Alot.

The idea of translating a Southern style banana pudding into a cheesecake seemed perfect to me, and with some input from the food gurus on Twitter I came up with this Southern Style Banana Pudding with Bourbon Maple Pecan Glaze.

Was it good? Absolutely!

Put the bananas and Nilla Wafers over the bottom half of the batter

The cheesecake is very creamy and the banana flavor, although delicate, is incredible. Allow this to sit overnight in the refrigerator because it will help it take on more flavor.

Southern Banana Pudding Cheesecake

• 1 package ‘Nilla Wafers, half turned to crumbs in the blender, half broken into large chunks
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 3 bananas, peeled and sliced

• 32 ounces cream cheese
• 2 cups sugar
• 6 eggs
• 1 tbs strong bourbon vanilla
• 16 ounces sour cream
• Preheat the oven to 375F
• Mix Nilla  Wafers crumbs and butter and press into a 9 inch springform
• Wrap the bottom and sides of  the  springform with aluminum foil to seal out water
• Beat the cream cheese on low speed until blended
• Add sugar and continue to beat on low
• Add the eggs one at a time
• Remove from mixer and fold in sour cream and the vanilla
• Pour half the filling into the crust. Sprinkle with sliced bananas and remaining (chopped) ‘Nilla Wafers.
• Pour the remaining filling over in the prepared crust carefully
• Bake for 45 minutes in a bain marie (place cheesecake pan in another pan and add water until it comes halfway up the sides of the cheesecake pan)
• Leave oven door closed and turn off heat. Allow to stand for one hour
• Remove from oven and bain marie and allow to come to room temperature
• Chill for 8 hours

about 12-16 servings

Bourbon Pecan Maple Glaze

• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/8 cup bourbon
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1/2 lb pecans, chopped

Bring all of the ingredients except the pecans to a simmer; whisk until the sugar  is dissolved and mixture is reduced by half. It should be thickened.

Spread the glaze over the cooked cake, sprinkle on the pecans and press them in lightly. Refrigerate until it is time to serve.

images:marye audet

Post from: Baking Delights

I love doing cheesecakes. Even though people think they are really hard, and impressive–they are a cinch. Just a few tricks and tips will guarantee your success. Once you have the basic formula down you can change flavors and crust and topping to your heart’s content.

This brownie cheesecake was actually an accident. I was trying out a new chocolate cake recipe for Matt’s birthday party (7/24)  and the texture of the cake was not what I wanted..too dense to be cake, too dry to be brownie. What to do?

When I took it from the pans it crumbled. I grumbled. And then…

Cheesecake!

I used one and a half layers for the base of the cheesecake (cake was 8″ round, cheesecake wat 10″ round) and the leftover half I cut in chunks. I poured half the batter in over the crust, sprinkled the cake over it, and covered with the rest of the batter. I did set about 1/2 cup of crumbs aside for the top.

It was really good. There was a nice texture difference between the cheese filling and the brownie. The chocolate and vanilla combination provided a flavor variation and the white/ch0colate was a nice color variation.

Here are some tips for great cheesecake:

1. Never whip your ingredients. You want them to be dense. Always mix at low speed with paddles rather than whisks if possible.
2. Have all ingredients at room temperature.
3. Always use a bain marie (water bath) when baking.
4. Bake at a low temperature. 375 for about 45 minutes.
5. Turn oven off and leave the door closed. Leave cake in the oven for 1 hour.
6. Remove from bain marie and allow the cake to cool to room temperature before wrapping tightly and refrigerating overnight.
7. Remove from the refrigerator about 30 minutes to an hour before serving.

Chocolate Cake for Base and Brownie Chunks

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/3 cup cocoa
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 1/3 cups flour
• 2/3 cup milk

1. Preheat oven to  325F
2. Grease and flour 2 8 inch round pans
3. Beat sugar and butter until creamy
4. Add eggs one at a time
5. Add vanilla
6. Beat in cocoa
7. Add flour and milk alternately, in three parts. Begin and end with flour.
8. Bake for 30 minutes. Cool

Cheesecake

• 32 oz cream cheese (full fat)
• 16 ozs sour cream
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 6 eggs

1. Beat cream cheese and sugar until well blended.
2. Add vanilla
3. Add eggs, one at a time beating well after each addition
4. Fold in the sour cream

Assembly

1. Press one layer or more of the cake in the bottom of a 9-12 inch springform. Make sure the bottom is well covered.
2. Pour in half the cheesecake mixture.
3. Add crumbled cake chunks, reserving about 1/2 cup crumbs for the top.
4. Pour over the rest of the cheesecake.
5. Cover the bottom of the springform with aluminum foil, bringing it up the sides.
6. Place pan in larger pan of hot water. Water should come halfway up the sides.
7. Bake for 45 minutes.
8. Turn oven off and leave door closed for 1 hour. Don’t PEEK!
9. Remove from oven, take out of bain marie.
10. Let come to room temperature and cover tightly.
11. Refrigerate over night.

