouts in her backyard on Independence Day weekend. The fact that I still like it as an adult is enough. It is a mix of slightly sweet, salty, creamy, and tangy flavors.

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RECIPE:

Chip Dip

from my grandmother

Makes about 1 1/2 cups

8 oz cream cheese, softened

1/3 to ½ cup tomato ketchup, to taste

1/3 to ½ cup red French dressing (she is partial to Western brand), to taste

Beat all ingredients in a medium bowl with electric mixer until thoroughly blended. Serve with potato chips.

Guava Swirl Cheesecake Bars

When my next door neighbors moved last year they gave us a whole bunch of food that they didn't want to take with them, and that included a jar of guava butter from Hawaii. Having lived in the Midwest US my entire life, I don't really have a good idea of what guava tastes like or should taste like, or what tastes good with it. I took a look in The Flavor Bible and it listed cream cheese as a particularly good flavor pairing, so I got the idea to swirl it into cheesecake. As it turns out I had a box of graham cracker crumbs too, so that made this pan of bars come together extra quickly.

I gave half to a friend that likes sweet fruity things as a birthday present. :)

This is a variation on the Nutella Swirl Cheesecake Bars from Sally's Baking Addiction. All I did differently was to swap out the Nutella for an equal amount of guava butter. I was surprised to find that the guava butter changes colors depending on the temperature! It turned from a dull pink when it was cold to the pretty bright red in the picture after coming out of the oven! It turned back to the dull pink after putting them in the fridge.

Verdict: The original recipe is solid and delicious, and I think it took well to replacing the chocolate part with jam/fruit butter. I think I would add more guava butter next time because I could barely taste it, but the swirls seemed to stay on top so maybe I didn't swirl it downward enough.

RECIPE: Nutella Swirl Cheesecake Bars

Holiday Bakeathon 2018

Holiday Bakeathon, the 5th anniversary! While it's still a long day, I think we've got the process mostly figured out. This year's cookies featured extra fancy decorating with edible glitter and more piping tips. I think I even have a new favorite Christmas cookie (gasp).

RECIPES

• Spicy Gingerbread Cookies (Smitten Kitchen) -- our old standby. I never get tired of how they taste with cream cheese frosting, and we keep coming up with new and/or funny ways to decorate them.
• Cream Cheese Frosting
• Cinnamon-Sugar Rugelach
• Decadent Hot Chocolate Mix (Smitten Kitchen)
• Homemade Marshmallows (Alton Brown) -- we cut these into bigger marshmallows for the hot chocolate instead of mini marshmallows to save time. Use the best quality vanilla you can get your hands on, and don't bother with corn starch, use all powdered sugar. They were really good and I was sad when they were gone, so I made another batch and shared them with my work colleagues, who were surprised that you could make marshmallows at home. They taste so much better than store bought. They're also really kid friendly! My colleague's 7 year old daughter absolutely loved them.
• Linzer Torte (Maida Heatter via Smitten Kitchen) -- absolutely amazing, so good I wanted to cry. This is permanently going on my list of must-make holiday treats, whether I make it with my friends or not.
• Hazelnut-Orange Biscotti (Paul Hollywood via BBC)
• Espresso-Chocolate Shortbread Cookies (Dorie Greenspan via Smitten Kitchen) -- for the chocolate part, we opted for milk chocolate with toffee bits, and I think that was a good choice because they were kind of bitter otherwise.

BAKEATHONS PAST

• 2017
• 2016
• 2015
• 2014

Holiday Bakeathon 2017

This year was a bit different from usual, marked most heavily by the absence of Sarah, one of our main Bakeathon participants. But it is for the best reason: she is cooking and helping out at her friend's bed and breakfast in Auros, France for 3 months. I invited my friend Paula to join this year in her place, and we scaled back the recipe list a little bit so that we wouldn't be working for quite so long.

However, Sarah was in our minds and hearts; we regularly sent photos to Sarah throughout the day, listened to Beyonce while we worked, and talked smack about white chocolate in her stead (even me, even though I like it). Sarah doesn't like white chocolate, so any recipe I suggest with white chocolate is usually met with some resistance. This year I included one because she wasn't around to nix it, and the white chocolate made the recipe difficult. She tried to warn me.

