Heart Shaped Cheesecakes

It was my grandparents anniversary and my mom and dad invited them over for dinner. So of course I had to make dessert! I got these little spring-form pans quite awhile ago but have never used them! This was the perfect opportunity to use them. And my grama's favorite dessert is cheesecake. Also I have been converting my grandpa to become a cheesecake lover too. So here is the perfect recipe for making these adorable little cakes! They are rich and creamy with a graham cracker crust, then topped off with Belgium chocolate drizzle and fresh raspberries. If you don't have mini heart pans you can use muffin tins to make 12. Just follow the link to the original recipe.



Mini Heart Cheesecakes (recipe from Joy of Baking)
Makes 4.

1 cup graham wafer crumbs
1 tablespoon granulated white sugar
4 tablespoons butter, melted
2 - 8 ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
2/3 cup granulated white sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup sour cream, room temperature

Preparation

Preheat oven 300•F

In a small bowl combine graham cracker crumbs, sugar and melted butter. Stir and divide evenly into the 4 heart springform pans. Press firmly into the bottom and refrigerate until filling.

The next steps are best done on the lowest speed of your mixer, as you don't want to incorporate a lot of air into the batter.

In a large bowl beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the sugar and beat until completely smooth. Add the sour cream and beat until smooth. Add one of the eggs and beat until just combined. Add the second egg and the vanilla extract. Beat until just combined.

Evenly divide and pour the mixture into the four pans. Bake for 35 minutes.

Don't unlatch the pan, and let cool for 1 hour on a wire rack.

Cool in the fridge for at least 4 hours, but I always do my cheesecakes overnight.

Before serving slide a knife around the edge of the pan to loosen cheesecakes.

Top with fresh berries or drizzled chocolate and enjoy! They were fabulous in my opinion!

Busy as a bee

Hello! There hasn't been any posts this week do to a very busy scheduale! Lots and lots of homework/tests for school as well as dance 2 days a week. When I wasn't doing either of those, I was either sleeping, eating or relaxing! But I did make a few things in the past while... Enjoy!


Halloween 'Monster Cupcakes' with red velvet cake and cream cheese frosting


Halloween Theme cupcakes, chocolate cake vanilla buttercream.


My mom and dad's 29th Anniversary strawberry dream cloud cake


A slice of my mom and dad's cake


Grama's date 'squares' (they're actually triangles) for the Bank ladies


Ultimate cookies, peanut butter, chocolate chips, hazelnuts and choco drizzle.


Owl Cake Pops for my best friends birthday party!

Raspberry Chocolate Scones

I made these for the ladies at the bank this week. Omgosh, they smelt AMAZING while baking in the oven. Not to mention while they were cooling too. I was so tempted to eat one! But of course I didn't. But oh well! I'm going to make them again this weekend for my family.



Raspberry Chocolate Scones
8 scones

2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter or margarine, cold and cut into small pieces.
1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup raspberries
2/3 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla extract

Preparation

Preheat oven 400•F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Stir the vanilla in with the buttermilk.

In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Cut in the butter using a pastry blender, two knives or your hands until coarse crumbs. It's okay to have some bigger chunks.

Stir in the chocolate chips and raspberries.

Add the buttermilk gradually, careful not to over-mix. Once it has just come together, knead in the bowl gently 3 or 4 times.

Put on a floured surface and roll out about 1 1/2 inches thick. Cut in half, then quarters, then eighths.

Put on baking sheet 2 inches apart. Bake for 15 minutes, rotating half way through.

Cool slightly and serve warm.

Delicious!

Yummy Mummy Cookies

There is no Halloween without these cookies... they are that good. I absolutely LOVE them. Apparently so does everyone else who tries them!
The first time I got to try these was at a friends Halloween party in 5th grade... and I think I ate more than I was supposed to! Oh well! Between them and the vegetable tray, I was set for the night. And I can remember it was a very fun night! Except for catching a cold from the hot tub.

And when I had my first Halloween Party two years ago, I knew I wanted these cookies there! After that my friends always demand them.

