PERFECT CHEESECAKE TRICK

I love any kind of cheesecake. It doesn't make much difference, to me, whether it is perfectly baked or if it has a big old crack in the middle of it ... I will enjoy it just as much.

HOWEVER, there ARE those special occasions where you want your cheesecake to impress company, so here is a trick that has not failed me yet: bake your cheesecake at a super low temperature for a longer time. It will come out ultra-creamy and will NOT crack.

CRUST
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
¼ cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup melted butter

Spray the bottom and sides of your springform pan with a little cooking spray. Mix everything well and press into the bottom of a 9" springform pan. Bake at 300 for 8 minutes. Set aside to cool.


(4)  8 ounce packages of cream cheese (room temperature)
1 cup sugar
5 eggs (room temperature)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350.  Beat the cream cheese in a large bowl until it is light and smooth. Gradually beat in the sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each egg. Mix in vanilla.

Pour over graham cracker crust and smooth the top. Set the pan on a heavy cookie sheet and bake at 350 for fifteen minutes, then TURN YOUR OVEN DOWN TO 200 and bake for 75 more minutes. DON'T FORGET TO TURN THE OVEN DOWN!!!!!!!!!!!  After 75 minutes, the center of the cheesecake will be almost set. Take it out of the oven and loosen the sides of the cheesecake by running a VERY thin blade around the edge. Leave it in the pan and let  it cool to room temperature before putting in the fridge. Chill for several hours, or better yet, overnight.FILLING

PINEAPPLE CHEESECAKE

Last week, Julie over at Better than Hamburgers, posted a great recipe for pineapple cheesecake bars. Hubby loves anything pineapple, so I knew I had to try them. I'm here to tell you they were a big hit!!  The only problem with them is that they are so darn good, we ate way too many!!!

Julie's recipe is baked in a sheet pan, but I opted for mini-cheesecakes which Hubby likes better.
The recipe has a sweet shortbread type crust (partially baked before filling is added) and a pineapple - coconut filling, yum!!! 

CRUST
3 cups all purpose flour
1½ cups sugar
1½ cups butter, softened
½ cup chopped walnuts
Mix all ingredients together and press into a large 12" x 17" sheet cake pan. Poke holes in the crust with a fork and bake at 350 for 15 to 20 minutes or until light brown. While crust is baking, mix together filling.

NOTE:  Instead of making this in a sheet pan, I put 2 heaping spoons of this crust mixture into each cupcake wrapper and pressed it down and baked it for about 12 minutes.

COCONUT TOPPING
2 tablespoons melted butter
3 cups sweetened coconut, shredded
Mix butter and coconut together and set aside.

CHEESECAKE FILLING
(2)  8 ounce packages cream cheese softened
2 eggs
4 tablespoons sugar
4 tablespoons milk
2 teaspoons almond extract 
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
20 ounce can crushed pineapple (drained)

Beat cream cheese until smooth, beat in eggs, sugar, milk vanilla and extracts. Beat well with electric mixer until smooth.  Drain the pineapple and squeeze it dry, then fold it into the cream cheese mixture.

Pour filling over baked crust. Sprinkle with coconut topping and bake at 350 for 18-20 minutes or until coconut has browned and the middle is set.  Chill at least an hour before serving.

NOTE: Hubby likes the taste of coconut, but not the texture, so I  left out the coconut and added  coconut extract instead of almond extract.

NOTE: I filled up the cupcake papers about 2/3 full and baked them at 350 for 20 minutes, then chilled them for 2 hours.

NOTE: If you opt for the mini-cheesecakes, cut the crust recipe in half. You will have plenty of crust for two dozen little cheesecakes.

SWEDISH PANCAKES

Monica, over at  Lick the Bowl Good, recently posted a recipe for Swedish pancakes that caught my eye for a couple of reasons. Not only did they look tasty, but the recipe made a modest amount of batter... just the right amount for two or three hungry people (most pancake recipes feed an army).

Monica's pancakes were petite little beauties, but I knew that wouldn't go over too well with Hubby, so I made "macho man" size pancakes.  They were absolutely delicious and very quick to make.

1 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
¾ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon melted butter
I added ½ teaspoon vanilla that wasn't on the original recipe.

