New York Cheesecake

As I was searching for a good birthday cake this year, I found myself falling back on a recipe my sister passed me a few years ago. I thought I would share it.

Crust
1/2 box graham crackers, crushed
1/4 c. butter, melted
dash cinnamon

Cake
4 blocks cream cheese, room temperature
4 eggs, separated
4 tsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. vanilla
1 c. sugar

Topping
1 c. sour cream
1/4 c. sugar
1/4 tsp. vanilla

1. Combine crushed crackers, butter, and cinnamon and press into a spring-form pan, pushing crumb against the sides and bottom.

2. Preheat oven to 250-265.

3. Whip egg whites until stiff peaks form. Cream  cream cheese, egg yolks, sugar, lemon juice, and vanilla until smooth. Fold in egg whites. Carefully pour over crust and smooth out. Bake for 1 hour. Immediately turn off oven, but do not open the oven door, and let cake sit for an additional hour.

4. Combine topping ingredients and pour over baked cake. Heat oven to 265 and cook for 10 minutes. Let sit in oven an additional hour. Cake should be slightly jiggly in the middle, but edges should not move.

5. Cool on the counter for 30 minutes and then chill in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours.

Note. I have made this in a large 10-inch spring-form pan and in small individual spring-form pans (and mini-pie pans), and I really like the miniature version. It freezes fantastically!

NieNie's Mud Cake Magnifique

um....yes please! If you read nie then you have probably already seen this, but man alive! I want to try this.

NieNie's Mud Cake Magnifique

with Chocolate Mascarpone Mousse & Ganache Bittercream

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How does one go about making the PERFECT chocolate cake? I'd never done it before, and therefore went about it quite deliberately. I consulted cookbooks and cooking websites. Call friends. Window-shopped the pastry sections of my favorite bakeries. The perfect chocolate cake, I decided, (and one inspired by someone so delectably adorable) had to be simple. No frufru decor or garnish. It should be easy enough to whip up for grilled-pizza Friday's, but elegant enough to entertain at a garden party lit by candles hanging from trees tucked in baby food jars. It didn't come out right the first time, a bungled mess of brownie-like bits. It didn't work the second time. However, as it is with many worthy endeavors, a lot of tinkering and winkering was ultimately worth the price of patience. Nie's Mud Cake is everything Nie is: divinely beautiful inside and out.

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8 oz. unsweetened chocolate (8 squares)
¾ c. olive oil
2 c. sugar
4 eggs
1 c. powdered sugar
½ tsp. salt
½ c. cocoa powder
1 c. flour
1 c. buttermilk
1 tsp. baking powder*
½ tsp. baking soda
In a microwave, melt squares of chocolate with olive oil. Once melted, beat until smooth then add sugars and egg. Beat again until well creamed. Add remaining ingredients. Beat just until all ingredients are incorporated. (If you are baking BELOW 5000 feet altitude, double baking powder). Pour batter into two 9-inch cake pans that have been generously greased & dusted with cocoa powder. Bake in an oven preheated to 375 degrees for 26-28 minutes, or just until center of cake springs back to the touch. Remove from oven. Allow to cool before inverting on a cooling rack and removing from pan. Before layering cake, use a knife to gently cut away any uneven parts at the top or sides of the cake. You'll want a nice, even surface to begin with in order to have your finished product look amazing.
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Mascarpone Mousse
1 c. whipping cream
¼ c. sugar
1 c. 60% Bittersweet cacao chips
8 oz. mascarpone

In a large bowl, whip whipping cream until fluffly. Add sugar & mascarpone and whip until smooth. In a small bowl, melt chocolate chips in microwave, stirring every thirty seconds until smooth. Chocolate should not be warm to the touch, if it is, allow it to cool just slightly before spooning the melted chocolate into the whipping cream mixture & beating until light and fluffy. Spoon carefully atop one layer of cake. Spread evenly, then top with the second layer of cake. Refrigerate until ready to frost.

Bittercream Frosting
1 pint heavy cream
11.5 oz. 60% Bittersweet cacao chips
½ c. butter
4-5 c. powdered sugar

In a medium saucepan, melt chocolate chips and heavy cream until a thick, smooth ganache forms, to keep the mixture from burning, stir constantly. Put in fridge until chilled. Remove from fridgidaire and beat in butter & powdered sugar until frosting is a spreadable consistency. Frost. Chill cake. To serve, remove from fridge 10-15 minutes before serving.

