White Chocolate Blackberry Cheesecake

Happy Thanksgiving! We are going to my in-law's house for Thanksgiving dinner so I have narrowly escaped making Thanksgiving for another year. In fact, all we are doing is bringing a cheese ball and some crackers so I don't have to cook today AT ALL. That is definitely something I am thankful for.

This is a cheesecake that I made a while ago when we found some blackberries on a great sale. It was absolutely divine - one of the best cheesecakes that I have ever had.

Crust:

1 1/2 cup graham crackers, crumbled

1/3 cup margarine, melted

1/4 cup sugar

Filling:

4 8 oz packages cream cheese

1/2 cup seedless blackberry preserves

1/4 cup water

1/2 cup sour cream

1 1/4 cup sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

5 eggs

4 oz white chocolate chips or chunks

Preheat oven to 475°. Place a large pan filled with about 1/2" water into the oven while it preheats. In a small bowl, combine blackberry preserves and water. Heat in a microwave for about a minute and stir until smooth. Set aside. Make crust by combining graham crackers, margarine, and sugar. Press crust into the bottom and about halfway up the sides of a 10" spring form pan that has been lined with parchment paper.

Use an electric mixer to whip the cream cheese. Then add sugar, sour cream, and vanilla and continue mixing. Beat in eggs one at a time. Don't over-mix.

Sprinkle white chocolate over the crust, then spoon half of the cheesecake filling over the chocolate. Drizzle half of the blackberry preserves over the cheesecake and swirl with a knife. Pour remaining cheesecake filling and drizzle remaining preserves over top. Swirl enough so that there is a pretty design. 

Place cheesecake in oven and bake for 12 minutes at 475° then turn oven down to 350° and bake for another 50-60 minutes. Then, turn oven off and let the cheesecake cool for at least an hour in the oven. This helps to prevent cracking. Chill cake for at least 4 hours before serving. Top with powdered sugar, blackberries, whipped cream, and/or white chocolate shavings.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes

A few weeks ago I volunteered to bring cupcakes to a friend's graduation party. Because cupcakes seem to be all the rage right now, I decided that I would try my hand at a "gourmet" treat. They turned out great. I used the chocolate cupcake recipe that I posted a few months ago, and topped them with peanut butter frosting and chunks of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Even though there were a few different desserts at the party, these definitely were the most popular.

Because I have already posted the recipe for the cupcakes, here is the recipe for the frosting:

1/2 cup margarine, softened

3/4 cup peanut butter

2 cups powdered sugar (or more, to taste)

1 tsp vanilla

2-4 Tbsp milk (as needed to reach desired thickness)

Combine all ingredients and beat until smooth. You can spread this over the cupcakes with a knife, or use a special icing kit if you want it to look all fancy.

Homemade Root Beer

My family made root beer several times when I was young - usually in conjunction with Halloween (dry ice is an excellent addition to any witches brew). Knowing how much my husband loves root beer, I was surprised to find out he had never made it at home before he was married to me. It is very simple and very fun to make.

2 Tbsp root beer flavoring

2 1/2 cups sugar

1 gallon of water

1 lb dry ice

Combing sugar, water, and root beer flavoring in a large bowl; make sure  the bowl holds more than a gallon. The mixture will bubble a lot when you add the dry ice. Carefully add dry ice and stir constantly until it is completely melted. It should take about 15 minutes.

Chocolate Frosting

Usually when I make chocolate frosting, I use unsweetened cocoa powder. Unfortunately, that wasn't really an option this time because I used the rest of it in the chocolate cake that I made. But I did just happen to have an unsweetened chocolate baking bar, which worked really well. As far as the cream cheese, I don't think it would normally be necessary, but I just really wanted to add it. The frosting turned out great.

2 oz Unsweetened chocolate baking bar
4 Tbsp butter
1 lb (about 4 cups) powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
2 oz cream cheese (optional)

In a small saucepan, melt chocolate and butter over low heat. Combine powdered sugar, milk, vanilla and cream cheese. Stir in chocolate mixture and beat until smooth.

Chocolate Cake

I haven't made many homemade cakes in my life, but this afternoon, I thought it would be fun to try out a chocolate cake. After doing a little bit of internet research, I found a recipe that I thought looked pretty good. Actually, it turned out to be pretty much the best chocolate cake I have ever had! Maybe I will never make a box cake again. Seriously, I had no idea that a homemade cake could taste that good. If you are looking for an awesome cake to make, this is definitely one that is worth trying out.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Blend the following ingredients together:

2 cups sugar

1-3/4 cups flour

3/4 cup cocoa

1-1/2 Teaspoons baking soda

1-1/2 Teaspoons baking powder

3/4 Teaspoon salt

Stir in:

1/2 cup melted salted butter

2 large eggs

1 cup buttermilk

3 Teaspoon vanilla extract

Beat on medium speed until well incorporated then turn mixer to slowest speed and add:

1 cup boiling water

Pour into buttered and floured 9 x 13 baking pan or two 8" circle pans.

