Dessert: Chocolate Rum Cheesecake

My first inclination when thinking about the type of dessert to make for our classic Italian dinner was a cheesecake. I couldn't decide between a plain cheesecake with a fruit topping, a filling of some sort, etc. My friend Amber was nice enough to remind me of a recipe she showed me a couple of weeks ago that I was enamored with - Chocolate Rum Cheesecake.

This was my second time making a cheesecake (the first was an Oreo Cheesecake) and I found it once again to be rather simple. This cheesecake required a few extra steps but none that were complicated or advanced in any way.

This recipe called for superfine sugar, which I could not find at my grocery store. After researching for a bit I found that you can easily make your own by merely processing regular granulated sugar in the food processor or blender until it is fine and powdery, which is what I did.

I was proud in that I only managed one small crack in the top of the cheesecake! This recipe produced an insanely creamy cheesecake. The bittersweet chocolate was perfect because it wasn't too sweet, and consider yourself warned -- you can most definitely taste the rum in this! The cake was a hit - Nick had seconds and one of our guests asked for the recipe.



Chocolate Rum Cheesecake
(Source: Williams Sonoma)

For the crust:
1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted

For the filling:
6 oz bittersweet baking chocolate
1/4 cup rum (I used dark rum)
1 lb cream cheese
3/4 cup superfine sugar
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
4 extra-large eggs

Directions:
Position a rack in the center of an oven and preheat to 325 degrees. Butter a 9-inch springform pan and cover the outside with aluminum foil, shiny side out.

In a mixing bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs and granulated sugar and stir to mix. Add the melted butter and stir until blended. Press the mixture evenly into the bottom and halfway up the sides of the pan. Refrigerate until ready to use.

In a small saucepan over low heat, combine the chocolate and rum and melt, stirring often, about 1 minute; set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth and fluffy. Gradually add the superfine sugar and continue beating until blended. Then beat in the sour cream and vanilla extract. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Remove the bowl from the mixer and set it over a pan of simmering water but not touching the water. Warm the mixture, stirring constantly, until completely smooth and very creamy, 2 to 3 minutes.

Pour 1 1/3 cups of the batter into another bowl and set aside. Add the chocolate mixture to the remaining batter and whisk until blended. Set the bowl back over the simmering water and stir until creamy and smooth.

Pour the chocolate batter into the prepared pan. Gently pour the plain batter over the top and make swirls in the batter with a fork.

Bake until the cake is set around the edges and the center is still a little loose, 45 to 50 minutes. Cool to room temperature, remove the rim from the pan and refrigerate overnight. Serves 10 to 12.

Perfectly Chocolate... Everything!!

I had been hearing numerous raves about Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cake and was waiting for an excuse to make it. I finally broke down yesterday and, with no good reason, made the cake anyway :) It definitely lived up to all its hype, without question. It's the best chocolate cake I have ever had. I chose to frost it with the equally sinful "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Frosting. Really, this cake is too good for words...

"Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Frosting (Source: Hershey's)

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter or margarine
2/3 cup Hershey's cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Melt butter. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating on medium speed to spreading consistency. Add small additional amount of milk, if necessary (I did not need to). Stir in vanilla. Makes ~2 cups frosting.

Here, I saved you a piece... ENJOY! :)

6 Years and Tiramisu

Yesterday marked the 6-year anniversary of Nick's and my first date. For anyone who cares, our first date consisted of going to play miniature golf at Wildwood, dinner at The Clubhouse, and then back to my house to watch Gone in 60 Seconds. Last night we celebrated the occasion by having dinner at Outback Steakhouse and coming back home for dessert and to watch The Prestige.

The happy couple, now married... 6 years later...


And now, for the REAL reason you are actually reading this blog... you were hoping there was something about tiramisu in here! I had never attempted it before but have been wanting to for a long time, and thought that it would be a perfect dessert to top off our celebratory dinner. Nick really liked it, but I was very disappointed with how it turned out.

I judged my tiramisu by the standard that I love - the desserts served at The Olive Garden and Bravo! restaurants. Each of their tiramisu desserts absolutely melts in my mouth and I was hoping to achieve that same result. Unfortunately I did not do a good enough job at soaking the lady fingers - the recipe specifically said to just dab the bottom in the coffee/liquor mixture, so that is what I did. However, this definitely did not soak them and they were still a little "solid" when we ate it. Also, the custard mixture just tasted WAY too cheesy and dense for me - not light and airy like I was hoping.

