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So many of the things that I have made and shared here with you all have been shared with others in my life. I know better than to keep any baked goods in the house longer than a day.
So it’s only natural that life start to worm itself into this little blog.
We wedding’d over the weekend. Beautiful weather, beautiful friends, a beautiful couple…
And cookies. Black and white cookies to be exact.
They aren’t so popular in these parts – they are mostly a New York thing. But it is now my firm opinion that black and white cookies should have a coming out party on the Left Coast. Seriously though, who wouldn’t like a big cakey cookie frosted with both vanilla and chocolate icing?
They were a special request made by the bride for the rehearsal dinner, as they are the groom’s favorite type of cookie. Nothing thrills me more than to be given the opportunity to contribute to such a special weekend, especially for such close friends…
…with lots and lots of cookies…
Black and White Cookies
Adapted from Martha Stewart’s Cookies
I added lemon extract to the cookie batter as most of my research on these cookies found recipes that included lemon extract. I made several test batches, using different recipes, and these by far had the best texture and flavor. I also found that this recipe kept the best – the cookies were slightly cake-ier the day after, which is how a black and white cookie should be.
Since I was making these cookies for the rehearsal dinner, I made two quadruple batches which yielded about 95 cookies, 4 inches in diameter. Making just one batch (as measured below) will yield about 10-12 large cookies or 4 dozen miniature cookies.
For the cookies:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t coarse salt
6 T unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/2 t vanilla extract
1/4 t lemon extract
1/3 cup buttermilk
For the icing:
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 T plus 1 t light corn syrup
2 1/2 t fresh lemon juice
1/4 t vanilla extract
1 T water, plus more if needed
1 t unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
To make the cookies, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt.
Using a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy, or about 2 minutes. Add the sugar and beat on medium until fluffy, about 3 more minutes. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Add the flour mixture in batches, alternating with the buttermilk.
Using a cookie scooper (the largest one I had has 24 engraved on the inside of the scoop), scoop mounds of dough two inches on to parchment lined baking sheets. Pat the mounds of dough with lightly greased finger into even-ish rounds. Bake for 14 minutes. Let cool on sheets for 5-10 minutes and then transfer to cooling rack to cool completely.
To make the icings, whisk the confectioners’ sugar, corn syrup, lemon juice, vanilla extract, and water together in a large bowl. Add more water as needed to achieve the right consistency. I had to add quite a bit more water to make it spreadable, but be careful not to make it too runny. Transfer half of the icing to another bowl and stir in cocoa powder, adding more water as needed.
Frosting the flat side of each cookie, spread half with white icing and let set for about 30 minutes. Once set, spread the other half with chocolate icing.
Store between layers of parchment or wax paper for up to three days.
Happiness is…an unseasonably warm Saturday in February.
Happiness is…being greeted by your two furballs after a long day of work.
Happiness is…the sense of accomplishment after a long, hard workout.
Happiness is…sleeping in.
Happiness is…shopping to your heart’s content and not feeling one bit guilty.
Happiness is…getting to wake up and go to sleep next to the same person you love.
Happiness is…scheduling a massage and a pedicure in the same day.
Happiness is…eating homemade pancakes on Sunday mornings.
Happiness is…scrambling to eat every last crumb of these cupcakes, even if they fell on the floor.
Happiness is…love.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
Never-Fail Cupcakes with Vanilla Bean Buttercream Frosting
For the cupcakes:
1 egg
½ cup unsweetened cocoa
½ cup butter, room temperature
1½ cup flour
½ cup sour milk*
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup sugar
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup hot water
*To sour milk, add 1 tbsp vinegar to 1 c. milk
Put all ingredients in a bowl in order given. Do not mix until last item has been added. Then beat approximately 3 minutes on medium speed. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.
For the frosting:
Adapted from Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes
5 large egg whites
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 vanilla bean
Pinch of salt
1 pound (4 sticks) of butter, cut into tablespoons, room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Split the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape out seeds. Combine the sugar and seeds in a food processor and pulse until combined. Pour mixture through a fine sieve to separate out the larger pieces and discard them.
Set up a double boiler using the the bowl of a stand mixer. Combine the egg whites, vanilla bean sugar, and salt in the bowl and set over the simmering water. Whisk the mixture constantly by hand until all the sugar has dissolved and it is warm to the touch. Test this by rubbing the mixture between your fingers – it should be completely smooth.
