GourmAndrea

Twix Oreo Cheesecakes

This a recipe you could play with and have lots of fun with your favorite candy bar. It uses Oreo cookies for the base but I wondering what golden Oreos would be like too. Twix snack size is used here but I was thinking you could get a box of mix bars and have an interesting variety of cheesecakes. I think I will probably play around and post later.

 I got this recipe from Gingerbread Bagels (link here check it out amazing pics) and it says it makes 15 individual cheesecakes but I would say closer to 18 I had extra crumb and batter left over. I would also add the candy bars to the top of the batter before baking instead of stirring it in. I found it hard to know how much candy each cheesecake had. I increased the vanilla a bit and, as always, used light cream cheese.

 Oreo Twix Cheesecakes

Makes 15-18:

Crust 1/2 pack of Oreos (20 Oreos)

1 tbsp sugar

1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

Cheesecake Batter

1 pound cream cheese, softened (I use light)

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp vanillar extract

2 large eggs lightly beaten

1/2 cup sour cream

12 mini snack size twix bars chopped into small pieces

1.) Preheat the oven to 275F, yup you read that right :)

2.) In a food processor grind the Oreos into fine crumbs. In a bowl mix crumbs, sugar and butter

3.) Line a cupcake pan with liners and scoop a tbsp of crumbs into each liner and press them down firmly.

4.) In a bowl of your stand mixer with the paddle attachment mix the cream cheese until smooth on med low speed, about 3 min. Add in the sugar beat to combine. Add in the vanilla and the eggs slowly. Add in the sour cream and combine. You can either chop and add bars now or chop and add to the top of cakes after you have poured batter on top of your crusts.

5.) Bake at 275F for 30 min chill overnight in the fridge. These freeze beautifully as well.

 

 

Cream Cheese Brownies

I got this recipe from the Joy of Baking site the recipe can be found here. *WARNING: This site is highly addictive and you may come back one day later with an empty pan and 5 pounds on your hips! It is truly my fave baking site hands down all the recipes I have tried have worked beautifully. These are decadent,very fudgy,tangy and oh so rich! Cakey lovers should look elsewhere.

The idea of these are three layers, a brownie base,a cheesecake middle and then a bit of reserved brownie batter for the swirl. The recipe calls for a 9 x 9 pan and I all I have are 8 x 8 so if this is what you have too it takes about an extra 12 min of baking time due to it being a thicker brownie. I would also not recommend cutting these without letting them chill for at least 10 hours they have to fully set and the flavors meld, mine actually started to fall apart when I tried to cut them after about 4 hours.

How could anything that starts this way go wrong??I used Lindt %70.
My advice for the swirl use smaller dollops than me I had to swirl too much to mix and lost some contrast because of it. Also I would have cream cheese ready and set aside before you do the brownie batter because as the brownie batter sits it thickens and makes it harder to move your knife through it. If you go to the site you can see how it should really look a little less "swirly" than mine.

Before the oven and then..... after

On a side note these freeze beautifully and I used light cream cheese as I always do and they were intensely rich so there really is no need to full fat. I personally find full fat cream cheese way too overpowering. Anyways brownie verdict: they taste as good as they look! If you want to check out a "linky party" check Sweet as Sugar Cookies here

 

Strawberry Short-Cheesecake

The January 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Astheroshe of the blog accro. She chose to challenge everyone to make a Biscuit Joconde Imprime to wrap around an Entremets dessert.

 
So this months challenge was to make a patterned Jaconde-Paste and then you put a jaconde (sponge cake) on top and bake and then you get a lovely pattern. I chose to do strawberries, some of them look like they are going Oh My! hehe. This is how the patterned sponge works....

 
You pipe whatever pattern you like or you could write Happy Birthday Cutie,squiggles,circles ect. Then you freeze it and put the jaconde sponge on top when it comes out of the oven it looks like this...

 
When you invert the sponge it looks like this

 
What a great technique I really didn't expect it to turn out so well now I know I could have got pretty crazy with detail. Now for the inside of the cake....

 

Mmmm for the inside I went with a Strawberry Shortcake Cheesecake from my "Juniors Cheesecakes 40 To Die For Recipes for New York Style Cheesecakes." Unfortunately I can't post the recipe I have contacted the company before to ask and got not reply. Its delish you make two sponges cakes and then inbetween the layers is stabilized whipped cream with fresh strawberries. In the middle is a wickedly decadent strawberry cheesecake. You bake and then freeze the cheesecake and basically just layer it when it is frozen (Ingenious!)

 
If you would like the recipe for the Patterned Jaconde-Sponge it can be found here. If you make this I recommend you make the pattern jaconde first and then the sponge while your pattern is in the freezer :) Happy Baking.  