I put the dry ingredients in a bowl and mixed them with my whisk. I then put the wet ingredients in a different bowl and gave them a whisk. I then gently stirred  (with wooden spoon) the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, just until blended. Monica cautions not to over mix or the pancakes will be tough (small lumps in the batter are OK).

Cook on preheated  (medium) griddle that has been lightly buttered (I used cooking spray then wiped it off with a paper towel).

Monica suggests cooking 2 tablespoons of batter for each pancake, but I used about half a cup to make larger pancakes. Once the edges of the pancakes are slightly dry, flip them over and cook the other side until golden.

This is a beautiful batter and fluffs up very nicely, giving you a nice light pancake, we loved them.

Thank you Monica!!

PECAN PIE MINI-MUFFINS

These little gems taste just like a Pecan Tassie. They are made out of 6 every day ingredients and are great with a morning cup of tea, or the lunch box or a long car ride (not at all messy). These are Hubby's "new" favorite snack. Store covered.

1 cup light brown sugar

½ cup flour
2 eggs
2/3 cup soft butter
½ teaspoon vanilla
1 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease and flour a mini muffin pan (or spray with a cooking spray that has flour in it, like Bakers Joy). Mix the wet ingredients in a medium size bowl and then stir in the dry ingredients, its just that simple!!

Mix long enough to just get the batter smooth. Make sure you use the MINI muffin pans (not cupcake size). Fill cups with one tablespoon batter each (makes 24). Bake for 17 minutes.

NOTE: Dusting pan with flour is important.

NOTE: My oven cooked these in 16 minutes.

NOTE: Taking these out of the pan is the only (mildly) tricky part of this recipe. Letting the muffins cool for 2 or 3 minutes before you try to remove them from the pan will help a lot, but don't leave them in the pan longer than than that, since they will get harder to remove from the pan as they cool.

NOTE: Slide a  thin knife gently around the sides of the muffins, then gently lift them out using the knife.

NOTE: If you keep these muffins covered well, they will stay soft for a long time (they tend to get a little crispy around the edges if left out in the air).

SWEET LEMON CURD

There are a million uses for this sweet lemon curd. You can use it between cake layers, or as a cupcake filling. You can use it on hot scones or even toast. You can fold it into sweetened whipped cream for a delicious mousse, anything your imagination can come up with. Slightly sweet, silky smooth and inexpensive to make, you will love this recipe.

 Lemon Mousse Made with Lemon Curd

There are a ton of lemon curd recipes out there and they are all basically made from lemons, sugar, butter and eggs cooked together. The main difference between the recipes is sweetness. We like our lemon curd a little on the sweet side, so I use 1½ cups of sugar in my recipe. I've seen recipes out there that only call for ½ cup of sugar per three lemons...talk about pucker power!!

3 lemons (zested & juiced)
1½ cups granulated sugar
¼ pound of unsalted butter (room temperature)
4 extra large eggs
½ cup fresh squeezed lemon juice (3 to 4 lemons)
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

Don't waste your time, effort and money making lemon curd with anything but good fresh lemons. I use lemon juice in a bottle for some things, but not for this recipe. 

Wash and dry your lemons before you zest them. When you zest them, be very careful that you only use the bright yellow part of the peeling. Stay away from the white layer underneath because it is bitter.  Zest all three lemons.

Put the granulated sugar and the zest of 3 lemons into a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Pulse until the zest is very finely minced into the sugar.

In a different bowl, cream the room temperature butter until smooth, then beat in the lemon sugar. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, and then the lemon juice and salt. Beat until smooth.

Pour the mixture into a saucepan that has a heavy bottom (this will keep the mixture from scorching easily). Cook over low heat until thickened (about 10 minutes) stirring constantly.

The lemon curd will thicken at about 170 degrees or just below a simmer.  Keep a careful eye on it and keep stirring.

Press the cooked curd through a strainer to filter out any cooked zest pieces and/or tiny lumps.

This last step is not absolutely necessary, but it insures a silky smooth curd. Lay some plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the hot curd, and chill in the fridge.

Lemon Curd

NOTE: Zest the lemons before you squeeze them.