We've created a tradition of making some sort of a house or structure or diorama type scene with things from the leftover gingerbread dough that is too tough/saturated with flour from rolling (though I usually end up eating it anyway). This year was a tiny house, 2016 was a campfire and tent to which we added some of the ninja bread men.

RECIPES

• Spicy Gingerbread Cookies (Smitten Kitchen)
• Cream Cheese Frosting
• Cinnamon-Sugar Rugelach
• Matcha Green Tea Spritz (Good Housekeeping) -- the white chocolate in this recipe completely hosed the shaping. It solidified in chunks when we mixed it in because the rest of the ingredients were cold, and the chunks clogged the piping tip and made me sad. I’d make it again but leave out the white chocolate. Save it for dipping or drizzling over the finished cookies instead :)
• Almond Spritz (Taste of Home)
• Peanut Butter Chocolate Swirl Bark (Two Peas and Their Pod)
• Salted Caramel Nuts (The Barefoot Contessa) -- We added a couple of teaspoons of bourbon whiskey at the same time as the vanilla, and loved the result. Once the nuts were mixed in, it solidified way too fast to get the nuts spread out. They’re definitely more salted caramel nut clusters rather than individual nuts. That said, they were quite good. I don't know whether or not this clumping is because we put bourbon in it.

BAKEATHONS PAST

• 2016
• 2015
• 2014

Pickle Egg Rolls

I have a friend who likes to watch those super quick cooking videos on social media, many of which feature questionable foods. He asked me if I would help him make these, and I agreed because I was morbidly curious and had the proper equipment.

Verdict: They tasted better than I thought they would, but I don't think I'd make them again because I felt gross eating them, lol. If I did happen to make them again I would chop up the pickles because the pickles in the finished product were hard to bite through and you'd end up either crushing the entire thing or pulling out an entire pickle half with your bite.

RECIPE: Pickle Egg Rolls

Cheesecake Ice Cream with Strawberry Sauce

I received an ice cream maker as a wedding gift, and while I probably never would have bought one on my own, I have found it fun and useful to experiment with. The instruction booklet also came with a whole bunch of delicious looking recipes in the back, and since we were having a gathering in August and it'd probably be hot outside, I chose the cheesecake ice cream recipe from the booklet. Sarah was surprised that it did not involve any eggs or stove cooking. She ended up making the mix in the food processor rather than a stand mixer because it was occupied with other cooking projects, something that also worked surprisingly well.

I will never forget when she opened it up to taste the mixture before freezing it. She dipped a finger in, tasted it, and said "well, that doesn't suck." I have since incorporated these words into my regular vocabulary.

Notes:

• The mix can be made in a food processor instead of a stand mixer.
• The original fruit sauce recipe called for raspberries instead of strawberries and orange zest instead of lemon, which I think would also taste great. We skipped straining out the strawberry seeds because they're quite small, but if you make it with raspberries I highly recommend straining out the seeds.
• Other substitutions: we used 2% milk instead of whole and Greek yogurt instead of sour cream, and it worked quite nicely.
• We additionally served this with lemon curd and crushed graham crackers, though both of those things are 100% optional. The book also suggests chocolate sauce as a topping.

Verdict: I still don't make ice cream that much but I really loved this one, and would absolutely consider making it again.

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RECIPE:

Cheesecake Ice Cream with Strawberry Sauce

adapted from the recipe book that came with my Cuisinart ice cream maker

Makes about 5 cups ice cream and 1 1/4 cups strawberry sauce

For the ice cream:

12 oz (1.5 blocks) cream cheese, room temperature, cut into 2-inch pieces

1 cup granulated sugar

½ tsp salt

¼ cup mascarpone, room temperature

1 cup whole or 2% milk, room temperature

2 tsp pure vanilla extract

¼ cup sour cream or Greek yogurt, room temperature

For the strawberry sauce:

12 oz frozen strawberries, thawed

¼ cup granulated sugar
 

Pinch kosher salt

Pinch grated lemon zest

Ice cream: Place cream cheese into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on medium speed until very smooth. Gradually add the sugar and salt with the mixer running until thoroughly incorporated. Add mascarpone and continue to mix until well combined. Slowly add the milk and vanilla. Mix. Fold or gently mix in the sour cream. Cover mixture and refrigerate 1-2 hours or overnight, until well chilled. Once the mixture is fully chilled, prepare and turn on the ice cream maker. Pour the ice cream mix into the frozen freezer bowl and mix until thickened, about 15-20 minutes. The ice cream will have a soft, creamy texture. If desired, transfer the ice cream to an airtight container and place in freezer for about 2 hours for a firmer texture. Let soften for about 15 minutes before serving. Top with strawberry sauce.