I am posting the recipe below and would love for any feedback or suggestions if you have made a successful tiramisu before, because I really want to try to perfect it. I AM Italian, after all ;-)


Olive Garden Tiramisu (adapted from International Recipes)

3 egg yolks
1/4 cup whole milk
1 cup granulated sugar
3 cups mascarpone cheese
8 oz. cream cheese
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
20 to 24 lady fingers
1/4 cup cold espresso
1/4 cup Kahlua coffee liquor
2 tsp. cocoa powder

1. Fill a medium saucepan halfway with water and bring it to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce heat so water is simmering. Whisk egg yolks, milk and sugar together in a medium metal bowl, then place the bowl on top of the saucepan. Stir the mixture often for 10 minutes. After the sugar dissolves the mixture should begin to thicken and turn light yellow. Remove it from the heat to cool.

2. Use an electric mixer to combine mascarpone, cream cheese and vanilla in a large bowl. Mix until mostly creamy, but with a few small chunks remaining.

3. Add egg yolk mixture to the cheese mixture and mix just until well-combined.

4. Combine espresso and Kahlua in a small bowl. Pour this mixture into a shallow plate or pan. One-by-one touch the bottom of each lady finger in the espresso mixture. The lady finger will quickly soak up the espresso/Kahlua mixture, but you don't want the entire lady finger soaked - just a dab will do. The top half of each lady finger should still be dry. Arrange the soaked lady fingers side-by-side on the bottom of an 8x8 pan.

5. Spoon half of cheese mixture over the lady fingers, then add another layer of soaked lady fingers on top of the cheese mixture.

6. Spoon the remaining cheese mixture over the second layer of lady fingers and spread it evenly.

7. Put 2 tsp. of cocoa powder is a sifter or tight-mesh strainer and gently tap the side to add an even dusting of cocoa powder over the top of the dessert.

8. Cover and chill for several hours.

Yield = 9 servings.

Nick's Grade: B
Nick's Comments: If the lady fingers had been soaked the whole way through this would be an A+. The flavor is great.

Unfortunately, I didn't like the flavor as much ;-)

UPDATE!! I took the tiramisu out of the fridge around 5pm which was about 24 hours since I originally made it, and the lady fingers were perfectly soft. So that might solve my lady finger problem (let it sit overnight) but the tiramisu overall was still too cheesy-tasting for me!

One.Big.Eclair

Seriously - if you love eclairs or Boston cream pie, this cake is for you! The creamy middle is delicious and the chocolate icing hardens just like that of an eclair. Mmmmm. Definitely try this if you need a dessert idea - it's so good! My father-in-law made me save him an extra piece for later!

**Word of caution - do NOT be tempted to use both layers of this cake. I did this because Nick LOVES yellow cake mix and wanted tons of cake, but in my opinion it really was too much. Stick to the recipe, which is ONE 9-inch layer sliced horizontally!


Boston Cream Pie

1 round yellow cake layer (9-inch)
1 cup cold milk
1 pkg. (4-serving size) JELL-O Vanilla Instant Pudding & Pie Filling
1-1/2 cups thawed Cool Whip whipped topping
1 square Baker's unsweetened baking chocolate
1 Tablespoon butter
3/4 cup powdered sugar
2 Tablespoons powdered sugar

1. Cut cake horizontally into two even layers with serrated knife; set aside.

2. Pour 1 cup cold milk into large bowl. Add dry pudding mix. Beat with wire whisk 2 minutes or until well blended. Gently stir in whipped topping. Let stand 5 minutes to thicken. Place bottom cake layer on serving plate. Spread with pudding mixture; top with remaining cake layer.

3. Microwave chocolate and butter in medium microwaveable bowl for 1 minute. Stir until chocolate is completely melted. Add sugar and 2 Tablespoons of milk; stir until well blended. Spread over top of cake. Refrigerate at least 1 hour or until ready to serve. Store in refrigerator.

Source: Kraft

Meat, Spuds & Dessert!