This particular time I used white candy melts to decorating, only because I'm selling them at school. To use white chocolate would be too expensive. No problems though, they taste just as good! And lucky for you, I'll tell you how to easily decorate them! Unlike poor me who spent 2 hours trying to figure out how to make them look appealing. The Hershey's instructions just don't cut it for these cookies!

Halloween isn't until Monday, so bake some up today!



Yummy Mummy Cookies
yield 30 cookies

2/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder, sifted
1/4 tsp baking soda
pinch salt
*1 cup mini chocolate chips (I don't use these in my cookies)

White candy melts or white chocolate chips
Sprinkles or candy's to resemble eyes.

Preparation

In a medium bowl whisk flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.

In a large bowl with an electric mixer beat the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add vanilla.

Beat in eggs one and a time until just combined.

Add dry ingredients and mix until a soft dough is formed. Stir in mini chocolate chips if using.

Refrigerate 1 hour until firm.

Pre-heat oven 350•F grease or line cookie sheets.

Using a mini ice scoop, scoop two balls to make the body. Roll into a long 'carrot-shape'. Scoop one ball for the head. Place on the cookie sheet, pressing the head and body together slightly.

Bake for 8 minutes. Let cool on pan for 10 minutes then to wire racks to cool completely.

Melt candy melts or white chocolate chips in the microwave or over a double boiler.

Pour into a piping bag or ziplock bag (cut a tiny corner). Pipe in zig zag motions over the body, then the head. While they are still 'wet' place on eyes.

Let harden before storing. They taste good for days just so you know!!!


MMMM MUMMIES!! :D

Halloween Cake Pops

Okay, I am SO EXCITED FOR HALLOWEEN! It is all I can think about! And if I didn't have to go to school this week, that's what I would have been doing. But of course I wasn't going to skip. So instead I had to save my baking for after school activities. It's not very easy to do big projects after school but I was determined to make these cake pops! My mom had bought me millions of colours and I wasn't going to pass up this opportunity to use them! So I got out my Cake Pops book by Bakerella and got working!
... It took a LONG time. This is why I don't like to do these projects on school nights. To bake a cake, let it cool, form the balls, dip the lollipop sticks, let them firm up, dip them, let them dry, decorate them... like I said, it took a LONG time! So I will keep cake pop orders for the weekend. So keep time management in mind for these guys!
But the end result, is absolutely wonderful and delicious! So hurry, you have 3 days left, make these cake pops!!!

I am making A LOT of Halloween goodies this weekend, so stay tuned! Cookies and cupcakes! I'll also post a picture of my pumpkin!



Pumpkin and Mummy Cake Pops
Yield 30

Chocolate Cake
1/2 cup frosting (I used cream cheese, just because I had it)
Orange Candy Melts
White Candy Melts
Black Candy Melts or an Edible Art pen.
Green Round Sprinkles.

How to Make them!

http://kala-dawnskreations.blogspot.com/2011/08/new-obsession-cake-pops.html

Dip half in the orange candy melts, and half in the white candy melts.



For Pumpkins:

Melt about 1/4 cup of the black candy melts. Put into a piping bag with a small tip and pipe whatever faces you prefer. Add a round green sprinkle on top.



For Mummies

Melt 1/2 cup white candy melts. Put into a piping bag with a small tip and pipe in zig zag motions horizontally over the cake pops.

You can use small sprinkles, gel tubes or other colour meltes candy melts for their eyes.

Hope You Liked Them!

Halloween Sugar Cookie Cut-outs

After our adventure with the brownies on friday, my friend and I wanted to bake something else! I made these cookies for my Halloween party last year, and she LOVED them! Plus we wanted to do some decorating.
These sugar cookies in my opinion have the best flavour. They are not too sweet but they don't taste like cardboard. The icing though is quite sweet, so only add as much icing sugar to your preference. The colours go on shiny and harden matte, the look that I enjoy because you don't have to worry about them getting messed up when they're stacked. They are perfect for any holiday, and I usually make them at Halloween, Christmas and Easter.