Attach the bowl to the mixer fitted with a whick attachment. Starting on low and gradually increasing the medium-high speed, mix until stiff, but not dry, peaks form. Continue to mix until peaks are fluffy and glossy and mixture has completely cooled, about 10 minutes.
Reduce the mixer speed to medium-low and add the butter a few tablespoons at a time, mixing well after each addition. Once all butter has been added, scrape down the sides of the bowl and switch to the beater attachment. Continue beating about two minutes, until all air bubbles are gone. Don’t panic if the mixture separates and looks curdled. Just keep beating on medium-high speed until the mixture comes together and is smooth.
Buttercream can be kept in the refrigerator up to 3 days or frozen up to one month.
I treat birthdays as the one day of the year when I get to request any dessert that I am craving. When I was younger, my poison of choice on my birthday was a strawberry cake from Aki’s Bakery. Just thinking about that cake now is making my mouth water.
Nowadays, while I won’t pass up a slice of this memory-filled cake, I like to vary my birthday requests. It could be the biggest, most elaborate, decadent chocolate cake or a simple but incredibly satisfying snickerdoodle.
Matt happens to be so lucky to be married to this little baker. So his birthday request this year was banana cupcakes. He claims that he doesn’t have much of a sweet tooth, but he won’t ever pass up a banana cupcake. I, on the other hand, can take ’em or leave ’em. Banana cupcakes were never really on my radar, until I had a banana cupcake from Icing on the Cake. They must put something in these cupcakes to make them so addictive. And the frosting! The cream cheese frosting! Don’t get me started on the frosting. If I could just figure out how to make that frosting, I think I could die a happy baker.
So his request was for me to replicate these highly esteemed banana cupcakes in our tiny, humble kitchen. I let him dream big for me sometimes because I knew that there was no way I was going to achieve the status that these cupcakes have in my circle of friends, especially the first time making them.
But I think I made a valiant first effort. I used a Martha recipe and it called for roasting the bananas first, which created a much deeper banana flavor than using raw bananas would. The cupcakes were moist, maybe a little too moist when compared to their muse. And there was cream cheese frosting of course. He even let me stencil his age in cocoa powder on the tops (I guess he wasn’t so traumatized about turning 28). But I definitely have a way to go before I can recreate cupcakes, so I guess some more taste testing and comparisons are in order. I don’t think he nor I will have any problems with that!
What are some of your all-time favorite birthday dessert requests?
Roasted Banana Cupcakes
Adapted from Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes
Makes 16 cupcakes
3 ripe bananas
2 cups cake flour, sifted
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
3 large eggs, separated
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the bananas, with skins still on, on a rimmed baking sheet. Roast in the oven for 15 minutes; the skin will darken. Remove from oven and let cool completely before peeling.
Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees. Line a standard muffin tin with paper liners. Sift together the cake flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt and set aside.
Using a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy. Add the egg yolks, one at a time, incorporating fully after each addition, scraping the bowl as you go along. Add the roasted bananas and beat to combine. Add the flour in three batches, alternating with the sour cream. Beat until just combined and add the vanilla.
In another clean mixing bowl, whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form. Fold the egg whites into the batter in batches until just combined.
Fill the lined muffin cups evenly with batter, filling about 3/4 full. Bake, rotating tins half way, about 20 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool completely on a wire rack. Cupcakes will keep up to three days in an airtight container.
The cream cheese frosting recipe can be found here. I left out the sour cream and grated orange peel this time and it still makes a nice cream cheese frosting.
I made these key lime bars awhile back for my co-worker’s birthday. But given how gray and rainy it has been in the Bay Area for the past week, I figured we could use a bright, citrus-y pick-me-up.
If you don’t have to juice your own key limes, or happen to have pre-bottled key lime juice available, these are incredibly easy bars to pull together.
However…
If you don’t happen to be so blessed, be prepared to juice about 25 of these wiley little suckers. Because that’s what they are, wiley little suckers.
I know that a citrus reamer, or other tools of that sort, would make this job much easier. But we did not own such a tool at the time. So I juiced enough of these wiley little suckers to get 2/3 cups of fresh key lime juice.
But boy was it worth it.
Horribly out of focus picture aside, these bars were smooth and creamy and very citrus-y. They were a little too tart for me, but a dollop of fresh whipped cream easily evens out the tartness.
Something perfect to brighten a cold winter day.
Recipe can be found here.
Making marshmallows is like magic.
Think about it. Three ordinary ingredients – sugar, corn syrup, and gelatin, plus a little water – go from your everyday pantry staples to wonderous, fluffy, shiny marshmallow in just a matter of minutes.