NOTE: If you want to make the lemon mousse that is in the first photo, just whip 1 cup of heavy whipping cream with ¼ cup of granulated sugar until you get stiff peaks, then gently fold in 1½ cups of chilled lemon curd, until well mixed (do this step by hand). Chill completely.



SWEET & STICKY WINGS

This is one of Hubbies all time favorite things to eat. Baked with a soy sauce, brown sugar and pineapple, these are  super simple and always a hit at parties.

2 pounds of chicken wings
½ cup soy sauce
½ cup brown sugar
½ teaspoon black pepper
20 ounce can of pineapple chunks (drained well)

Cut the wings into sections, discarding the wing tip (or buy already cut up party wings) and place in a 9" x 13" baking dish.  Mix everything else together and spoon over the wings.

Bake in a 350 oven (uncovered) for 2 hours, turning everything over every 30 minutes or so. Now I know that seems like a LONG time for chicken wings, but trust me, it does takes that long for the wings to "break down" and be sweet, tender, juicy and sticky!!

Remove the wings and pineapple from the sauce and serve   (discard the sauce).

NOTE: Do not omit the pineapple, the flavor and moisture content of the fruit is important to the cooking process.

NOTE: If you are still in doubt about the two hour cooking time, click on the above photo and you will get a better look at the wings themselves and you will see they are juicy and not overcooked.

CHOCOLATE CREAM CHEESE FROSTING FOR MY BIRTHDAY

Can it be my birthday again, already? They seem to come every six months lately. I usually treat myself to a baked goody on my birthday; come to think of it, it almost always involves chocolate, big surprise!! This is my favorite chocolate frosting, it is quick, easy, deliciously smooth on the tongue and it pipes beautifully!!!

¼ cup butter (warm but not melted)

½ cup baking cocoa

8 ounces cream cheese (room temperature)

1 teaspoon vanilla

4 cups powdered sugar

Mix the cocoa and vanilla into the warm (but not melted) butter, beat until smooth, set aside. Beat the cream cheese until smooth (scrape the sides of the bowl so that you get it all mixed), then add the butter-chocolate mixture and beat until it is all smooth.

Beat in the powdered sugar, one cup at a time, beating well after each cup until smooth and enjoy.

NOTE: If I'm feeling adventurous, I add a little orange zest to this frosting.

MOCK PECAN PIE

I know it is hard to imagine a pecan pie without pecans, right? Well, whether you have nut allergies, or you are like me and find it harder and harder to pay nearly $10 a pound for pecans, you might give this fun, quick and easy recipe a try.

 This recipe uses plain old rolled oats instead of pecans. Sounds strange, I know, but the oats soak in the butter and sugars and bake into a golden brown and crunchy topping that sits on top of a traditional soft sweet filling.  As a test, I gave Picky Picky Hubby a slice after dinner and never mentioned the rolled oats. He ate a few bites, declared the pie a "winner" and then said, "I thought you said you were out of nuts" (he thought he was eating nuts)!! It really is tasty.

¾ cup light corn syrup
¾ cup granulated sugar
3 eggs lightly beaten
1 cup rolled oats (quick cooking is OK if necessary)
¼ cup melted butter
2 teaspoons vanilla
9" unbaked pie crust

This takes about "three seconds" to mix up; just mix everything in a bowl (with a whisk) until smooth and pour into unbaked 9" pie shell.  Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 60 minutes or until knife inserted in middle comes out clean (my oven took 50 minutes).  That's it!! Quick and easy.

The baked "nut" topping is nice and crunchy and does not taste like oatmeal at all!!  Picky Picky Hubby has told me how much he likes the pie THREE times this evening (that's rare).

CLASSIC JELLY ROLL CAKE

This is an old classic recipe. I see variations of it online (with a whipped cream filling) however, this recipe holds true to its name JELLY roll, and was filled with jam. It is definitely a crowd pleaser. This one is made with my raspberry preserves and it is one of Picky Picky Hubbies favorites.

3 eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon butter extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup of water (see note)
1 cup of CAKE FLOUR (see note)
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup jelly or jam
powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 375°. Line a 10” x 15” jelly roll pan with parchment paper and spray the parchment paper with cooking spray, set aside.

Lay out a clean kitchen towel, preferably one with little or no texture type surface (especially not terry cloth). Dust a generous layer of powdered sugar onto the surface of the towel (the same dimensions as the pan or even a couple inches bigger).

