Double Raspberry Cheesecake

Since we're talking cheesecake.. This chocolate and raspberry concoction is one of my most asked for cheesecakes. It is simply delicious. The recipe calls for packaged chocolate crumbs, I have recently noticed that I cannot find Oreo brand pre crushed crumbs. It's too bad, it makes life so much easier.

Double Raspberry Cheesecake
Serves 12

2 cups packaged chocolate wafer crumbs
1/3 cup butter, melted
3 tablespoons sugar
2 1/2 cups fresh or lightly sweetened, frozen red raspberries, thawed
2/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 teaspoons lemon juice
3 8-ounce packages cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 egg whites
1 cup whipping cream
1 cup fresh or lightly sweetened frozen red raspberries, thawed
2 tablespoons raspberry liqueur or orange juice

1. For crust, combine wafer crumbs, butter and 3 tbs sugar. Press onto the bottom and 1 inch up the sides of an ungreased springform pan. Chill while preparing filling.

2. For raspberry sauce, in a blender combine the 2 1/2 cups raspberries until smooth. Press through a sieve to remove seeds. Add water to sieved raspberries if necessary to equal 1 cup. combine 2/3 cup sugar and cornstarch in a small saucepan; stir in sieved raspberries. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Reduce heat; cook and stir 2 minutes more. Stir in lemon juice. Remove 3/4 cup sauce; cool slightly without stirring. Cover remaining sauce and chill until serving time.

3. For filling, in a large bowl combine cream cheese, 1/2 cup sugar, flour and vanilla. Beat with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add egg whites, beating on low speed just until combined. Stir in cream.

4. Pour half the mixture into a crust-lined pan. Drizzle the 3/4 cup raspberry sauce over cheese mixture in pan. Carefully spoon remaining cheese mixture, covering sauce. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 35-40 minutes or until center appears nearly set when shaken.

5. Cool in springform pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Loosen crust from sides of pain and cool 30 minutes more. Remove sides of pan; cool 1 hour. Cover and chill overnight.

6. To serve, top cheesecake with 1 cup raspberries. Stir liqueur or juice into remaining raspberry sauce and spoon over berries.

Cheescake Supreme

The basic, you can add everything to it cheesecake recipe... for Daena.

Cheesecake Supreme
Serves 12

1 3/4 cups finely crushed graham crackers (24 squares)
1/2 cup butter, melted
3 8-ounce packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
1 egg yolk
1/4 cup milk

1. For crust, combine crushed crackers (here you can add in walnuts or cinnamon if you wish, or whatever strikes your fancy) and melted butter. Press mixture onto bottom and about 2 inches up sides of an ungreased 8 or 9 inch springform pan. Set crust aside.

2. For filling, in a large mixing bowl beat cream cheese, sugar, flour, and vanilla. Mix until just combined, never over beating ingredients. Add eggs and egg yolk all at once, beating on low speed just until combined. Stir in milk.

3. Pour filling into crust lined pan. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 45-50 minutes for the 8-inch pan, 35 to 40 minutes for the 9-inch pan, or until center appears nearly set when gently shaken.

4. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Loosen crust from sides of pan; cool 30 minutes more. Remove sides of pan; cool 1 hour. Cover and chill overnight.

* you can add just about anything to this recipe from chocolate (add melted chocolate that has cooled slightly at the end), lemon juice and rind, raspberries, candy bits, espresso, you name it.

Baby Bootie Cakes and Billy's Vanilla, Vanilla Cupcakes

These were for a baby shower that I recently threw for some friends. I made Billy's Vanilla, Vanilla Cupcakes, which is my most made and requested cupcake. It is a heavenly moist and vanilla tasting cupcake made even more amazing with his vanilla buttercream frosting.

For the parents to be I made these baby bootie cakes using the same recipe and buttercream.

For 8 Bootie cakes you will need one sheet cake (any flavor)
Buttercream
Food coloring and fruit leather

1. Each bootie consists of two cake rounds of different heights. To make booties, trim top of sheet cake so it is level. Place trimmed cake on work surface. Using a 2 1/2-inch biscuit or cookie cutter, cut out 12 circles from cake, keeping the circles as close together as possible. Discard the scraps or save for a snack.

2. To make toe pieces for booties, cut four circles in half horizontally, making eight shorter circles. Trim each short circle by cutting a straight line 1/2-inch in from the edge. Place one tall and one short circle on a piece of waxed paper or parchment. Using a dab of buttercream as glue, affix trimmed edge of shorter circle to taller one. This forms the basic bootie shape. Repeat with other pairs.

3. Using an offset spatula or a butter knife, thinly coat each bootie with a layer of buttercream to seal in the crumbs; giving the shoe shape by adding more icing to the front and top. Refrigerate the booties until the crumb coat has set. Decorate the booties one at a time. Remove from the refrigerator, and cover with a final coat of buttercream, shaping and smoothing the shoes as you go.

4. Pipe laces and trim to resemble a child's shoe: Fit couplers onto piping bags and fill halfway with tinted buttercream. To make dots and trim, use a No. 4 tip. To fashion thin, dainty laces and other delicate details, use a No. 3 tip. To pipe small stars, use a No. 13 tip. Chill booties again until buttercream is firm, then transfer to serving platters.

Farm Animal Birthday Cake

Birthday cake that I made for my 12 year old cousin. She is addicted to horses and asked for a farm themed cake this year. I did sort of an abstract version using fondant to cover a white chocolate cake with fresh raspberry buttercream filling. The animals were made using marzipan.

Lemon Chiffon Cake

This is by far my favorite lemon cake. It is so delicate and full of lemony flavor. It is flavored with lemon in three ways, lemon rind, lemon juice and organic, pure lemon extract. The result is amazing. The recipe calls for a simple dusting of powdered sugar, but I lightly sweeten some whipped cream and add the three levels of lemon. Every year around this time a woman calls me for this cake for her birthday. It's always a hit.

Lemon Chiffon Cake
makes one 7 inch tube pan
(can easily be doubled for a larger, angel food sized cake)

3/4 cup cake flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
3 large eggs, separated
1/4 cup canola oil
2 tablespoons grated lemon zest
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
here I also add a dash of lemon extract
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees, with a rack in the lower third. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, and 3/4 cup granulated sugar; set aside.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together egg yolks, oil, 1/3 cup water, lemon zest and juice, and the vanilla. Stir in reserved dry ingredients until smooth.

3. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites on medium speed until foamy. Add the cream of tartar; beat on high speed until soft peaks form, about 1 minute. Gradually add the remaining tablespoon of granulated sugar; beat on high speed until stiff peaks form; about two minutes more.

4. Gradually fold the egg-white mixture into the batter; start by stirring in one-third to lighten it, then fold in the remaining two-thirds. Pour the batter into an ungreased 7 inch tube pan. Using an offset spatula, smooth the top. Bake until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean and the cake is golden, about 45 minutes.

5. Remove the cake from the oven; invert the pan over a glass soda or other bottle for 2 hours to cool (the cake must cool upside down). Turn the cake right-side up. Run a table knife all the way down between the cake and the pan; invert again, and remove the cake. You can then dust the cake with confectioner's sugar or beat some heavy cream with 1/4 to 1/2 cup of granulated sugar, the juice of one and a half lemons, the rind of one lemon and a tablespoon of lemon extract. Frost cake and enjoy.