Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Chocolate Explosion Cookies



Chocolate Explosion Cookies!
1 cup butter
¾ cup white sugar
½ cup brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
½ cup cocoa powder
½ tsp salt
½ cup milk or semi sweet chocolate chips
½ cup white chocolate chips

Cream butter and sugars. Beat in eggs and extract. In a separate smaller bowl, combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Combine these dry ingredients into the butter/sugar/egg/extract and mix. Add chocolate chips and stir in. Drop tablespoon sized cookies onto a parchment paper covered cookie sheet and bake at 350 F until the edges are a little darker, approximately 10 minutes.

Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting




Red Velvet Cake
2 ½ cups cake flour
½ tsp salt
2-4 tblsp cocoa (I used 3)
½ cup butter, unsalted
1 ¾ cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp white vinegar
1 cup buttermilk
2 tblsp or 2 oz red food coloring

Easy Chocolate Ganache





Chocolate Ganache
9 oz chocolate, chopped. Semi sweet or dark is best
1 cup heavy cream
1 tbslp flavoring (optional)

Parmesan Cheese Souffle


Almond Ricotta Cookies with Dried Cherries




Ricotta Cherry Cookies
½ cup Butter
1 ¼ cup sugar
1 egg
8 oz ricotta cheese
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
2 cups flour
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ cup dried cherries

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Cream the butter and sugar. Add the egg and extracts and mix well. Stir in the ricotta. In a separate small bowl, mix the flour and baking soda and powders. Add the dry ingredients to the ricotta/butter/sugar mixture and mix in. Drop by spoonfuls onto a parchment paper covered cookie sheet and bake about 10 minutes, until edges just begin to brown.

Raspberry Almond Cheesecake with Marzipan Cookie Crust





Almond Raspberry Cheesecake
Crust
1/3 cup almond meal
1 tblsp + 1 tsp marzipan, crumbled
3 tblsp sugar
~1/2 cup crushed sugar or shortbread cookies
3 tblsp butter, melted

Using a food processor or a mallet (I went with the mallet), crush the cookies and combine with the remainder of the dry ingredients. Add enough melted butter (should be approximately 3 tblsp) an mix by hand until it resembles wet sand. Press this mixture into the bottom of a springform pan and bake at 325 F for approximately 15 minutes.

Filling (I never said this was good for you! ☺)
2 pounds (4 packages) cream cheese – you can use light and it won’t change the flavor too much
1 ¼ cups sugar
4 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp almond extract
½ cup heavy cream
raspberry jam, 1/3 to ½ cup, for swirling.

Beat cream cheese until smooth. Wipe down beaters mid way through and scrape sides of bowl a few times too, because any lumps will change the texture of the finished cheesecake. Add the sugar gradually and beat until smooth and dissolved, also scraping sides of bowl at least once. Add the eggs one and a time, beat until each egg is incorporated and scrape down the sides of the bowl after each egg addition. The first time I made cheesecake I didn’t do a great job with this and surprisingly it really does make a difference. Add ~ 1/3 cheesecake mixture to the baked crust pan. Drizzle with raspberry jam or sauceand swirl with a toothpick or knife. Add 1/3 more of the cheese mixture, and repeat. Add the last 1/3 of the cheese and do the same to the top of the cake. Bake approximately 1 hour and 10 minutes at 325 in a water bath. Then, after the baking time is up (it will still be a little jiggly), open the over door a few inches and turn the oven off, and let it sit in the oven for one hour more. Take the cheesecake out of the oven and let sit at room temperature until cooled. Place in the fridge for at least four hours, until chilled.

Blackberry Bottom Cake





Happy belated birthday to me! This year for my birthday two of my friends gave me cooking and baking books... hehe I guess they know me very well! :) This recipe was the first I have tried from my William's Sonoma Savoring Desserts baking book, and it was a great way to start off, especially with beautifully ripe summer fruit like blackberries now available!

Blackberry Bottom Cake
1/3 cup butter, unsalted, melted, and cooled
2 cups sugar
1 pint blackberries
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Melt the butter, and add 1 cup sugar, stirring to combine. Spread this butter/sugar mixture on the bottom of a 9 or 10 inch round baking pan (a springform pan works well) and add the blackberries in a single layer on the butter/sugar mixture. Separate the eggs, putting the whites in a large bowl and the yolks in a smaller one. Whisk 1 tblsp melted butter into the yolks and set aside. Using an electric mixer, beat the egg whites just until the form peaks, being careful not to overbeat. Fold the remaining one cup of sugar into the egg whites, about 1/4 at a time. Then fold in the egg yolk mixture about 1/4 at a time. Final fold in the flour mixture 1/4 cup at a time. Pour the batter over the berries and spread to cover evenly. Bake at 350 F until a toothpick comes out of the center cleanly, approximately 30 minutes. Let stand for at least 10 minutes, at which time slide a knife along the inside edge and then invert over a plate and flip the cake out. Best served warm. Enjoy!

Apple Pie