Next day

1. Run a knife around sides to loosen
2. Remove sides of springform.
3. Glaze with ganache glaze if desired. Sprinkle with reserved crumbs.

Serves 12

images-Marye Audet

Post from: Baking Delights

Basically, we are talking about a butter cookie crust, filled with rich bittersweet ganache, topped with a cloud of delicately flavored lime cheesecake, and then embellished with the ripest of ripe raspberries, with a quick raspberry coulis poured over the top.

Did I say over the top?

This was better than good. The main problem was that the kitchen was hot and by the time I got the pictures taken the slice I was shooting had begun to look a little droopy. After all it was a good 95 degrees in the kitchen, and I was losing light fast.

I know this tart sounds complex but I swear to you it will go together almost as fast as instant pudding. The shell is the only thing that is baked, the rest of it is no cook. It would be best if you made it enough ahead of time that you could chill it thoroughly before serving.

The lime flavor is not distinct in this. If you are thinking of key lime pie or something it isn’t at all like that. With only a tablespoon or so of lime juice in the cheese mixture it is more of a delicate nuance, a little snap at the end of the swallow. It cuts the sweet intensity of the bittersweet chocolate nicely.

You can add a little non-GMO cornstarch to the coulis and microwave it to make it more of a glaze if you like. I preferred it to be just sweetened and blended. I think it tastes fresher.

Black Bottom Raspberry Lime Cheesecake Tart

Shell:

• 1 cup organic white flour
• 1/3 cup sugar
• pinch of salt
• 1/3 cup unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup ice water, more or less
• 1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla

1. Mix flour, sugar, and salt.
2. Rub in the butter with your fingers, until the flour looks like coarse crumbs.
3. Mix water and vanilla and add it to the flour mixture until it forms a soft dough. Chill for about 3o minutes for easier handling.
4. Roll out on a floured surface and fit carefully into a tart or pie pan. Prick with a fork.
5. Bake at 375 until crisp, about 15-20 minutes.

Ganache:

• 8 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
• 1 cup heavy cream

1. Bring cream to a simmer.
2. Remove from heat and stir in chocolate.
3. Stir until melted and smooth.
4. Pour into crust.
5. Chill until firm.

Cheesecake:

• 16 oz cream cheese (full fat), room temperature
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 cup heavy cream
• Juice of one lime (1-2 tbs)
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla

1. Beat cream cheese and sugar until well mixed.
2. Add cream, lime and vanilla
3. Beat until light and creamy, scarping down bowl often. You may need to add a little more cream to get the right consistancy.
4. Taste to adjust flavor.
5. Spoon over the ganache layer in the tart and return to refrigerator

Raspberry Topping:

• 1 pt raspberries
• Sugar to taste

1. Rinse raspberries gently.
2. Pick out the softest berries, and the not perfect berries to use for coulis.
3. Sprinkle the remaining berries over the top of the cheesecake layer.
4. Place the berries you set aside for coulis in a blender and add about 2 tbs water. Blend until a puree is formed.
5. Add sugar to taste. Blend until smooth
6. Thin with a little more water if necessary. Spoon over tart.

Makes 8-10 servings.

images:marye audet

Post from: Baking Delights

They weren’t. I had made red velvet cake with both items before but never at the same time, with the same recipe. The beets made the chocolate more brown but it was drier. The red food dye did what it was supposed to do. For both of the recipes I adapted the Red Velvet Cake recipe in The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook.  So, much as I want to say that natural is better… I can’t. If you want red velvet cake, and you want it to be red and good..you are going to need to do the old fashioned thing and go with dye.

Now, the rest of it…imagine biting into rich red velvet cupcake and finding orange cheesecake. The combination of chocolate and orange is fantastic anyway, and the tangy citrus and cream cheese cuts the sweetness of the cream cheese frosting and red velvet cake perfectly. I loved these. My family loved these. You are going to love these!

Be careful not to overbake. You want the cheesecake to remain creamy…and it will cook for a little bit as it cools.

I usually use silicone baking cups, but since I was doing a double batch I didnt have enough. I used paper ones…but I turned the water off when I brushed my teeth and  I didn’t rinse…so it evens out.

The list of directions looks long, but it is really quick and easy. These are so awesome and they take no more time than a regular cupcake. Yum!

Red Velvet & Cheesecake Marbled Cupcakes

Preheat the oven to 325F and put muffin papers or silicone cups in 12 muffin cups.