Strawberry sauce: Put fruit, sugar, salt, and lemon zest into the blender jar and place the lid on top. Blend on high speed for about 15 seconds or until smooth. Pass through a fine mesh strainer to remove the seeds, if desired. Store leftovers in a glass jar. It will keep in the refrigerator for 7-10 days, or in the freezer for 6-8 months.

Tea Parties Vol. 3: An End of Summer Feast

This meal was heavily inspired by Sarah, Caroline, and me all finding our way to the Great British Baking Show / The Great British Bake-Off separately but around the same time and then raving about it (thanks Netflix). It's so refreshing to see a cooking show that focuses primarily on the creativity and growth of the participants and the beautiful food they make, rather than relying on manufactured cattiness, drama, and shock value for entertainment. The hosts are silly and own it. I love the dad jokes. I have also learned a lot about culinary traditions of cultures and countries other than my own and made mental notes of new flavor combinations I'd never heard of that sound amazing.

A lot of the savory part of the menu was inspired by this particular dish I saw, to which Sarah said we should deconstruct it a bit. All the elements are there in various configurations.

One of the first episodes of the Great British Baking Show I ever watched was the one where they made roll cakes, and I loved it so much I wanted to design my own! I came up with a caramel mocha roll cake. It turned out reasonably well for my first attempt, if a bit literally and figuratively rough around the edges.

I created a drink recipe especially for this party, inspired by a drink I had at adults summer camp with one of my best friends and with my own fancy addition of peach green tea.

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RECIPES

• Roasted Carrot and Curry Hummus (Kristin Donnelly, via Design Sponge) -- Sarah's pick. I loved the sweetness of the curry + carrot combination.
• Spiced Beef Meatballs -- Sarah's recipe. She may have made it up herself.
• Lentil and Rice Balls -- Caroline brought this recipe for a vegetarian meatball alternative.
• Hummus Heaped with Cucumbers and Tomatoes (Smitten Kitchen) -- straightforward and lovely. I picked this recipe because I'd seen it and could not forget it because it looked so good. We made only the salad part, and served it with store-bought white bean hummus.
• Crisp Rosemary Flatbread (Smitten Kitchen) -- Sarah's pick, to eat with the hummus. A total keeper. These were one of the first things to get completely eaten, and I promptly made more to eat with the rest of the leftovers.
• Goat Cheese Stuffed Dates with Spinach-Hazelnut Pesto
• Cheesy Potatoes (no link) -- Andrea made these and brought them! Not sure where her recipe came from but they were yummy.
• Caramel Mocha Swiss Roll Cake -- one of the most challenging cakes I've ever attempted to make, and I was pleased with the result. I think it's a great start but it needs some tweaking so as to not be so incredibly rich.
• Cheesecake Ice Cream with Strawberry Sauce
• Peach Rosemary Tea Collins
• Watermelon Lemonade (Smitten Kitchen)

Other things we served that were not made from scratch:

• White bean hummus (Lantana makes a great one)
• Various fancy cheeses
• Wine

THE TEA PARTIES

• Vol. 2: Spring Up Speed Up
• Vol. 1: A Birthday Party, and Being Unapologetically Yourself

Scandiwegian Spring Cake

My husband and I have hosted a birthday party for one of our friends at our house for several years now, and I always make him a cake. Last year I made him a carrot cake, and this year he wanted something different and let me choose. This year, I decided to make him a vanilla and cardamom cake with rhubarb filling and cream cheese frosting.

The name comes from a Stephen Fry documentary where he visits all 50 states in the United States. For the episode featuring Minnesota, he explains that winters are quite cold and snowy there, and calls the many enclosed walkways between buildings "a bit of Scandiwegian ingenuity" (during the mass migration of Europeans to the United States in the 1800s, many Norwegians and other Scandinavian immigrants settled in the area that is now Minnesota). I thought this name was really cute and used it to describe this cake because it has a number of flavors common in Scandinavian baked goods.