Carrot Cake Extraordinarire (my mom's title)

While I am not a carrot cake lover (it is tasty, but I would rather have variety), my mom swears by this cake. She was always happy when she would get it for her birthday or mother's day or something like that.

1 1/2 c. cooking oil
2 c. sugar
5 eggs
2 1/2 c. flour
2 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
2 t. cinnamon
1 t. salt
2 t. vanilla
2 c. carrots, grated
1 c. crushed pinapple, drained
1/2 c. nuts

Beat oil and sugar in large mixing bowl. Beat in eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Sift together dry ingredients. Add with vanilla, carrots, pineapple, and nuts to sugar mixture. Pour into 14x10 baking pan. Bake about one hour at 350. Frost with cream cheese frosting, and pipe those little carrots on if you like.

I think I remember my mom making this in a layer cake a few times. I would just ckeck after 35–40 minutes if that is what you are after.

Carrot Cake request

Does anyone have an awesome recipe for carrot cake? Dave is in China for the next 10 days, and I'd like to surprise him with something excellent when he comes home.

Hope you guys are well!

Apple Cake

1 ½ c. oil
2 c. sugar
3 eggs
3 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla
3 c. peeled, cubed apples
1 c. coarsely broken walnuts (optional)

Spread in a greased 9x13 pan and bake at 350 for 45-60 minutes.
I often substitute the oil for applesauce and it turns out great. I also add a little cardamom sometimes. This always turns out really moist and delicious.

The Perfect Chocolate Cake

This is a recipe posted by my best friend. She is a gormet when it comes to desserts, so I had to pass it on. The frosting is really fudgey, if you like that.

Cake:
1 pkg. devil’s food cake mix w/pudding
1 cup sour cream
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 large eggs
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract.

Filling: (Sweetened Cream)
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract, or any other flavor you think would taste good

Frosting:
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup half-and-half
1 cup butter cut into tablespoons
2 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar

Instructions: (Cake)
1) Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease and flour three 9-inch round cake pans.
2) Place the cake mix, sour cream, water, oil, eggs, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute. Scrape the bowl and then beat for 2 minutes more, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed. Divide the batter evenly into the three cake pans and place in the oven.
3) Bake the cakes for 20 to 25 minutes. Remove the cakes from the oven and cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Run a knife along the edges and turn the cakes out onto the racks. Cool for another 30 minutes.
4) Prepare the sweetened cream. Place one cake layer right side up an put 1/2 of the prepared cream in the middle. Smooth out the cream evenly, leaving 1/2 inch around the edge. Place another layer of cake on top of that, right side up. Smooth the rest of the cream evenly over that layer, leaving 1/2 inch around the edge. Place the 3rd layer on top. Cover the cake lightly with wax paper and place in the refrigerator to chill while you prepare the frosting.
5) Prepare the frosting.
6) Spread the top and sides of the cake with the frosting.

Instructions: (Sweetened Cream)
1) Chill a large, clean mixing bowl and electric mixer beaters in the freezer for a few minutes while you assemble the ingredients.
2) Pour the cream into the chilled bowl, and beat with the electric mixer on high speed until it thickens, 1 1/2 minutes. Stop the machine and add the confectioners’ sugar and vanilla extract. 3) Beat the cream on high speed until stiff peaks form, 1 to 2 minutes more.

Instructions: (Frosting)
1)Place a large mixing bowl full of ice in the kitchen sink.
2) Place the chocolate chips, half and half, and butter in a medium sized microwave safe bowl. Microwave on medium power for 5-6 minutes or until the mixture thickens, stopping every 1 minute to stir.
3) Whisk the confectioners’ sugar into the mixture until it becomes smooth. Then, place the bowl with the chocolate mixture into the bowl of ice, taking special care not to let any ice water spill into the saucepan. Beat the mixture with an electric mixer set on low speed until the frosting thickens and is satiny and fudge-like in appearance, about 5 minutes.
4) Spread on cake. Frosting will stiffen up as it sets.

Pumpkin Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Cake:
4 eggs
1 2/3 c. sugar
1 c. oil
2 c. pumpkin, cooked and mashed
2 c. flour
2 t. baking powder
2 t. cinnamon
1 t. salt
1 t. baking soda

Preheat oven to 350°. Cream sugar and eggs; add remaining ingredients and mix well. Bake in a greased jellyroll pan for 20–25 minutes. Cool cake in pan.

Frosting:
8 oz. Cream cheese, softened
1/4 c. butter or margarine
1 t. vanilla
4 c. powdered sugar

For frosting, mix ingredients together until smooth. Spread over cooled cake.