Orange Cheesecake

• 1 four oz package of cream cheese (not low fat)
• 2 tablespoons of  freshly grated orange peel
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla

1. Beat together until creamy and well blended. Do not whip because you don’t want to incorporate air.

Red Velvet Cake

• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 3 tablespoons Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa
• 4 tablespoons food grade red food color
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup whole milk buttermilk (do not get skim or low fat)
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons white  vinegar (it has less flavor than any other type)

1. Cream the butter and sugar until fluffy.
2. Add the egg and vanilla and beat well.
3. Use a rubber scraper to pull any remaining butter mixture off the sides and bottom of the mixing bowl. Mix again until well blended.
4. In a separate bowl mix the food color and the cocoa until it makes a paste.
5. Add the cocoa mixture to the butter mixture and mix until it is evenly blended. Spoon through to check for streaks.
6. Add 1/4 cup of the buttermilk and beat on low speed until blended.
7. Add half of the flour and blend.
8. Add the remaining buttermilk, blend and then add the remaining flour. Now stir in the baking soda and vinegar until blended.

Assemble

1. Fill muffin cups about 3/4 the way with the red velvet batter.
2. Add a tablespoon or so of cheesecake batter to the top.
3. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until cupcakes are firm to the touch. Don’t overbake.
4. Cool completely.

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 4 cups confectioners sugar
• 1/3 cup  unsalted butter
• 8 oz cream cheese
• Pinch of salt

1. Mix butter, salt, and confectioners sugar until cumbly.
2. Add the cream cheese and beat until creamy, add a little cream if you need to to get the right consistency.
3. Swirl a good layer atop the cooled cupcakes.
4. Sprinkle with cocoa, edible glitter, or orange zest.
5. Keep any remaining cupcakes (as if!) in the refrigerator.

Makes 12

images:marye audet

Post from: Baking Delights

This was certainly a fun challenge. Little, 2 oz bites of cheesecake on a stick, dipped in chocolate and sprinkled with anything wonderful your heart could possibly desire. Some of the things I thought of (but did not necessarily have the ingredients for) are:

• edible glitter
• oreo crumbs
• chopped pistachios
• chopped pecans or walnuts
• chopped macadamias
• graham crumbs
• ‘nilla wafer crumbs
• grated chocolate
• grated white chocolate…

well you get the idea… I thought that these would be especially wonderful for a bridal shower or wedding dessert buffet. The cheesecake was straight forward and easy to make..no problems for me there. I think the hardest thing was waiting for the darn thing to chill enough to make the cheesecake balls!

As I noted below, I do not use crisco, so I used organic coconut oil instead.

Many thanks to the fantastic team of Elle ( Feeding My Enthusiasms) and Deborah ( Taste and Tell) for this fantastic challenge. And check out the Daring Bakers BlogRoll for more  cheesecake pops!

Cheesecake Pops

Makes 30 – 40 Pops

5 8-oz. packages cream cheese at room temperature

2 cups sugar

¼ cup all-purpose flour

¼ teaspoon salt

5 large eggs

2 egg yolks

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

¼ cup heavy cream

Boiling water as needed

Thirty to forty 8-inch lollipop sticks

1 pound chocolate, finely chopped – you can use all one kind or half and half of dark, milk, or white (Alternately, you can use 1 pound of flavored coatings, also known as summer coating, confectionery coating or wafer chocolate – candy supply stores carry colors, as well as the three kinds of chocolate.)

2 tablespoons vegetable shortening *Note form Marye, I do not use vegetable shortening so I used organic coconut oil

(Note: White chocolate is harder to use this way, but not impossible)

Assorted decorations such as chopped nuts, colored jimmies, crushed peppermints, mini chocolate chips, sanding sugars, dragees) – Optional

Position oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 325 degrees F. Set some water to boil.

In a large bowl, beat together the cream cheese, sugar, flour, and salt until smooth. If using a mixer, mix on low speed. Add the whole eggs and the egg yolks, one at a time, beating well (but still at low speed) after each addition. Beat in the vanilla and cream.

Grease a 10-inch cake pan (not a springform pan), and pour the batter into the cake pan. Place the pan in a larger roasting pan. Fill the roasting pan with the boiling water until it reaches halfway up the sides of the cake pan. Bake until the cheesecake is firm and slightly golden on top, 35 to 45 minutes.

Remove the cheesecake from the water bath and cool to room temperature. Cover the cheesecake with plastic wrap and refrigerate until very cold, at least 3 hours or up to overnight.

When the cheesecake is cold and very firm, scoop the cheesecake into 2-ounce balls and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Carefully insert a lollipop stick into each cheesecake ball. Freeze the cheesecake pops, uncovered, until very hard, at least 1 – 2 hours.

