Fixation Friday.....Chocolate Cheesecake

Jason left today for NTC, a lovely training center in the middle of the Californian desert. He will be gone for the entire month of August and probably the first week of Sept. BOO! But before he left I wanted to make some yummy food for him. This week we have had Greek Steak with Orzo and Feta, Pad Thai, Chicken Pasta, a Lasagna kind of dish....and some sweets of course! I decided that he needed a treat, so I made him one of his favorite desserts - cheesecake....more

specifically Chocolate Cheesecake! I was scrounging through the cupboards for some oreo crumbs but couldn't find any (must have used them and don't remember!) so I used plain old graham crackers for the crust (my fav!) and of course used Dorie's recipe for her uber creamy cheesecake. I love making mini cheesecakes. The little four inch springforms that I bought months ago have been getting a lot of use! I love them. And Dorie's recipe is so easy to quarter and it makes two perfect little cheesecakes.

Here is the cutest slice of cheesecake ever...

For reference....the plate fits in the palm of my hand!!

Recipe.....

Adapted from Dorie Greenspan's Baking, From My Home to Yours

For the Crust

3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs

1 1/2 Tbsp Sugar

2 Tbsp Butter (Melted)

Mix all the ingredients together until all of the dry ingredients are uniformly moist. Divide the crumbs between two 4 inch springform pans that you have already buttered. Press the crumbs up the sides and evenly over the bottom. Wrap the pans in double layers of aluminum foil. Then put the pans in the freezer while your oven preheats to 350 F. Bake the crusts for about 8 minutes - keep an eye on them so they don't over bake. Set aside the crusts while you make the cheesecake batter.

For the Cheesecake Batter

1 four ounce box of cream cheese - at room temp.

1/3 c Sugar

1 tsp vanilla (I like a lot)

1 large egg

1/3 c sour cream or heavy cream (I like using sour cream for a bit of extra zip)

Beat the cream cheese for a couple of minutes in your stand mixer until soft and creamy. With the mixer running, add the sugar and continue to beat for a few more minutes. Beat in the vanilla. And then the egg. Let it get nice and aerated...makes for a light fluffy cheesecake. Then on low, blend in the sour cream or heavy cream.

To make it a chocolate cheesecake I melted 3 oz of semi sweet chocolate and added it to the batter after the sour cream.

Divide the batter between the two pans. Put the pans in a baking dish that is big enough to hold them both and then surround them with boiling water - up about half way up the springform pan. Bake the cheesecake at 350 F for about an hour. Turn off the oven and prop the oven door open with a wooden spoon, leaving the cheesecakes in their water bath.

After the hour pull them out of the oven, remove the foil carefully, and let them come to room temperature on a cooling rack. When cooled to room temp, cover with wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 4 hours - the longer the better - the more the flavours meld.

Then.....eat them with someone you love!

So this Chocolate Cheesecake kills two birds with one stone - my two favs - in one amazing dish!

Make them, you will love them!

Take care,
Tania

Love Big, Bake Often

Fixation Friday meets Cheesecake!

Nutella Marble Cheesecake!


I have always loved Nutella! It has been a staple in my married household. Though I can't really remember having it too much growing up. It was more of a treat for us when we were young, probably one of those things you beg your mother to buy while you are out grocery shopping together. I remember being preggers with Jakob and craving it bad! We ended up buying the big container of it because we were going through it so much. I was loving having a slice of lightly (had to be lightly) toasted WONDER BREAD(!!!) slathered with Nutella. That chocolate hazelnut goodness! Jakob would kick inside me with absolute approval of Mama's snack! I ate it with Aiden in my belly too, but not like I did with Jake. Jakob and I had many similar cravings for chocolate, coke, and really bad for you stuff. I think I ate a lot better with Aiden - not so much junk food.

So today for fixation Friday I bring you Nutella Marble Cheesecake! Jason has been asking when I would make another cheesecake as he dreams of the cheesecake I made for Easter. So I quartered Dorie's Tall and Creamy Cheesecake and made two 4 inch mini cheesecakes. I heated up some Nutella to thin it out and swirled it into the creamy vanilla cheesecake batter. It was so easy. And it smells so yummy. Jason and I are looking forward to enjoying it with some more wine tonight after the little men have rested their weary heads. It has been a busy and fun day today. Daddy was home for the day so lots of playing and fun to be had.

Hope everyone gets their "fixation" this Friday, whatever that may be.....leave me a comment and let me know what that is.....

Take care,
Tania

Love Big, Bake Often

Easter Treats....

Wow.... what a day of treats. My boys being the sweetest treats of all!

We got up early, the boys had their usual breakfasts, Jason and I didn't eat, and then around snack time we went out for brunch. But before heading to brunch, I managed to get this into the oven:

Can you see the specks of vanilla bean in this amazing cheesecake? I used a WHOLE VANILLA BEAN! And you can really taste it. It is delicious.

Then I had to marinate the lamb...I found the recipe here. It turned out fantastic! I managed to cook it to a perfect medium.

Once those two tasks were done we could leave the house and have a nice brunch together. I had an omelet filled with chicken, mixed peppers and feta - YUM. Jakob and Aiden shared some fantastic french toast that made me wish I had ordered it!

When we pulled into the driveway after brunch, Jason jumped out of the car to "check to see if the Easter Bunny had come" and laid out the eggs that I had filled last night. The backyard was littered with them! Like a rainbow! The boys came out into the backyard with their baskets in hand, and huge grins on their face. Aiden let out one of his only words...WOW! They gathered up the eggs fairly quickly (thank goodness since they were filled with chocolate!), Jakob helped Aiden again - so cute.

Then it was time for a quick nap before another Egg Hunt at Miss Mary's house. That was a blast too. There were 16 kiddos there....Chasity had numbered the eggs, each child had a number and they had to find the eggs with their number on it. There was face painting, lots of sports to play, and lots of yard to run around in. I didn't pull out my camera for this event, but several of the other moms had theirs out and are going to send me lots of pics! I do, however, have pics of the treats that I made for the kids...

We weren't able to stay at Mary's for as long as we wanted to since I needed to get that leg of lamb in the oven! So the boys played with Daddy while I cleaned up the kitchen and put together all the fixings for dinner. Dinner was awesome. Except for the asparagus - I over cooked it...but oh well. The rest was great.

But the best treat I made today...sweet treat that is - the lamb rocked!, was the cheesecake...check this out....

Jason wanted some chocolate with his so I made him some chocolate ganache and we drizzled some on top. I thought it made it too rich, but he loved it.

I am sorry there are no recipes here today. I am tired and my back is killing me so I am going to go lie down and take a break...it's been a loooooong day!

Hope you all had a fantastic Easter.

Take care,

Tania, Love Big, Bake Often