Bake for 35-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.
Let cool completely before frosting. 

Lemon Cake

I read online that lemons are currently in season, so I thought I would make a lemon cake. I haven't really ever made (or eaten) very many lemon desserts but I know that my husband loves them so I was really excited to make him a special dessert. I did a search and landed on this recipe from a blog that I have never heard of or visited before. It looks like she is really big on making types of cakes, though. The blog is called Life is Great. I also tried her meringue frosting. My husband "toasted" the frosting with a butane lighter. We had to get a little creative with the frosting. It was fun, and looked pretty cool, but it was also very sweet. That is why I am not going to include the "seven minute frosting" recipe. If you want it, you are welcome to visit her blog. We actually ended up scraping it off and making a new lemon pudding frosting that wasn't "gourmet," but tasted infinitely better. 

Cake:

1 cup butter or margarine, softened

2 cups sugar

3 cups flour

4 eggs

2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla

zest of 1 lemon (approx. 2 tsp)

juice of 2 lemons

Lemon Curd Filling:

8 egg yolks

1 1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup butter

zest and juice of 3 lemons

Cream sugar and butter. Add eggs one at a time, beating between each. Stir in baking soda, baking powder, vanilla and salt. Then stir in flour and milk, alternating between each. Finally, stir in lemon zest and lemon juice. Pour in round cake pans (2 nine inch pans or 3 eight inch pans) that have been greased with cooking spray or shortening and floured, or that have been lined with parchment paper. Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes. Cool cake until it is room temperature.

While cake is cooling, prepare lemon curd by combining all ingredients in a double broiler over boiling water. Stir consistently until mixture begins to thicken, then remove from heat. Cover with plastic and allow to cool nearly to room temperature before spreading in between layers of cake. Frost cake with lemon frosting. Store in the refrigerator for up to about 4 days.

Lemon Frosting:

1 8 oz. pkg. whipped cream

1 3.4 oz pkg. instant lemon pudding mix

1/2 cup milk

Whisk ingredients together. Refrigerate until the cake is cool and ready to frost.

Cinnamon Pumpkin Bubble Muffins

I saw these posted on Carlita's Eats a few weeks ago and thought I might try them out. I had actually tried some other pumpkin muffins that were supposed to be amazing, but I hated them. They had so much pumpkin puree that I felt like I was eating it straight out of the can. I could only force one of them down before I gave up and threw the entire batch away. So I was a little nervous to try another pumpkin muffin. These had a much smaller amount of pumpkin puree. Actually, I felt like they tasted more like cinnamon rolls than like pumpkin muffins, especially with the cream cheese frosting that I added. I loved them and will definitely make them again.

Dough:

1 Tbsp yeast

1/4 cup warm water

3 Tbsp sugar

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

3 Tbsp melted butter or margarine

1 egg

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup pumpkin puree

3 1/2- 4 cups flour

Coating:

6 Tbsp melted butter

3/4 cup brown sugar

4 tsp cinnamon

Combine yeast, water, salt and sugar in a large mixing bowl and let rest for about five minutes to allow yeast to activate. Then mix in other ingredients, adding flour by half cups and mixing between each one. The dough should be sticky and wet. Knead for 3-5 minutes. Place in a lightly greased bowl and allow to rise until double, approximately one hour. 

Divide dough into 12 equal portions. Then divide each portion into 5 small balls. For each muffin, roll five balls of dough in melted butter and then in brown sugar/cinnamon mixture and place in prepared muffin cup. Allow muffins to rise until double in size, about another 40 minutes. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until golden. Cool before adding cream cheese frosting.

Glazed Doughnuts

Growing up, we often made doughnuts together as a family. My dad was usually the one who seemed to be in charge of the project, although I think my mom was probably the one who made the dough. A few weeks ago I brought up the idea of making doughnuts and my husband seemed shocked that you could even make them at home. He had never done it before! So this was a really fun activity for us. It is a really good recipe too - these are the light and fluffy, melt in your mouth kind of doughnuts and I really liked the vanilla flavored glaze as well. I am excited to have friends over to make these again in the future. With a large doughnut cutter, we made 6 doughnuts and doughnut holes.