When the cheesecake pops are frozen and ready for dipping, prepare the chocolate. In the top of a double boiler, set over simmering water, or in a heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water, heat half the chocolate and half the shortening, stirring often, until chocolate is melted and chocolate and shortening are combined. Stir until completely smooth. Do not heat the chocolate too much or your chocolate will lose it’s shine after it has dried. Save the rest of the chocolate and shortening for later dipping, or use another type of chocolate for variety.

Alternately, you can microwave the same amount of chocolate coating pieces on high at 30 second intervals, stirring until smooth.

Quickly dip a frozen cheesecake pop in the melted chocolate, swirling quickly to coat it completely. Shake off any excess into the melted chocolate. If you like, you can now roll the pops quickly in optional decorations. You can also drizzle them with a contrasting color of melted chocolate (dark chocolate drizzled over milk chocolate or white chocolate over dark chocolate, etc.) Place the pop on a clean parchment paper-lined baking sheet to set. Repeat with remaining pops, melting more chocolate and shortening (or confectionery chocolate pieces) as needed.

Refrigerate the pops for up to 24 hours, until ready to serve

Images (c)2008 Marye Audet

Content (c) Marye Audet for baking delights 

Post from: Baking Delights

Lemon Curd:

5 egg yolks
1 cup sugar
4 lemons, zested and juiced
1 stick butter, cut into pats and chilled

Add enough water to a medium saucepan to come about 1-inch up the side. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Meanwhile, combine egg yolks and sugar in a medium size metal bowl and whisk until smooth, about 1 minute. Measure citrus juice and if needed, add enough cold water to reach 1/3 cup. Add juice and zest to egg mixture and whisk smooth. Once water reaches a simmer, reduce heat to low and place bowl on top of saucepan. (Bowl should be large enough to fit on top of saucepan without touching the water.) Whisk until thickened, approximately 8 minutes, or until mixture is light yellow and coats the back of a spoon. Remove promptly from heat and stir in butter a piece at a time, allowing each addition to melt before adding the next.cool

Gingersnap crust:
2 cups ground gingersnap cookies
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted
Mix butter and crumbs. to prepare pan. Butter bottom and up 3 inches of the sides. press in crumb mixture of choice on bottom and press a little up sides. Cover bottom of pan (exterior ) with aluminum foil so water can not seep in from the bain marie.

Cheesecake:

32 oz cream cheese- room temp
2 c sugar
6 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla
16 oz sour cream

Beat cream cheese and sugar until mixed well at slowest speed. You do not want to incorporate air or the cake will lose the rich density you are looking for.Add eggs one at a time.fold in vanilla and sour cream by hand. Pour into a prepared crumb crust (your choice) in a 9″ springform pan.
Place in a bain marie at 375 for 45 minutes. Turn off oven and let set for one hour. remove from oven, cool and refrigerate covered. Placing paper towel on top of cake will soak up any condensation.

Just before serving run a knife around cake and remove from pan. Spread lemon curd carefully over top of cake, smoothing it so it is like glass. Garnish with lemon twists and candied ginger.
Serves 12.

Post from: Baking Delights

  But hey, it is a good excuse to sit and check out blogs and websites, right?

  Well I had heard some rumors of a tie dyed cheesecake so I started searching..and what to my wondering eyes should appear but this picture and tantalizing information from Pop Food at  SlashFood
well it looks so cool I absolutely had to find the recipe…and here it is, recipe:
Ingredients:

For cake crust:
1 box Red Velvet Cake Mix (or white cake mix with red food coloring), prepared according to box directions

For cheesecake:
16 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
½ cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon almond extract
2 large eggs
¼ cup sour cream
Pink, yellow, blue, green and purple food coloring

Directions:

Pour 1/2 of cake mix into a greased 9-inch springform pan and bake according to the directions on the box for a 9-inch layer cake. Discard extra batter (yeah right! I would discard it into thenearest bowl and use a spoon before anyone else came in the kitchen). Allow cake layer to cool completely in the pan. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 325F degrees.

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar, vanilla and almond extract until smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time, then add in sour cream.

Divide mixture into 5 small bowls and add each of the following colors to one bowl: pink, yellow, blue, green and purple. Pour batters onto cake base in the 9-inch springform pan. Swirl them together carefully; do not swirl too much, so the colors will be clearly visible.

Bake 35 minutes, until the center is set . Allow to cool completely and refrigerate before serving. Run a knife around the cake to release it before removing sides of pan. Serves 12.

I think it looks really fun! Can you imagine this as the centerpiece at a 60’s party?

Post from: Baking Delights