Beat the eggs, on high speed, until very thick and lemon colored (5 minutes). Gradually add sugar while the mixer is running. Put butter extract into a 1/3 measuring cup and then fill the rest of the measuring cup with water (water + butter extract should = 1/3 cup). Add vanilla and water/butter extracts to batter and mix well. Add flour, baking powder and salt to the egg mixture and beat just until batter is smooth. Pour into the prepared pan. Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Slide a knife around the cake edges to loosen it from the pan. While cake is still hot, turn it out onto the powder sugared kitchen towel. Immediately roll up the cake (ALONG WITH THE KITCHEN TOWEL) starting with the narrow end, like this
Set the kitchen towel wrapped cake on a baking rack to cool for 45 minutes. When it has cooled for 45 minutes, unroll the cake/towel (gently peeling the towel away from the cake as you unroll). The surface now facing you will have no powdered sugar on it. Stir the preserves well, to get them all loosened up, then spread it on the cake. Gently roll the cake back up (with NO towel this time). Wrap the whole thing in plastic wrap and let it cool completely. When cooled, take plastic off and top with glaze.


JELLY ROLL CAKE GLAZE

1/3 cup of butter melted
2 cups powdered sugar
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
½ teaspoon almond extract
2 tablespoons of milk

Whisk everything together. If it seems too thick, add another tablespoon of milk. If it seems to thin, add a few more tablespoons of powdered sugar. Spoon glaze onto jelly roll and let it drip down sides.
NOTE: Any kind of kitchen towel will work, but the more textured it is, the more the cake will want to stick to it. If you only have textured kitchen towels (like me) just be careful and pull the towel off of your cake slowly and it will come away fine.

NOTE: The cake will continue to get more and more moist (the moisture from the jam works its way through the cake). So the jelly roll will be at its prime after it has been covered a few hours.Some cooks feel intimidated by jelly roll cakes, but this recipe is nearly a foolproof. The main trick to rolling cake is that it has to be a special sponge type cake to work (don't just try ANY old cake recipe).

Here are a couple more tips:
Remove the HOT cake from the pan and trim any dry edges (that will keep it from cracking when you roll it).

Roll the cake AND THE TOWEL up immediately, don't let it cool down. Let it sit for a full 45 minutes then unroll and spread jam and roll back up immediately. Lay it on plastic wrap and wrap tightly. This will help also help the cake from mis-shaping while it cools (although I've never had a problem with that).

The biggest trick is to get the cake right in the first place. Whip those eggs a full five minutes. The pan size is another thing. For this recipe it HAS to be a 10x15. A thinner cake rolls easier than a thicker cake.

If you don't have butter extract...just add an extra teaspoon of vanilla OR a teaspoon of rum extract.

NOTE: Recipe calls for 1 cup of cake flour, if you do not have cake flour, you can use 3/4 cup of all purpose flour.

SWEET & SAVORY RICE

I'm the kind of person who likes lots of "extra stuff" in my rice; Picky-Picky Hubby is not. He likes plain white rice...period!! So, when I created this dish, I designed it for ME...rice, apples, golden raisins, toasted pecans...yum. You can imagine my shock when Hubby (with cheeks packed full) exclaimed "this is excellent!!" I almost fell off of my chair!!
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2 ¼ cups chicken broth
1 tablespoon butter
1 cup raw white rice
½ teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 large cooking apple
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
1/3 cup golden raisins
½ cup chopped toasted pecans
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Peel and chop the apple into small bite-size pieces. Place everything (except the pecans) in a medium size saucepan and bring it to a boil. Turn down the heat to a low simmer and put a tight fitting lid on the pan. Simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from heat and quickly stir in the toasted pecans. Put the lid back on and let it sit for another five minutes.
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That's it!! The dark brown sugar and fruit lend a mildly sweet flavor to the rice and the ground cumin gives the flavor a little depth. This is a great side dish for chicken, ham, etc. and it would make an excellent buffet dish since it stays warm and tastes great at room temperature. I hope you will try it.

NOTE: I first posted this about a year ago. Since then it has become one of our favorite side dishes for outdoor grilled meat, it seems to go with just about everything.