Sugar Cookie Cutouts Adapted from Canadian Living
The yield depends on the size of your cookie cutters

1 1/2 cups butter or margarine, softened
2 cups granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
4 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
pinch salt

Icing (recipe follows)

In a bowl mix flour, baking soda and salt.

In your electric mixer beat the butter and sugar until very fluffy.

Add the eggs one at a time beating until just combined.

Mix in vanilla extract.

On low speed, gradually add the flour mixture until a smooth dough ball is created.

Make into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 1 hour.

Preheat oven 350•F and grease or line cookie sheets.

Roll out dough about 1/4 inch thick.

Cut out with preferred cookie cutters.

Bake for 9 minutes or until set. Cool on pan for 5 minutes then move to wire racks to cool completely before decorating.

Sugar Cookie Icing
About 1 cup

2 cups confectioners' sugar (1 1/2 cups for less sweet)
4 teaspoons milk
4 teaspoons light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Beat all with an electric mixer until smooth. Add more milk to desired thinness. Add food colouring too! Using a piping bag or knife, decorate cookies! Let dry completely before stacking or storing.


Icing before it has hardened.

Thanks for reading!

Brownies with homemade caramel sauce

I posted this recipe on my facebook page last week, and I've been dying to make it. I have a couple friends who enjoy baking aswell so yesterday we decided to make them! Boy were they decadent! If your looking for a treat, give these brownies a try!

Chocolate Caramel Brownies with Nutella Topping
6 large brownies

1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

Caramel Sauce (recipe follows)
Nutella
Chopped Hazelnuts

Preheat oven 350•F and grease a 10x7 baking dish.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, cocoa and salt in a medium sized bowl.

In a large bowl beat the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs and beat well. Mix in vanilla extract.

On low speed add the dry ingredients. Mix until just combined.

Pour half of the batter into the baking pan. Top with a layer of caramel sauce. Try to not go ALL the way to the edge. Put on the rest of the brownie.

Bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

Melt Nutella in a microwave and spread over warm brownies. Top with hazelnuts and serve while warm with icecream.

Easy Peasy Caramel Sauce

1/2 cup butter or margarine (STICK BUTTER OR MARGARINE)
1 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup whipping cream
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

In a pan over low heat, melt butter. Add brown sugar and cook until it is smooth. 1 minute.

Add whipping cream. Increase to medium heat. Cook the mixture on a simmer for about 5 minutes. It will only change colour a bit. Stir in vanilla extract

Let cool for 10 minutes in the pan then pour into a can. It will thicken up as the day goes on. Refrigerate when not using. Let it sit at room temperature before using. Microwave if too thick.

Enjoy the brownies! They are YUMMY!


Home made caramel, sorry for the terrible picture!

Grandma's Gingersnap Cookies

I made these yesterday for a friend and boy did it smell like Christmas in my house! These cookies are a staple for us at that time of the year. Luckily it won't be here for at least a couple more months. These treats are crispy yet soft, chewy but they melt in your mouth. Let's just say I made 2 dozen for my family, and my dad will eat them all by tomorrow. He was beaming when he came home last night and saw I had made these. They are his absolute favorite cookie ever. And it's his mom's recipe. She gave it to my mom, and now I get to make it too! So store it away until the snow falls then bake a batch up and be ready for Christmas carols!



Grandma's Gingersnap Cookies
3 dozen

2 cups all purpose flour, sifted
1 tbsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup shortening
1 egg
1/4 cup molasses

Preheat oven 375•F and line or grease cookie sheets

In a large bowl whisk together the flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda and salt.

Add the sugar, shortening, egg and molasses. Beat with an electric mixer until a soft dough forms.

And yes that is how you make the dough!!! Just add it all together in a bowl and mix!

Next make small balls with 1 tbsp of dough. Dip into either sugar or sprinkles. Place on baking sheet with sugar side up. Press down slightly with a fork.