It’s one of the things that a baker can have in her arsenal that elicits a truly awe-inspiring response. And the funny thing is that they are ridiculously easy to make.
Most Americans are familiar with the Jet Puffed cylindrical shaped marshmallows. Mini ones for hot chocolate and giant ones for roasting and toasting. And apparently, Americans love their marshmallows. They eat 90 million pounds of marshmallows per year!
But over the years, homemade or gourmet marshmallows have been popping up in stores. Once you’ve tried a homemade marshmallow its hard to go back.
There are endless variations when you make your own, too. Use vanilla extract for a traditional marshmallow or add peppermint extract and a little red food coloring for a pretty candy cane effect.
These have become a staple in my Christmas baking over the years and makes great gifts. This year’s batch went to my co-workers in cute little tins, topped off with adorable homemade penguin tags made by one of my best friends.
But nothing goes better with homemade peppermint marshmallows that a steaming mug of hot chocolate to share with a loved one on a cold December night.
Enjoy!
Marshmallows
Adapted from The Martha Stewart Living Cookbook: The Original Classics
Note: I learned (though a math error on my part) that using slightly less than 3 cups of sugar (20 ounces versus 21 ounces) results in a less sticky marshmallow, making cutting squares a less messy endeavor.
Canola oil, for brushing
3 tablespoons unflavored gelatin
3 cups granulated sugar
1 1/4 cup light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract (if using peppermint extract, only use 1 teaspoon – peppermint is much stronger than vanilla)
Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting
Brush a 9 x 13 inch baking dish with canola oil. Line the pan with parchment paper long enough to overhand the sides. Brush parchment with oil. Set dish aside.
Pour 3/4 cup of water in the bowl of a stand mixer. Sprinkle gelatin over the water. Let stand for 5 minutes until softened.
Place the sugar, corn syrup, salt, and 3/4 cup water in a saucepan over high heat. Let mixture come to a boil. Clip a candy thermometer to the side of the pan and cook until the mixture reaches 238 degrees, or soft ball stage, about 9 minutes.
Attach the mixer bowl to the stand mixer and fit with a whisk attachment. With the mixer running on low, pour the hot syrup mixture down the side of the bowl, mixing into the gelatin. Slowly increase the speed to high and beat until the mixture is very stiff, fluffy and white, about 12 minutes. Add in the extract.
Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and let set, uncovered, for at least three hours.
To unmold, dust a cutting board with confectioners’ sugar. Lift marshmallow from pan using the parchment overhang and invert onto the cutting board. Peel the parchment away from marshmallow. Using a long serrated knife, cut marshmallow into desired size squares, cleaning the knife under cold water as necessary to avoid sticking.
Quick! What is the first flavor that comes to mind when you think of Thanksgiving?
Is it turkey?
Ok, now put that in a cupcake. Not as easy as you think, huh?
Of course there are many, many other Thanksgiving-y flavors and the November’s IRON CUPCAKE challenged us bakers to put those traditional Thanksgiving flavors into a cupcake.
I went with cranberry hoping it would be a less obvious flavor choice. I had finally perfected my version of my dad’s wine cake, so my final creation was a cranberry-orange wine cake, or Tipsy Cranberry-Orange Cupcakes. The cupcakes were topped with a sugared cranberry, which played down the tartness of the raw cranberries.
There were some very creative creations. There was only one savory cupcake that included all of the traditional Thanksgiving sides and was aptly named ‘All the Sides’. It won the Most Creative category by a landslide. And surprisingly, there were no pumpkin cupcakes. I’m guessing most thought that was way too obvious. So instead, there were quite a few sweet potato cupcakes. Boy was I glad I didn’t choose sweet potato!
Twelve mini cupcakes later the votes were in. And guess what? I placed second! It was completely unexpected and very humbling to know that so many others really enjoyed my cupcakes.
The best part about it is that I created a super simple holiday cupcake that I get to share with you. Enjoy!
Tipsy Cranberry-Orange Cupcakes
Adapted from my dad’s wine cake
3 cups cake flour, sifted
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup light-brown sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
4 eggs, slightly beaten
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup sherry wine
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 tablespoon grated orange zest, from one large orange
2 cups chopped fresh cranberries
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Combine the granulated sugar and orange zest in a food processor and mix until the sugar is pale orange and fragrant.
In a large bowl, whisk together the cake flour, sugars, baking powder, and nutmeg.