Tonight for dinner I made meatloaf, potatoes and green beans. The meatloaf recipe I used was the same as I have previously posted (see Meatloaf post - I even added a picture!). I really like this recipe, and this time instead of chopping an entire onion I decided to grate 1/4 of a large onion. I love the flavor of onion, but didn't really like the chunks of onion that I had last time. I love this modification and will continue to use it in the future.

Instead of making plain old mashed potatoes to go along with the meatloaf, I tried my hand at twice baked potatoes. I had never made them before, but I think they turned out great and Nick really liked them! They were a little bit of work but I'd definitely make them again.


Ultimate Twice Baked Potatoes

2 large baking potatoes
4 slices bacon
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup milk
2 Tbsp. butter
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/2 cup cheddar cheese, divided
4 green onions, sliced, divided (I didn't have any so I ommitted these)

1. Preheat oven 350 degrees.

2. Bake potatoes in preheated oven for 1 hour.

3. Cook bacon, crumble and set aside.

4. When potatoes are done allow them to cool for 10 minutes. Slice potatoes in half lengthwise and scoop the flesh into a large bowl; save skins. To the potato flesh add sour cream, milk, butter, salt, pepper, 1/2 cup cheese and 1/2 the green onions. Mix with a hand mixer until well blended and creamy. Spoon the mixture into the potato skins. Top with remaining cheese, green onions and bacon.

5. Bake for an additional 15 minutes.

Source: Allrecipes.com (I halved the original recipe posted)

The green beans I made were extremely simple - a bag of Steamfresh cut green beans nuked in the microwave and then seasoned with butter and salt. Nothing to write home about ;-)

Since we had a relatively heavy dinner with the mealoaf and potatoes I wanted to make something light for dessert. I was thinking of something with either angel food cake or pound cake and decided to go back to a recipe that I made once before from Kraft Food & Family and it was a hit!


Angel Lush with Pineapple

1 pkg (4 serving size) JELL-O Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding & Pie Filling
1 can (20 oz) crushed pineapple in juice, undrained
1 cup thawed Cool Whip
1 pkg (10 oz) round angel food cake
10 small fresh strawberries

MIX dry pudding mix and pineapple with its juice in medium bowl. Gently stir in Cool Whip. Let stand 5 minutes until thickened.

CUT cake horizontally into three layers. Place bottom cake layer, cut side up, on serving plate; top with 1-1/3 cups of the pudding mixture. Cover with middle cake layer and additional 1 cup of the remaining pudding mixture. Top with remaining cake layer; spread top with the remaining pudding mixture.

REFRIGERATE at least 1 hour. Top with strawberries just before serving. Store leftover dessert in refrigerator.

**EDIT: We had about half of this leftover after dinner, so I cut it into individual slices and wrapped in Glad Press n' Seal Freezer and then put them into a Ziploc freezer bag. They froze and thawed out perfectly! I think I'll definitely keep this around and in the freezer during the summer.

Source: Kraft Food & Family

My Birthday Cake!

Yep, I'm completely weird and baked my own birthday cake! I love, love, love the OREO cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory and have been craving it. Instead of driving out to buy it I decided to finally use the recipe that I got off of The Nest. It was incredibly easy to put together and came out smooth and creamy - PERFECT! I didn't change anything from the original recipe, except I baked it for an extra 5 minutes.


OREO Cheesecake

1 cup crushed OREO cookies (about 12 cookies)
1 Tbsp. butter or margarine, melted
4 pkgs (8-oz. each) cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
4 eggs
20 OREO cookies, quartered

**NOTE: Regular OREO cookies are recommended, as cake does not set as well with Double Stuff

1. PREHEAT oven to 325 degrees if using silver springform pan (or 300 degrees if using a dark non-stick springform pan). Mix crushed cookies and butter; press onto bottom of 9-inch springform pan. Bake 10 minutes.

2. BEAT cream cheese, sugar and vanilla with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing on low speed after each addition just until blended. Gently stir in quartered cookies. Pour over crust.

3. BAKE 1 hour or until center is almost set. Run knife or metal spatula around rim of pan to loosen cake; cool before removing rim of pan. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight. Garnish with additional cookies, if desired.