Bake for 8 minutes 30 seconds. 9 minutes if you like crispy cookies like my dad.

Cool on pan for 10 minutes, then to cooling rack to cool completely.

These cookies taste the best once they have completely cooled.



Thanks for reading! Enjoy!!!

I'm making brownies with my friend today :) Stay tuned!

Mini Halloween Cake Doughnuts!

HALLOWEENHALLOWEENHALLOWEEN

IT'S ALL I CAN THINK ABOUT!
Since I got this nifty new donut pan, I thought it was the perfect time of the year to make some festive treats! They are the perfect size to have more than one. I have a chocolate recipe I want to try again too!

This is worth the investment in a pan :)

Mini Cake Doughnuts with Chocolate Glaze

Makes 40 doughnuts
Recipe came with the pan from Wilton, slightly edited.

1 1/4 cups cake flour, sifted
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 buttermilk
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 1/2 tbsp butter, melted.

Preparation

Spray or grease doughnut pan with cooking spray. Preheat oven 425•F



Whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, nutmeg, cinnamon and salt.

Add buttermilk, egg and butter. Stir to combine.



Pipe or scoop into the doughnut pan. Only fill 1/2 way!!! Or you will get funny looking doughnuts!



Bake for 4 minutes 30 seconds... worked perfect for me!


Let cool in pan for 2 minutes. Dip in chocolate glaze and sprinkles.
(There was more than this!)


Chocolate Glaze
Makes one cup

In a heat proof bowl heat 3/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips, 3 tbsp butter, 1 tbsp corn syrup until melted. Stir in 1/4 tsp vanilla extract.


Cupcakes for Cancer on Thursday! I'm very excited! Stay Tuned!!!
Gingersnap cookies on Friday... Grandma's recipe!

Pumpkin Cheesecake with Nut Topping

Happy Thanksgiving Sunday! What a beautiful day it is! The sun is shining and that was not the original forecast! Looks like it's going to be a great day. Tonight I will be going to my grandparents house for turkey dinner. You have no idea how excited I am! I have been craving it for weeks now. Stuffing...sweet potatoes...red cabbage...TURKEY! Ahh... it's going to be delicious! And of course there has to be dessert! That's where I come into the story. I knew I wanted to make cheesecake but I also wanted to make pumpkin pie. Why not combine the two? So I went searching through my mom's mom's cookbooks and found this fabulous recipe! It's full of spices and I know it would go well with my cookie crust. I haven't made it before, but man was it tasty. It has a caramelized pecan topping that I know will be a hit. It takes a LONG time to bake but the end result is totally worth it!



Festive Pumpkin Cheesecake
Serves 14

Crust
1 1/2 cups of Dad's cookie crumbs
1/4 cup of margarine, melted.

Batter
24 ounces of cream cheese (3 packages), room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
3 eggs, room temperature
1 14 ounce can packed pumpkin
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup whipping cream

Nut Topping
1/4 cup margarine, softened at room temperature
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

Preparation

Preheat oven 325•F.

In a medium sized bowl mix the melted margarine and cookie crumbs. Press into the bottom of a 9 inch springform pan. Bake for 10 minutes. Let cool.

Leave oven on.

Mix together the spices, salt and pumpkin. Set aside

In a large bowl beat the cream cheese until creamy. Add the sugars and beat until completely smooth.
Add the eggs 1 at a time until just combined. Do not over beat.
Add the pumpkin mixture and beat until just incorporated.
Pour into springform pan and bake for 70 minutes. If you are using a dark pan reduce heat to 305•F.

While cheesecake is baking beat the sugar and margarine until combined. Stir in pecans.

When cheesecake is finished cooking, spoon nut topping on gently and bake for another 10 minutes.

Let cool on a wire rack for at least an hour. Then refrigerate for at least 6 hours or overnight.

You can decorate it with whipped cream and pecan halves if you like.

NOTE*** you need to let the cheesecake sit at room temperature for at least 20 minutes before serving, or the topping will be kind of hard!

Enjoy this Festive Dessert!!!