Add the eggs, oil, sherry, and vanilla to the dry ingredients and beat with a hand mixer until combined, about 3 minutes.
Fold in the chopped cranberries.
Fill lined mini cupcake tins 3/4 full. Bake for 12-13 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean.
Makes 72 mini cupcakes.
Brown Sugar Cream Cheese Frosting
Adapted from Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
Using an electric stand mixer fitted with a beater attachment, beat the butter, cream cheese and brown sugar on medium-high until smooth. Use immediately. Can be stored in the refrigerator up to 3 days.
Makes 2 1/2 cups.
Folks, there is a legitimate pumpkin shortage this year. Blame it on the weather, blame it on poor crops. Blame it on the powers that may be if it’ll make you feel better. There is no going around it that the very sanctity of Thanksgivings in America could be threatened this year.
Is that a little extreme? Yeah…ok…probably.
I think I let my fear of not being able to enjoy all things pumpkin this year lead to me yell into the phone “Get two cans!” while poor Matt was doing a quick grocery store run. In my head I knew “Get two cans!” meant “Get two 15 ounce cans!”. I guess our psychic married powers were on the fritz that day because I was greeted by two 30 ounce cans of pumpkin when I got home that night.
I saw this as a challenge. How many recipes could I get out of 60 ounces of pumpkin? Just typing that out I am amazed at how much pumpkin I have gone through in the past few weeks. That is 3 3/4 pounds of pumpkin!
The original intended purpose of the pumpkin was to make some pumpkin bread for two potlucks my mom was going to. I made two loaves of Martha’s pumpkin, sage, and browned-butter quick bread at first, but as the loaves were already assigned to events which I was not attending, I wasn’t able to taste them. And I always hate when that happens. But I wasn’t worried…I still had 46 ounces of pumkin left! So I whipped up another loaf (this is really one of the simplest quick bread recipes) and was able to savor the sweet yet savory combination of the pumpkin and sage. The browned-butter added another dimension to the bread that you wouldn’t necessarily expect from a quick bread. Another win for Martha.
At that point I was down to 38 ounces of pumpkin. My brother made a request for pumpkin whoopies pies, complete with a link the recipe and a snarky remark on my Facebook page about wanting a shout out. But I probably wouldn’t have been attracted to make these on my own so I’m glad he requested them. Thanks baby brother!
The cookie part of the pies was more like a spiced pumpkin cookie cake and the marshmallow cream filling, while alone was too buttery in my opinion, sandwiched in between two pumpkin cookie cakes lend the perfect amount of sweet. These were some darn good whoopie pies.
Three loaves of pupmkin bread and 20 pumpkin whoppie pies. I’m kind of tired just reading that. But what to do with the remaining 23 ounces of pumkin?
The pumpkin whoopie pie recipe can be found here.
Pumpkin, Sage, and Browned-Butter Quick Bread
Adapted from the November 2009 issue of Martha Stewart
This recipe can make one 9 x 5 inch loaf or eight 2 1/2 x 4 inch loaves.
6 ounces unsalted butter
1/4 cup fresh sage, cut into thin strips
1 2/3 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup solid-pack pumpkin (from one 15 ounce can)
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
2 large eggs
Preheat the oven to 350 degress and spray the loaf pan with non-stick spray.
Melt the butter over medium-high heat in a medium saucepan. Add the stips of sage to the melted butter and cook until the butter has turned a golden brown, or 5 to 8 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.
In one bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and salt.
In another bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, sugar, eggs and browned butter with sage.
Add the flour mixture to the liquid mixture and whisk until combined. Pour the batter into the pan and bake for about one hour, until a tester instered into the center comes out clean.
Let cool in pan for about half and hour and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Ok, so I know that Meyer lemons are a very fall-y flavor but I made these cupcakes anyways because 1) I flagged the recipe a while back, 2) it’s my boss’ birthday this week and lemon is her favorite cupcake flavor, and 3) I live in California, my parents have a Meyer lemon tree and I can get Meyer lemons anytime. So there.
I love the simplicity of these cupcakes. They don’t need mile high frosting or snazzy sprinkles to get attention. Their pure lemon flavor is enough to draw someone in, sometimes for seconds, even if they are a self-proclaimed choclate lover.
With each recipe that I have made recently I have learned something new about myself as a baker. What I enjoyed about and learned from these cupcakes is that I have developed more patience while baking. Its not just about the finished product for me any more. Its about the whole process from setting out all ingredients to being able to notice subtle changes in texture as the recipe begins to come together. I am becoming a more confident baker and I love it!