Source: Nestie Lalabee0425

Texas Sheet Cake

What woman doesn't love chocolate?? I was craving chocolate and a one-shot dose of molten lava cakes wasn't going to cut it on Friday! I have made this Texas Sheet Cake recipe from Cooking Light in the past and it's absolutely fantastic. The icing absolutely makes the cake - it's almost a fudge once it sets. Mmmmm... Hope you enjoy it as much as we do! (The picture isn't the prettiest but it's a picture!)


CAKE:
Cooking spray
2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups granulated sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk (I used 1% because that's what we had in the house)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs

ICING:
6 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup fat-free milk (again, I used 1%)
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup chopped pecans (I omitted these because I am allergic to nuts)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 375 F.

To prepare the cake, coat a 15 x 10 jelly-roll pan with cooking spray, and dust with 2 teaspoons flour. Set prepared pan aside.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine 2 cups flour and next 3 ingredients (2 cups flour through salt) in a large bowl; stir well with a whisk. Combine water, 1/2 cup butter, and 1/4 cup cocoa in a small saucepan; bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Remove from heat; pour into flour mixture. Beat at medium speed of a mixer until well-blended. Add buttermilk , 1 teaspoon vanilla, and eggs; beat well. Pour batter into prepared pan; bake at 375 F for 17 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Place on wire rack.

To prepare the icing, combine 6 tablespoons butter, milk, and 1/4 cup cocoa in a medium saucepan; bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, and gradually stir in powdered sugar, pecans, and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Spread over hot cake. Cool completely on wire rack.

Note: You can also make this recipe in a 13 x 9 inch baking pan. Bake at 375 F for 22 minutes. (This is the size pan that I used.)

Source: Cooking Light

Nick's Birthday Dinner: A Recap

I'm still updating from the weekend! On Saturday I had Nick's parents and his brother over for dinner to celebrate his birthday (which actually occurs during the lost moment in time between February 28th and March 1st - yep, a Leap Year baby!!). After wrangling with ideas for dinner, I decided to go with a tried and true favorite. I have made Giada's Dirty Risotto countless times and it has always been met with rave reviews. I served it simply Italian style - with a loaf of crusty bread and a romaine salad.

Risotto is a traditional Italian dish made with a short grain rice, usually referred to as arborio rice. It is one of the most common ways of cooking rice in Italy. It originated in North Italy, specifically Eastern Piedmont, Western Lombardy, and Veneto where rice paddies are abundant. It is one of the pillars of Milanese cuisine. When risotto is cooked, the rice is first cooked briefly in butter or olive oil until briefly coated and the rice starts to turn translucent, before the broth is added.

Patience is the name of the game when it comes to cooking risotto! You can only add about a ladle of broth at a time and must contstantly stir the rice mixture until the broth is almost completely absorbed before adding more. It takes some time, but the result is more than worth it!!

Unfortunately in the midst of getting dinner prepared I forgot to take a picture of the dish, but the recipe is below. If you like risotto, or want to try something new, I highly recommend this recipe!

Dirty Risotto

Ingredients:
5 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
2 T. butter
2 oz. pancetta, chopped
6 oz. Italian sausage, casing removed
3/4 cup finely chopped onion
1 cup chopped red bell pepper
4 oz. button mushrooms, coarsely chopped
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1 1/2 c. Arborio rice
3/4 c. dry white wine
1/2 c. grated parmesan cheese
1 T. chopped fresh Italian parsley

1. In a medium saucepan, bring the broth to a simmer. Cover the broth and keep warm over low heat.

2. In a large heavy saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the pancetta and sausage and saute until golden brown about 5 minutes. Add the onion, bell pepper and mushrooms and saute until tender,s craping up the browned bits on the bottom of the pan, about 8 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

3. Add the rice and stir to coat. Add the wine and simmer until the wine has almost completely evaporated, about 1 minute. Add 1/2 cup of the simmering brother and stir until almost completely absorbed, about 2 minutes. Continue cooking the rice, adding the broth 1/2 cup at a time, stirring constantly and allowing each addition of broth to absorb before adding the next, until the rice is tender but still firm to the bit and the mixture is creamy, about 25-30 minutes total.

4. Remove from heat. Stir in 3/4 of the parmesan. Transfer the risotto to a serving bowl. Sprinkle with the parsley and remaining parmesan and serve immediately.