Triple Chocolate Chocolate Chunk Cookies

CHOCOLATE CHOCOLATE CHOCOLATE.
Lets just say these cookies are for the die-hard chocolate lovers.
Think of them as a brownie but in cookie form...ahh..soo good!
White chocolate. Milk Chocolate. Cocoa Powder.
Equals heaven.



I have this recipe memorized :D

Triple Chocolate Chocolate Chunk Cookies
20 cookies

1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk chocolate chunks
1/2 cup white chocolate chunks

Preparation

Preheat oven 375•F line a baking sheet with a silicon mat or parchment paper, or grease.

In a medium bowl whisk the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In another bowl beat butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar until fluffy.

Add eggs one at a time, beating until just combined.

Beat in vanilla extract.

Add the flour mixture and mix until a soft dough is formed.

Using a spoon, stir in the chocolate chunks.

With an icecream scoop, place dough on baking sheet 2 inches apart.

If you like cakey cookies, leave in round balls. If you like more 'doughy' cookies, press down in the middle slightly.

Bake for 5 minutes and rotate pan. Bake for another 3 minutes.

Let cool on baking sheet for 10 minutes then remove to wire racks to cool completely.

(There are more cookies here because I doubled the recipe)

OM NOM NOM!!!
ENJOY!!!

PS I'm making my festive pumpkin cheesecake this afternoon!!!

Pumpkin Patch Cupcakes

It's Thanksgiving this weekend! Turkey time! Yay!
When I think of this weekend, it officially tells me fall is here. And when I think of fall the first thing that comes to mind are pumpkins! I love them! In pie, tarts, cookies, muffins, scones pancakes ANYTHING! The spices are so aromatic and they warm you from the inside out. So whenever I get the chance, I'll make something with pumpkin.

Today (Friday) is my monthly "cupcake" order at the bank. Because it's thanksgiving weekend, I wanted to do something really festive. Not to mention I have this brand new Martha Stewart Cupcake book I've been dying to use. Inside I found the "Pumpkin Patch Cupcakes" recipe. Instantly I knew I'd be making them. But I have yet to learn about marzipan, so I made my pumpkins out of cake balls. Worked perfectly!

It doesn't have to be Halloween or Thanksgiving to make these, but I highly suggest them now while the season is here!

***Stay tuned on Sunday for my Festive Pumpkin Cheesecake!



Pumpkin Patch Cupcakes (Adapted from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes)
28 Cupcakes

4 cups cake flour, sifted
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1 cup butter, room temperature
2 1/2 cups brown sugar
4 eggs, room temperature
1 cup buttermilk (or in my case 1 cup of milk + 1 tablespoon lemon juice, stand for 10 minutes)
1 1/2 cups canned packed pumpkin

Fall Sprinkles
Orange Candy Melts
Gold gel
Green round sprinkles

Frosting

12 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup butter, room temperature
4 cups powdered sugar
3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Cupcakes

Preheat oven 350•F and line muffin tins with 32 cupcake liners

Sift together the cake flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices. Set aside.

In a large bowl cream the butter and brown sugar on medium high speed until pale and fluffy, 2 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time beating for 30 seconds after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Alternating with the flour mixture and buttermilk in three additions, add to the batter on low speed. Beginning and ending with the flour. Beat until only combined. Beat in the pumpkin.

Scoop into the liners filling 3/4 way full. (About 1 heaping icecream scoop each)

Bake for 15 minutes, rotating pans half way through.

Let cool in pan for 5 minutes and move to a wire rack to cool completely.

Frosting

Beat the cream cheese and butter on medium high speed for 2-3 minutes until light and fluffy.

Add the powdered sugar, 1/2 cup at a time beating until just combined. Also I would test the frosting after 3 cups to make sure it doesn't get too sweet for your taste.

Beat in vanilla extract.

Assemble the Cupcakes

Choosing your favorite 28 cupcakes, frost with a generous amount of frosting. You can pipe it but I chose just to swirl in on them. Be sure to save 1/4 cup of frosting. Top with your favorite fall sprinkles. Set aside.