Meyer Lemon Cupcakes with Meyer Lemon Curd
Adapted from Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes
This cupcake recipe makes a ton of cupcakes…42 to be exact. To streamline the process, you can make the lemon curd first and chill it in the fridge while you are making the cupcakes. That way it is almost ready once the cupcakes have finally cooled. This recipe can be made with any type of citrus fruit. Blood orange cupakes anyone?
For the cupcakes:
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour, sifted
2 tablespoons finely grated lemon zest, plus 2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice (from about 2 lemons)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
1 3/4 cups (3 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
3 cups sugar
8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
7 large eggs, room temperature
confectioners’ sugar for dusting
For the lemon curd:
2 whole eggs plus 8 egg yolks
1 cup sugar
2/3 cups fresh lemon juice (from about 6 lemons)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces, room temperature
To make the curd, combine the eggs, sugar and lemon juice in a bowl set over a simmering pot of water. Whisk constantly until the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and add the butter pieces a few at a time, whisking to fully incorporate each addition. Pour the mixture through a sieve set over a bowl and then cover with plastic wrap, pressing the wrap onto the surface. This is to prevent a skin forming. Chill for at least 2 hours or up to 2 days. Makes 2 cups.
While the curd is chilling, preheat the oven to 325 degrees and line muffin tins with paper liners. Combine the flour, zest, baking powder and salt in a bowl.
In a stand mixer on medium-high, cream the butter and sugar together until light colored and fulffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating to fully incorporate after each addition, and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the lemon juice and vanilla and beat until incorporated. Add the flour in three batches, beating until just combined after each addition.
Pour batter in the lined tins, filling each cup 3/4 of the way full. Bake for 28 minutes, rotating pans halfway through, until a cake tester comes out clean. Let cool completel on wire racks. They can be stored at room temperature overnight or frozen up to 2 months.
To fill and finish the cupcakes, dust each cupcake with confectioners’ sugar using a mesh sieve. Using a pastry bag fitted with a coupler and a medium round tip, insert the tip into each cupcake and squeeze curd to fill the inside. Then lift the tip and let the curd pool on top of the cupcake. Filled cupcakes can be kept at room temperature for 1 hour or refrigerated for a few more.
My baking is motivated by several things. There is the obvious fact that I love sweets, not only because of my extreme sweet tooth but also because of the comfort derived from home baked goods. The feeling of accomplishment that I get as I pull a cake or a sheet of cookies out of the oven is one of the best, whether it be a recipe I’ve made fifty times or a challenging Daring Baker recipe. But my main motivation is being able to share with others. Being able to share warm gooey brownies and the warm fuzzies that are associated with said brownies. Bringing cupcakes into work and passing them around, giving my co-workers a much needed and well-deserved five minute break with a cupcake. Making someone’s favorite dessert for their birthday and sharing it with them. These things make others happy and that, therefore, makes me happy.
While I’m still not fully unpacked, I was able to rumage around to find the ingredients necessary to make cheescake. It was my co-worker’s birthday this week and his request was cheesecake, New York cheesecake to be exact. I have only had one other encounter with cheesecake and lets just say it didn’t go very well. Flashbacks of burned edges and dry, crumbly cake come to mind. Needless to say, I was a little hesitant but I put that aside and went to work.
I think the perfectionist in me reared its head because as I kept checking on the cheesecake and it kept rising higher and higher out of the pan, I kept getting more and more worried. Why is it rising so high? Is it going to burn? Ahhh! But I followed through, let it cool, wrapped it and put it in the fridge to set and tried to calm my mind.
Call me crazy (Matt often does when it comes to my baking) but because I was unsure of how the cake would be after it set I decided I needed to have a back up plan. In stressful times like these I always turn to Martha. I had already purchased Oreos to make the crust for the NY cheesecake so Martha’s cookies and cream cheesecakes were a no brainer to pick. And even easier to make since they use a whole Oreo as the crust for each cupcake-sized cheesecake.
Of course, I was being paranoid about the NY cheesecake because it turned out almost perfect. But it worked out in the end because both my co-workers and Matt’s co-workers got some delicious cheesecake that day. Being able to share cheesecake with two groups of people that day was already a great satisfaction. What I didn’t expect were the compliments and expressions of thanks. From my co-workers in the form of a thank you card and emails forwarded from Matt that his co-workers had sent him. Thoughtful words from friends and strangers that were a reminder of why I love to bake.