Doughnuts:

1 envelope active dry yeast

1/8 cup warm water

3/4 cup lukewarm milk

1/4 cup white sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 egg

3 Tbsp shortening

2 1/2 cups flour

canola oil for frying

Glaze:

3 Tbsp butter

1 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2-3 Tbsp hot water (or as needed)

In a large mixing bowl, combine water and yeast and let stand about 5 minutes or until yeast has activated. Stir in remaining ingredients, adding flour 1/2 cup at a time. Knead for 5 minutes. Place the dough in a greased bowl and let rise until double in size. 

Gently roll out dough to 1/2-1" thickness. Cut with a doughnut cutter and place on a greased cookie sheet. Allow to rise again until double in size.

Prepare glaze by melting butter and stirring in powdered sugar and vanilla. Mix in hot water, stirring, until the glaze is thin but not watery.

Heat oil in a deep fryer or a large pan until it is 350° and fry doughnuts on each side until they are golden brown. Remove from oil and drain on a wire rack. Dip doughnuts in glaze while they are still hot and return to wire rack. 

Chocolate Cupcakes

One of my best friends was throwing a birthday party for her son a few weeks ago and told me that she was looking for a cupcake recipe that didn't use shortening and that would be moist without being greasy. Although I have never made homemade cupcakes before, I thought I would do a little research for her. I found a recipe that looked good on my favorite cooking blog For the Love of Cooking. It seemed to meet all of the criteria, and I have never found a bad recipe on that blog, so I went ahead and sent it to her, even though I had never tried it. She ended up using that one for the party and said it turned out well. Ever since then I have been just waiting for a good time to try it. That time came just last night, when I decided to take Christmas cupcakes over to a neighbor. 

These were definitely very moist and tasted good. I felt like the chocolate taste was a little bit too rich when I ate them alone, but with frosting, they were just perfect. The one mistake I made was to fill the cups too much so they overflowed and the top part stuck to the pan a little. 

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1 3/4 cup flour

3/4 cup cocoa powder

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 eggs

1 cup milk

1/2 cup canola oil

2 tsp vanilla

1 cup boiling water

Preheat oven to 350° and place 24 cupcake liners in muffin pans. Sift together dry ingredients, then beat in eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla with a hand mixer. Add boiling water and stir until blended. The mixture will seem watery. Using a ladle or measuring cup, pour batter into muffin liners, filling approximately 2/3 full. Bake for 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting and decorating.

Cannoli

Although I grew up in the States, I feel like I have a strong connection with my Italian ancestors. Family heritage is something that is really important to me, especially when it has to do with food. One of my favorite stories is about my great grandmother making Canolis and frying the shells on the end of a broomstick. While many modern chefs choose to use special metal tubes that were specifically designed for making these delicious pastries, I don't see anything wrong with the old fashioned way. I actually used a wooden dowel that had been cut into 8" pieces. I cured them by soaking them in vegetable oil and then baking them in the oven on 200° for an hour (I found someone online who said that is what you should do - I don't know if it really made a difference). 

There are generally two types of Cannoli filling. One uses ricotta cheese and one is just milk and sugar (basically). This "non-cheese" recipe seemed easy (and tasted GREAT - much better than those disgusting Cannolis I tried last week at Kneaders - blech...). I decided to add about 3 oz of cream cheese to the filling - non-traditional, I know - so I won't include it in the recipe.

Cannoli shell:

4 cups of flour

3/4 cup Crisco

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

20 Tbsp cold water (there are 16 Tbsp in a cup)

1/2 tsp cinnamon

(makes approximately 50 small cannolis or 20 large ones)

Stir together flour, sugar, and cinnamon. Cut the shortening into the dry ingredients, stirring until the mixture is approximately pea sized, then add the egg and slowly stir in the water until it forms a ball.

Preheat a pan of canola oil on medium-high. When the oil sizzles with a splatter of water, you know it is ready. Gently place several cannoli shells in the oil and fry until they are a deep golden color. When you remove the shells, place them on a paper towel to soak up the extra oil.

The shells can be made several days in advance and refrigerated.

Cannoli filling:
5 cups milk
1 cinnamon stick
2/5 cups sugar
1 cup cornstarch
1 tsp vanilla


Heat 4 cups sugar, milk, and cinnamon over medium heat. Mix remaining cup of milk with cornstarch. When milk comes to a boil, add cornstarch/milk mixture. Mix until thick, stirring continuously. Scrape the bottom of the pan as you stir so the milk doesn't burn. Refrigerate until cool, then stir in vanilla.