In a small bowl, break remaining cupcakes. Beat with electric beaters until crumbly. Add a small amount of frosting and beat. Keep adding frosting until a cookie dough like texture is created, and you can make small balls with your hands.

Roll 28 small balls and place on wax paper covered baking sheet. Refrigerate for at least 10 minutes.

Melt 1 cup of candy melts according to package. Dip the balls entirely and place on wax paper to set. Refrigerate 10 minutes.

Using the gold gel, put a tiny blob on top of each pumpkin, representing a stem. Add the round green sprinkles to make a leaf.

Put on top of cupcakes.

There you go! Lots of lovely little pumpkins!
Hope you enjoy! I know I did!

Just a little update :)

Hellooo! October 3rd, wowie. Can't believe it! Here are some new things with me!

Well today I made a sensational smelling pear coffee cake. My mom's friend gave us this HUGE bag of them so I've been busy making things with them. Last night I made a fabulous pear crisp, that I highly recommend for fall dinners. It is mouth watering. (Not to mention super easy!) For the ladies at the bank I was going to make a blueberry lemon loaf, but I figured why not making something with the pears??? So I did! It makes your house smell like cinnamon and spices... boy does it look tasty! Too bad I don't get to try it! Here is the recipe

This week I have a LARGE batch of chocolate chocolate chunk cookies. I'll need to make 4 dozen for 2 orders! But I know this is a recipe everyone will like. Pictures will be posted Thursday evening.

On Saturday there will be a festive pumpkin cheesecake baking away in my oven... I'm so excited for that. I've been craving cheesecake for weeks! And you can't have Thanksgiving without pumpkin...

Which reminds me, I was supposed to make a friend a pumpkin pie but couldn't :( We are getting new granite counter tops and they won't be in on time. So no rolling out dough equals no pie. Next year!

Another thing coming up next week is my mom's birthday... hello strawberry dream cloud cake! She is so excited. But it will be the last one now that strawberries are going out of season.

... It's pie season now!

Coconut Cream Pie? No, but I am making a coconut cream cake next week for a Birthday! It's her favorite.

Well actually I'd rather start making Halloween goodies. Yummy Mummies are calling my name! Not to mention festive cake pops and cupcakes. I've been busy with my cricut making new designs for cupcake wrappers. They are so neat!

Soon enough it will be Christmas! Naww don't get worried, I'm just excited.

So anyways! Just thought I would let readers know what I'm up to this month. Stay tuned for lots of yummy goodies for the bank ladies, and lots of cookies too!

~Kala-Dawn


Mmm Pear Crisp... <3

White Chocolate Cheesecake

Hello hello hello!!! Here is my order for the weekend! A beautiful, dense cheesecake! Boy was it hard not slicing myself of this one. Wish I could! It sits on a chocolate crumb crust with sweetened raspberry hearts.

Next weekend is thanksgiving :D Yay! Stay tuned for a festive pumpkin cheesecake!
And soon my mom's birthday cake... strawberry dream cloud.
... and a banana cream cake for another birthday!



A pretty cake for the dinner party it was made for!

White Chocolate Cheesecake with Raspberry Hearts
12 servings

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups chocolate cookie crumbs
1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted

3 (8 ounce) pkg cream cheese (750 grams, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup sour cream
1 cup white belgium chocolate, melted.
3 eggs

a few raspberries pureed with a teaspoon of sugar. Or to your sweetness.

Preparation

Preheat oven 325•F. Line the bottom of a 9 inch spring form pan with parchment paper (only if you plan to remove the cake from the bottom) Put tinfoil around the outsides of the pan to prevent water from touching the cheesecake in the water bath while baking.

Mix the melted butter and cookie crumbs. Press into the bottom of the pan. Bake for 10 minutes and let cool.