Source: Giada DeLaurentiis - The Food Network

THE CAKE!!!

Nick's favorite type of cake is yellow batter with chocolate, surgar-rich frosting. In years past I have always just bought box cake mix and a can of frosting. Since I am on my new cooking kick I decided that this year it HAD to be made from scratch! It definitely took a lot of time, but I think it turned out really well. The cake came out in more of a sponge cake texture than a fluffy yellow cake, but it had great flavor and the icing was perfect! I topped the cake with some dark chocolate shavings. Below are a couple of pictures and the recipes that I used.



Four-Egg Yellow Cake
Three 8- or 9-inch round layers

This is a slightly modernized version of the old 1-2-3-4 Cake.

2 2/3 cups sifted cake flour
2 1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup milk
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla OR 1 tsp vanilla + 1/2 tsp. almond extract
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 large egg yolks
4 large egg whites
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
1/4 cup sugar

Have all ingredients at room temperature. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour three 8x2-inch or 9x2-inch round cake pans or line the bottoms with wax or parchment paper.

1. Whisk together thoroughly in a bowl: sifted cake flour, baking powder and salt.

2. Combine in another bowl or in a liquid measure cup: milk and vanilla extract.

3. Beat butter in a large bowl until creamy. Gradually add 1 1/2 cups sugar and beat on high speed until light, 3 to 5 minutes. Beat in one egg yolk at a time. On low speed, add the flour mixture in 3 parts, alternating with the milk mixture in 2 parts, beating until smooth.

4. Using clean beateres, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar in a large bowl on medium speed until soft peaks form. Gradually add 1/4 cup sugar, beating on high speed. Beat until the peaks are stiff but not dry. Use a rubber spatula to fold one-quarter of the egg whites into the egg yolk mixture, then fold in the remaining whites. Divide the batter among the pans and spread evenly.

5. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 25 to 35 minutes.

Source: Joy of Cooking cookbook


Chocolate Buttercream Icing

YIELD: 3 cups

Ingredients:
1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening (I used butter flavored Crisco)
1/2 cup butter or margarine (I used butter)
3/4 cup cocoa
1 tsp. clear vanilla extract
4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar (powdered sugar)
3-4 T. milk
Light corn syrup**

Cream shortening and butter with electric mixer. Add cocoa and vanilla. Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often. When all sugar has been mixed in, icing will appear dry. Add milk and beat at medium speed until light and fluffy. Keep icing covered with a damp cloth until ready to use.

**Add 3-4 T. light corn syrup per recipe to thin for icing cake.

For best results, keep icing bowl in refrigerator when not in use.

Refrigerated in an airtight container, this icing can be stored 2 weeks. Rewhip before using.

Source: Wilton

Mmmm Chocolate

It's the best dessert, right?? In our house the stand-by chocolate dessert of choice is Chocolate Fondant, which is a fancy Williams Sonoma term for molten lava cakes. These are Nick's favorite dessert and I always make sure to have the ingredients on hand to make them. They're perfect too, because the serving size is 2 and we don't have to worry about leftovers! The recipe is easily doubled, however, if you are having company or want to save some for tomorrow!

Nick had a pretty stressful week, so I had the batter waiting when he got home on Thursday night :)


Ingredients:
Cocoa powder for dusting
2 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped into small pieces
4 1/2 T. unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
2 eggs
1/3 c. sugar
1/4 c. sifted all-purpose flour

1. Position rack in lower third of oven and preheat to 450 degrees. Grease two 6-oz. ramekins and dust lightly with cocoa powder.

2. In a heatproof bowl, combine the chocolate and butter. Set the bowl over, but not touching, simmering water in a small saucepan and melt the chocolate and butter, stirring often, until smooth and blended (do not overcook). Let cool to room temperature.

3. In a bowl, whisk together the eggs and sugar until completely blended and frothy. Using a large spatula, gently fold in the chocolate mixture until smooth and blended. Sift half of the flour into the batter and gently fold together until just blended, then repeat with remaining flour.

4. Divide the batter among the prepared ramekins and bake until the tops are just firm when lightly touched, 10 to 12 minutes. **NOTE: I have found the cakes to be extremely runny at this point. We usually bake them until 15 minutes.

Source: Williams Sonoma