Use a pastry bag to fill shells with filling. Dip ends of cannolis in crushed chocolate pieces or nuts. Sprinkle powdered sugar over top.

Blackberry Pie Filling

I have a few friends that are avid "coupon-ers" and always insist on posting their best deals on facebook. I have never been entirely convinced by the coupon movement - especially because I prefer to cook with a lot of fresh fruits and veggies - but I have to say that I also get some really great deals on occasion, without even cutting out a single coupon. Last week, I found blackberries for sale for $1 per box. Normally they are $3.99 a box! My husband always talks about picking Oregon blackberries as a child and eating fresh blackberry cobbler, so I bought 5 boxes (4 to use in the cobbler and one just to eat). His mom told us she usually made pie and cobbler filling with just sugar and flour so we decided to give it a go. 

4 cups blackberries

1/4-1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup flour

Combine sugar with blackberries and let them sit until they start to become juicy. Taste them to make sure that they are sweet enough. If not, add more sugar and wait another few minutes. Then, carefully fold in the flour and pour into pie pan or cobbler dish. 

Strawberry Jello Cake

A few weeks ago, our church had a Jello festival. There was a Jello contest that I thought about entering, so I looked online for good recipes. I found this one on what I think was the official Jello recipe website. Unfortunately, by the time I selected this recipe, there wasn't enough time to go buy the ingredients and make it before the competition began. So I saved the recipe for later. I ended up making it for a Sunday dinner with my brother and sister-in-law and it was a huge hit! Although I adapted it somewhat, it is pretty much the same.

Crust:

2 1/2 cups vanilla wafer crumbs

10 Tbsp melted butter

6 tbsp granulated sugar

White layer:

12-16 strawberries, quartered

8 oz softened cream cheese

1 cup whipped cream

1 cup powdered sugar

Red layer:

8 oz pkg strawberry Jello (prepared according to Jello jiggler directions)

Combine crust ingredients and press into the bottom of a 9x13" pan. Chill 15 minutes. Meanwhile, bring water for Jello to a boil over medium-high heat. When it boils, stir in Jello powder until it is completely dissolved, then remove from heat. Leave the Jello in the pan while you are making and chilling the white layer. This will allow the Jello to cool somewhat and begin to thicken slightly. 

Proceed with the white layer by whipping the cream cheese with a hand mixer until it is smooth and creamy. Beat in the powdered sugar, then the whipped cream. Remove crust from refrigerator and spread strawberries over the entire crust. Top with the white layer. Chill for another 15 minutes.

Pour Jello over the white layer and return to the refrigerator. Allow it to set for approximately 3 hours before serving.

Poppyseed Cake

I was the happy recipient of this delicious cake recipe about four years ago, just after I moved away from my wonderful hometown in Colorado for the last time. This cake is super easy to make; it has a cake mix as the base. Prep time is seriously about 5 minutes, but since I add things other than the exact ingredients on the box it seems legit - like it is homemade or something. But really, I think that this is the best poppyseed cake I have ever had. My husband said he liked it just as much as he liked the carrot cake that he made for my birthday.

1 package yellow cake mix

1 small package vanilla pudding

1 cup water

4 eggs

1/2 cup oil

2 Tbsp poppyseeds

2 Tbsp almond extract

Prepare bundt pan by spraying a light layer of cooking spray and sprinkling powdered sugar over it. Mix all ingredients together in a medium bowl. Beat for three minutes. Then pour cake into prepared bundt pan. Bake at 350° for 40 to 50 minutes. Allow to cool for 10 minutes and then remove from pan. Immediately top with a thick glaze made from water and powdered sugar.

Dutch Oven Peach Cobbler

I remember when my parents bought their first dutch ovens. I think we must have had some dutch oven food when we were camping with some family friends and my parents thought it was a great idea. Once we had our own, camping dinners were never the same. Cooking with a dutch oven makes camping food so much better. We started cooking with these on every camping trip and sometimes even when we were at home. My family used to eat this peach cobbler nearly every time we went camping (which was pretty frequently). 

1 yellow cake mix

1/2 cup butter

30-60 oz canned peaches

Drain peaches and place them at the bottom of the dutch oven. Top with dry cake mix and cut butter over top. If you would prefer, you can melt the butter and mix it with the cake mix and crumble it over the top of the peaches. Cook with coals for approximately 40-60 minutes, checking occasionally. It is ready when the peaches are bubbly and the topping is golden brown.

Cream Cheese Filling

This is the cream cheese filling that my sweet husband made for my birthday cake. It was awesome.