If you are using a dark pan like me, reduce oven temperature to 300•F

In a large bowl beat the cream cheese until creamy. Beat in the sugar until smooth. Add the vanilla and just beat in. Add the sour cream and white chocolate. Beat until just combined. Add the eggs one at a time, beating only until you can't see the yolks any more. VERY important not to over mix. Pour into the pan reserving about 1 tablespoon of batter.

Mix the remaining batter with the raspberry puree. Drop onto the top of the cheesecake in small circles about 1 or 2 inches apart. Using a tooth pick put the stick in the middle of one circle, and drag it all around the cheesecake. Going through each circle creating hearts. I usually go around twice.

Bake for 1 hour. Cool in pan for 1 hour. Place in fridge for 1 hour. Slide a narrow knife around the edge of the pan. Remove sides and cool in fridge for at least 3 more hours. I do it over night.

Enjoy this delicious cheesecake! It's definitely a favorite with our friends!


Smartie Cookies to-go! Made lots of them today too!

Spiced Cream Cheese Filled Pumpkin Muffins

There isn't a big story to these muffins, other than fall is here and I LOVE pumpkin. Canned pumpkin was on sale this week so we picked up a few. For the ladies at the bank I needed to make something to go with their coffee. My mom was at Starbucks and she saw their version of a cream cheese filled muffin. I haven't ever tried one, but have wanted too. Until then, I am very happy with my own version!


OH OH OH!!! Check out my Cricut Cupcake Wrappers! It only took me 2 1/2 hours to make those 3 :D They aren't that great for muffins, but I was dying to make them!

Spiced Cream Cheese Filled Pumpkin Muffins
14 muffins

Ingredients:
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour (or all purpose)
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 15 oz can, canned pumpkin
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 1/4 brown sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

4 ounces, 125 grams cream cheese, room temperature
1 tbsp granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preparation

Pre-heat oven 350•F, line muffin tins with 14 liners.

In a small bowl combine the cream cheese, sugar, spice and vanilla until smooth. Set aside

In a medium bowl whisk the pumpkin and eggs. There is no oil because the amount of pumpkin is so large, it makes them very moist.

In a large bowl whisk the flours, baking powder, baking soda, spice, sugar and salt. Make a well in the middle (a shallow hole). Add the wet ingredients and stir until JUST combined. Don't over mix!!!

Put a heaping table spoon of pumpkin batter in the bottom of each muffin liner. Using a mini icecream scoop or teaspoon, put in a small amount of cream cheese. Top with a regular icecream scoop of batter.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, rotating once. Remove when toothpick comes out clean.

Cool in pan for 5 minutes and cool completely on a wired rack.

Feels like fall with these muffins!

Halloween Is Coming...

And I am way too excited.

It is one of my FAVORITE times of the year. When else can you dress up and decorate your house ridiculously and still be considered 'normal' because everyone else does it? I couldn't think of another time too.

But it's not the candy that gets me excited.
It's planning my Halloween Party!!!

2011 will be my third one, and they are hard to live up to! Last year we had SO MUCH FUN. Until we watched The Grudge 3... *shivers* I think I'll need a better movie choice this year.
Anyways! I have the toughest time ever trying to choose what to bake. So that's why I've already began planning! Not to mention buying all the candy melts from Winners... Sorry about that!

So here are my ideas for this year, which will most likely change soon :D Let me know if you'd like any recipes :)

Eats:

Frankenstein Brain Dip with Halloween Chips. AMAZING cheese dip.


Pumpkin Puffs. They sound really good!


Backbone Roll Ups. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE tortilla roll ups, so these are perfect.


Halloween Sparkle Punch

Sweets:
This is where it gets hard to choose...


Yummy Mummy Cookies (I don't think anyone will come unless I make these)


Giant Halloween Cupcake. I like the idea of this one, but mine will be different :)


CAKEPOPS.
omg. I am having THE HARDEST TIME EVER. I know I'm making the witch ones for the ladies at my mom's bank...

And that's it for my party! But I'm making these for school because they are apart of my costume... a 50's Baker LOL!

Thank goodness for my Martha Stewart's Cupcake book :D