New York Cheesecake
Adapted from Baking Illustrated
Serves 12 to 16
For the crust:
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
4 ounces Oreo wafers (filling scraped out), processed in a food processor to fine crumbs
1 tablespoon sugar
For the filling:
2 1/2 pounds (five 8 ounce packages) cream cheese, room temperature, cut into 1 inch chunks
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/3 cup sour cream
2 teaspoons juice from 1 lemon
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large egg yolks plus 6 large eggs, at room temparature
For the crust:
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Brush the bottom and sides of a 9 inch springform pan with 1/2 tablespoon of melted butter. Combine the Oreo cookie crumbs, sugar and melted butter in a bowl and toss with a fork until evenly mixed. Pour the crumbs into the pan and press evenly into the pan using the bottom of a glass. Bake until it is fragrant, about 13 minutes. Cool on a wire rack while making the filling.
For the filling:
Increase the oven temperature to 500 degrees.
In the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese on medium low speed for about 1 minute. Scrape the sides of the bowl and beater thoroughly and add the salt and half the sugar and beat at medium low speed until combined, about 1 minute. Scrape the bowl again. Beat in remaining sugar until combined, about 1 minute. Scrape the bowl again and add the sour cream, leamon juice, and vanilla and beat at low speed until combined, about 1 minute. Scrape the bowl. Add the egg yolks and beat at medium low speed until thoroughly combined, about 1 minute. Scrape the bowl and add the reamining eggs 2 at a time, beating thoroughly until combined, about 1 minute, and scrapping between addtions.
Brush the sides of the springform pan with the reamining melted butter. Place the plan on a rimmed baking sheet to catch spills and pour the filling into the cooled crust. Bake for 10 minutes. Without opening the oven door, reduce the oven temperature to 200 degrees and continue to bake until the cheesecake reads about 150 degrees on a digital thermometer, or about 1 1/2 hours. (I would start checking it at 45 minutes…I definately left mine in too long).
Transfer the cake to a wire rack and let cool until just warm, 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 hours. Run a knife around the edges and wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate until cold, at least three hours. Let the cheesecake stand at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving.
Cookies and Cream Cheesecakes
Adapted from Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes
Makes 30 cupcakes
42 Oreos, 30 left whole and 12 coarsely chopped
2 pounds cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten
1 cup sour cream
Pinch of salt
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a standard muffin tin with paper liners. Place 1 whole Oreo on the bottom of each lined cup.
Using a stand mixer with a beater attachment, beat the cream cheese until smooth, scrapping the sides of the bowl often. Gradually add the sugar, beating until combined. Beat in the vanilla.
Drizzle in the eggs, a bit at a time, beating to combined after each addition. Scrape the sides of the bowl after each addition. Beat in the sour cream and salt. Stir in the cookies by hand.
Divide the batter between the cookie-filled cups, filling each almost to the top. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until the filling is set, about 22 minutes. Transfer to wire racks and let cool completely. Refrigerate in tins at least four hours before serving.
This has been the summer of BBQs for me, which has offered many opportunities to try out new recipes. I know that I’ve done a lot of cupcakes recently. For as much as I have tried to avoid jumping on that bandwagon, cupcakes do have a sort of awe factor right now. And they are easier to transport since I have my handy dandy cupcake carrier.
I know that ice cream cone cupcakes have been around for awhile but I just discovered them a year or two ago. I saw them again most recently in Martha’s Cupcakes done in a kind of grown up way using sugar cones instead of the old fashioned cones. Using sugar cones does however present the challenge of how to keep them upright, but Martha of course offers a most obvious solution. You just cover a tube pan with two layers of foil and then poke holes for each cone. Push each cone into a slit and the contraption holds each cone nicely.
Batter is then poured into each cone. Make sure to leave about an inch of room at the top because otherwise the batter will expand above the rim of the cone and will make for uneven tops when frosting. I used the cupcake recipe that Martha provided in her book but I honestly didn’t like the cake at all. It was very sticky and the crumb was very uneven and baked with a lot of air pockets. Some of the cones also didn’t bake all the way through in the middle. I would definately recommend using just a plain yellow cake recipe next time.
The awesome part about these cupcakes is you can decorate the frosting to make them look like ice cream. I chose to stick with just plain white buttercream as vanilla ice cream and then sprinkled them with some multi colored nonpareils, but Martha give you a couple different options. The plain white with colored sprinkles was just classic for me.
Recipe can be found here.
Bake Your Heart Out 