1/4 cup butter, room temperature

8 oz cream cheese, room temperature

2 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Cream Cheese Frosting

This is my mom's excellent recipe for cream cheese frosting. It is the one I always use when I make carrot or pumpkin cake and sometimes I use it for cinnamon rolls as well. It can be doubled or tripled to make as much as you need, although one recipe was enough to completely cover the cake that is shown above.

4 oz. cream cheese
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. butter
2 c. powdered sugar

Strawberry 3 Layer Cake

My husband kindly volunteered me to make a dessert for a barbecue this past weekend so, of course I took the opportunity to make something that I had never made before. My mom makes this great cake with a fluffy  cream cheese frosting and strawberry topping that I thought would be perfect for the occasion so I called and got the recipe. It was a big hit. And it turns out it is one of my husband's new favorite desserts. Usually when my mom made it, she had to make two because it only uses half of a prepared cake mix for each pan. I just split the ingredients and the cake mix in half (using 2 eggs rather than 1 1/2) and it was just great.

1/2 cake mix, prepared as directed on package

1 8 oz tub whipped cream
1 8 oz pkg. cream cheese
1 cup powdered sugar

1 pkg strawberry Danish Dessert Junket, prepared as directed on package
1-2 lb. strawberries

Bake half of the cake mix in a 9x13" pan, perhaps reducing bake time slightly. Once the cake has cooled, whip cream cheese, whipped cream, and powdered sugar together and spread over cake. Top with strawberry mixture and chill (approximately 3 hours) before serving.

Chewy Snacks

These were my very favorite dessert growing up. I made them last month and they are still amazing. One interesting thing to note is that they are actually much better if you make them an entire day before eating them. That way the graham cracker crust has time to soften.

Whole graham crackers
1 c. butter or margarine
1 c. sugar
1/2 c. milk
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 c. sweetened coconut
1 c. chopped walnuts (or other nuts if desired)
1 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs

Layer whole graham crackers on bottom of 9x13" pan. Melt butter or margarine and add sugar, milk, and slightly beaten egg. Cook until mixture comes to a full boil. Remove from heat and add remaining ingredients. Spread on graham crackers and put a layer of whole graham crackers on top.

Pumpkin Roll

This weekend we went to Idaho to celebrate Easter with the Little family. While we were there I finally had the pleasure of tasting my sister-in-law, Jeanna's famous Pumpkin Roll and believe me it lived up to all of the hype. She was kind enough to allow me to post it on the blog.

3 eggs
1 c. sugar
2/3 c. pumpkin
1 tsp lemon juice
3/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt

Spread in a10x15  pan (a 9x13 should work just as well) lined with wax paper and bake on 350° for 15 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes. Place on a clean towel sprinkled with powdered sugar. Roll up and set aside to cool completely.

Unroll and spread with cream cheese filling:

8 oz cream cheese, softened
4 Tbsp butter
1 c. powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla

Roll cake again and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least one hour. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before slicing and serving.

Fudgy Oatmeal Bars

I took a big risk this past weekend and made a dessert that I have never heard of or sampled to bring to another couple's house to go with dinner. I thought that it would just be the four of us, but right around dessert time, two other people showed up. It made me pretty nervous to think that 5 people, two of which I had never met, were going to try this dessert with me for the first time. What if it didn't taste good? I was afraid they would all think that I was a bad cook. Thankfully, my fears were not realized and theses Fudgy Oatmeal Bars tasted delicious. They were exactly the combination of flavors I was searching for when I decided to find a new recipe (which, by the way, came from a cookbook compiled by my mother). Thank you Rallet Abram for contributing this lovely recipe to the Ponderosa Ward Cookbook of 2001.

Oatmeal layer:
2 cups packed brown sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3 cups regular or quick oats


Caramel layer:
20 Kraft or other brand soft caramels
1 tsp water

Chocolate layer:
2 Tbsp butter
1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
1 pkg (12 oz) semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease a 9x13x2" pan. In a large bowl combine brown sugar, 1 cup butter, 1 tsp vanilla, and eggs. Stir in flour, soda, 1/2 tsp salt. Stir in oats. Reserve 1/3 oat mixture and press remaining oats into pain.

Melt caramels over low heat with water. Spread over oat mixture

Over low heat, combine 2 Tbsp butter, condensed milk, and chocolate chips, stirring constantly until melted. Remove from heat and stir in 1 tsp vanilla and 1/2 tsp salt. Spread or drizzle over caramel.

Drop remaining oat mixture by spoonfuls over top. Should not completely cover caramel and chocolate mixture. Bake 20-25 minutes. Cool at least 20 minutes before cutting into approx 2x2" squares.