Pumpkin Cheesecake

 
 We just had Thanksgiving dinner and I cant think of a more deserving dessert to cap off an exquisite meal. I love this recipe I got it from the Joy Of Baking site and the original recipe can be found here. The great thing about doing a cheesecake for Thanksgiving is you can (and should) make it a day ahead of time, one less thing to worry about on the day of.

This cheesecake comes out with such a light,smooth fluffy texture. It is not a dense or a heavy cheesecake it seems to strike a balance in between the two; heavy and light, and I like that. It also has a sour cream topper that is vanilla flavored and it pairs so well with the bit of snap that the ginger cookies have in the crust. The pumpkin flavor, while noticable has a subtle flavor.

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Ingredients

Crust:

1 cup (100 grams) graham cracker crumbs

1/2 cup (50 grams) finely ground ginger cookies homemade or store bought (I used Mr Christies)

1 tbsp (15 grams) granulated white sugar

4 - 5 tbsp (56-60 grams unsalted butter, melted

Cheesecake:

2/3 cup (145 grams) light brown sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground ginger

1/8 tsp cloves ( I just use a pinch I find cloves can overwhelm)

1/8 tsp nutmeg (I use a pinch as well)

1/4 tsp salt

1 pound (454 grams) cream cheese, at room temperature ( I use light)

3 large eggs at room temperature

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup (210 grams) pure pumpkin puree

Topping:

 1 cup (240 ml) sour cream

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/4 (50 grams) granulated white sugar

Directions:

1.) Preheat oven to 350F and place the oven rack in the center of the oven. Butter or spray a non stick 8" springform pan (all I had was a 9" and it works fine). I like to line the bottom of my springform with parchment to when I cut into it I don't scratch the pan.

2.) For the crust: mix the graham cracker crumbs, finely ground gingersnaps,sugar and melted butter. Then press into the bottom of your springform pan and then refrigerate while you make the cheesecake.

3.) For the cheesecake: In a seperate bowl stir to combine the sugar, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg and salt.

4.) In the bowl of your mixer and with a hand mixer beat the cream cheese until smooth (about 2 minutes). Gradually add the sugar mixture and beat until creamy and smooth ( 1-2 min). Add the eggs one at a time beating well (about 30 sec) until adding the next one a scraping down the bowl in between eggs. Beat in the vanilla and the pumpkin.

5.) Pour the filling into the chilled crust and then put the sringform on a baking sheet to catch any drips. Place a cake pan filled halfway with hot water on the bottom rack of your oven to moisten the air. Bake the cheesecake for 30 min and then reduce the oven temperature to 325F and continue to bake for another 10- 20 min, or until the edges are puffed and the center is still wet and jiggles when you gently shake the pan.

6.) Meanwhile mix the sour cream, vanilla ext and sugar. Pour the sour cream mixture on top of the baked cheesecake and swirl gently to coat the top. Put it back in the oven for 8 min to set the topper. Remove from the oven and put on a wire rack to cook. Run a sharp knife around the edge to loosen to the cake and the put a piece of aluminum foil over the top so that it cools slowly. 

7.) When completely cool cover and refrigerate for at least 8 hrs but preferably overnight

Serves 10-12 (could easily serve 16 with smaller pieces) 

Pumpkin/Cheesecake Pie

I am about to break every seasonal rule in the book! Here it is August the height of summer and I had this crazy turkey dinner winter type craving. I decided to do the whole meal,bird,gravy,potatoes,buns yadda (It was good but it didn't touch my moms) and then for dessert I made this pumpkin/cheesecake pie that I loooooove.

It is a graham cracker base and then you do a classic cheesecake mix and then set it to firm up in the fridge, at that stage it looks like this.

Then you do a classic type pumpkin pie batter and that goes on top. It is so simple but it comes out looking so cute. I did some simple candied pecans (1/2 cup pecans,1 Tbsp water,2 Tbsp brown sugar toss to coat and cook on parchment 6-8 min at 375F) to decorate the edge. Here is a link to the original recipe paradise pumpkin pie. 

The recipe states to use a deep dish pie shell I like to use my 9" springform pan (8" would work too) and I do a graham cracker crust. This recipe got crunchy on the outside edge and tasted like a toffee cookie. I also used low fat cream cheese, always do.

Graham Cracker Crust

1 1/2 cups finely ground graham cracker crumbs

1/3 cup white sugar

6 tablespoons butter, melted

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1.) Mix well and press into an 8 or 9" pie pan

2.) Bake at 375F for 7 min

 
I should break the rules more often.