Notes:

• Since the 6 inch cake layers were really thick, I split them to make the cake 4 layers. I filled each gap with rhubarb filling because I had a lot. I think I ended up with not quite enough frosting.
• You will likely have extra rhubarb filling. It tastes nice on yogurt or ice cream.
• I think it would taste better with a lighter textured cake (this ended up dense and a little tough and this was possibly my fault for cramming all of this into two 6 inch pans), a thicker rhubarb filling (adding a little more pectin would probably fix that issue), and a lighter frosting because it set up quite hard when refrigerated.
• This is the petal tip I used for piping (Wilton #104). The ruffle effect definitely takes some practice to make it look neat (I am not proud of my icing job, for the record) but it turned out OK for a first try.

Verdict: I personally think I could have done better in terms of execution, especially with the piping, but I would definitely try making this again with the aforementioned tweaks because I loved this flavor combination. One of the band members declared it the best cake he has ever had in his life, so it couldn't have been too awful.

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RECIPE:

Scandiwegian Spring Cake
adapted from My Name is Yeh (cake), Will Cook For Friends (filling), unknown (frosting)
Makes 1 6 inch round cake, serves 8

Cardamom vanilla cake
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp ground cardamom
2 large eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup neutral flavored oil, such as canola
1 1/2 tbsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup boiling water

Rhubarb filling
½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar, or more to taste
½ tbsp (about 7 g) powdered fruit pectin
7 oz (about 1¾ cups chopped, 200g) fresh or frozen rhubarb, cut into ½ inch pieces
¼ cup water
1 tsp (5 ml) fresh squeezed lemon juice, plus more to taste
1-2 drops red food coloring (optional, if your rhubarb is not very red and you want the filling to have a pinkish tint)

Cream cheese frosting
4 oz (½ cup, 1 stick) unsalted butter
8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 lb powdered sugar (about ½ bag)
Milk, to thin if needed

Prepare cake: Set oven temperature to 350°F. Grease two 6 inch round springform pans with butter, line the bottoms with parchment paper rounds, and grease the parchment paper. Place all dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cardamom) in a large bowl and whisk gently to combine. Set aside. Place eggs, buttermilk, oil, and vanilla in another slightly smaller bowl and whisk until well combined. Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients and whisk them together. Stir in the boiling water. The resulting batter will be very thin. Divide batter evenly between the two prepared pans. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until the tops of the cakes have browned slightly and a bamboo skewer or other tester poked into the center of the cake comes out with no batter or crumbs clinging to it. When done, remove from oven and let stand for about 10 minutes to cool slightly, then remove cakes from pans to a lightly greased cooling rack to cool completely. While cakes bake and cool, prepare filling and frosting.

Prepare filling: Place sugar and pectin in a nonstick or stainless steel or other non-reactive saucepan and whisk to combine. Add remaining ingredients to the pan and heat on the stove to a rolling boil over high heat. Cook until pectin has activated and rhubarb pieces have broken down to where no whole pieces remain, about 7-8 minutes. At this point, you can adjust the taste by adding more sugar and/or more lemon juice. When you are satisfied with the flavor, remove pan from heat. If you want a very smooth filling, use an immersion blender or transfer the mixture to a standard blender and blend until smooth. Let cool to room temperature. You will likely end up with extra filling; it can be stored in a clean jar or other airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. It can also be frozen.

Prepare frosting: Cream butter and cream cheese together in the bowl of a stand mixer or with a hand mixer. Add vanilla and beat until incorporated. Mix in powdered sugar in several additions.

Assemble the cake: Level the two cake layers so they will stack neatly. Prepare a decorating bag fitted with a petal tip and fill with about 3/4 of the cream cheese frosting. Place one of the cake layers on your plate or rotating stand (if you have one). Pipe a thick line of frosting just inside the top edge all the way around. Spoon rhubarb filling inside to fill the circle of frosting. Place the other cake layer on top of this. Spread on a thin layer of frosting to just cover and stick together the entire cake (crumb coat) and transfer to the refrigerator to chill for 5-10 minutes to let it harden. To pipe the ruffles, place the wide end of the petal tip against the side of the cake at the bottom and pipe around the outside of the cake, rotating the plate as you go, working your way up from the bottom. Decorate top as desired.