“A fly on my cheesecake”

Tags

cheesecake, chocolate cheesecake, dessert, food, food styling, Greek yogurt, low-calorie, low-fat, recipes

“A fly on my cheesecake”
BY THE DAUGHTER aka THE GIRL

Is that a fly on my cheesecake?
As happy as can be
Taking its fill with irritating glee

A scarf of disappointment, that fly did knit
A beautiful cake, now made unfit
Somber eyes looking at it

‘Tis too much to take
This gloomy mood that permeates
Oh, for goodness’ sake
My own cake I’ll bake

After dinner and a movie, we came home with a store bought cheesecake, so we could relax and enjoy dessert at home. I had it sitting on the countertop while making coffee. Just when I was about to serve it, I saw the fly, digging in on the cheesecake.

My daughter saw it, too. We let out a collective gasp, a disgusted and disappointed gasp. It must have been walking all over the cake, eating as much as it could take. It wasn’t even moving when I picked it up with a napkin. Maybe it was actually already dead? Hitchhiking all the way from the store? I don’t want to know.

Who would want to eat the cake? The kids had both retreated to the den and started playing video games, no longer interested in dessert. The husband said he would eat it if I would nuke the germs in the microwave first. What? Microwave a cheesecake? That’s crazy! Nope, the cake belonged to one place and one place only, the trash can. Good bye!

Now, we were cheesecake-less. We each had a chocolate biscotti (biscotto?) instead. And I looked at those biscotti and I still wanted cheesecake. So the very next day, I made these. I’m a pretty stubborn woman. I’m not going to let a fly spoil my plan to have a cheesecake!

Low-fat Yogurt Cheesecake
There’s nothing wrong with full-fat ingredients. I routinely cook with them. But this is an experiment to see how far I can make my recipe as low-fat and healthy as possible without sacrificing taste. I consider it a success, judging from the non-existence of complaint coming from the husband, who loves cheesecakes. However, for those of you who prefer the “real deal” (not that the low-fat version is not real), I have my full-fat recipe, following this one.

1/2 cup biscotti crumbs (or chocolate wafers or graham crackers)
2 tsp. coconut oil (or butter), melted
1 pkg. (8 oz.) low-fat cream cheese
1 single serving (5.3 oz.) Greek-style yogurt
2 tbsp. agave nectar (or honey or sugar)
1 tsp. vanilla
2 tbsp. light cream or half & half
1 egg

1. Preheat oven to 325° F.
2. Mix biscotti crumbs with coconut oil. Press onto bottom and up to 1/2 inch of the sides of a greased springform pan. Don’t worry about making the crust lined up evenly on the sides of the pan. I actually like the unevenness of it. Looks more artistic. Chill crust in the fridge while making the filling.
3. Mix softened cream cheese and yogurt. Add agave nectar/honey/sugar and beat until blended and smooth. Add egg, vanilla, and cream, and mix on low speed, just until well blended. Don’t overbeat. Pour over crust.
4. Bake for 25 – 30 minutes. Cool completely before serving.
5. Makes 2 (4-inch) small cheesecakes, which are more than enough for 4 people.

The full-fat version
For every package (8 oz.) of cream cheese, use 1/4 cup sugar, 1 egg, and 1/3 cup of whipping cream. Follow the directions for the low-fat version.

To make the chocolate swirls
Melt 1 tbsp. of baking chocolate morsels, and mix with 2 tbsp. of cheesecake mixture. Drop small amounts of the chocolate mixture on top of cheesecake, and using a bamboo skewer, make swirl designs. Apparently, there’s such a thing as over-swirling, just like what I did on this one.

You get a big blob of chocolate-colored cheesecake instead of a pretty chocolate-swirl one. So, don’t do what I did. Don’t over-swirl.

If you do over-swirl, don’t worry. There’s nothing that whipped cream can’t hide. And then, you can decorate the top with chocolate flowers to make it even prettier. Follow the directions for making chocolate spider webs, to make these flowers. Just draw flowers instead of webs. Steady hands are helpful, and strangely, I find that going fast instead of slow, make it easier.

A few more tips
1. To avoid cracks or cheesecakes caving in, don’t overbeat. In fact, I like mixing my cheesecake batter by hand, with a fork, instead of electric mixer. It’s easy to do when making a small amount for a small cake, and when all the ingredients are brought to room temperature.
2. Do not insert a toothpick or a skewer to test the doneness of the cake. Lightly tap the side of the pan with a wooden spoon instead. It’s okay for the center of the cake to jiggle slightly. It will continue to set and firm up while it cools.
3. Baking the cake in a water bath does help considerably in preventing cracks. If springform pans are used, make sure to line the bottom of pans with a double layers of aluminum foil, to prevent water from seeping in.

That’s it! It’s really not that hard to make cheesecakes. Give it a try, low-fat or full-fat, the choice is yours. The pretty cakes, sans fly, one more time.

Linking to:
Clever Chicks Blog Hop #62
Sunday show Off Linky Party

Pumpkin, or is it Pumpcan?

Tags

chia seeds, food photography, food styling, muffins, pull-apart bread, pumpkin, pumpkin recipes

Poor pumpkins! They’re completely ignored in this house, rarely making it into the kitchen, let alone be turned into nourishing meals. They decorate the front stoop, get turned into jack-o’-lanterns, propped on a table in a centerpiece, then left alone to rot and thrown in the compost bin. And to think they’re a superfood!

Their days of being insignificant are over from now on, starting from today. I’m set for a cooking marathon, with pumpkins as the star ingredient. I have my comfy fluffy slippers on, and I’m not afraid to take a stand (Sorry Eminem, couldn’t resist). I can stay all day on my feet, cooking. And the family had better eat what I cook.

Or at least, eat half of it. A couple of friends have invited me over for dinner/sleepover to celebrate my birthday (it’s already past). It’ll be a potluck for everyone else, except the birthday girl. The instruction was explicit. I was to bring nothing. But did I listen? Of course not. I never go to a potluck empty-handed, and I’m not about to start now. Some of these goodies are just too yummy not to share, anyway. Who hoards yummy food to themselves? Certainly not me. I’m a sharer, not a hoarder. 🙂

Well, first let me tell you what happened. I roasted a whole fresh pumpkin, the kind sold as pie pumpkin, not the kind you use as decorations. I’m assuming there’s a difference, since the pie pumpkin kind costs more.

I was going to use fresh pumpkins in my recipes, but when I tasted the roasted pumpkin, I thought it was…uh…horrible! Not sweet at all, and slightly bitter. Apparently, I can’t pick the right pumpkin, just like I can’t pick a watermelon. I should stick to canned pumpkin and cut-up watermelon. So, the following 2 recipes use canned pumpkin, instead.

Pumpkin & Chia Seeds Muffins
I read this recipe on Oprah.com, and thought it sounded healthful and easy. I’ve been trying to incorporate chia seeds into my diet. Except it was odd that it also listed “salt & pepper to taste”. And 2 cups (16 oz) of pumpkin for 1 1/2 cups of flour? Does that sound right to you? Looks to me someone didn’t edit the recipe. Should I trust it? I decided I couldn’t, so I tweaked it and came up with a recipe of my own. But the inspiration did come from Oprah.

1 1/2 cups flour (all-purpose, whole wheat, or a mix of both)
1/4 cup sugar
1 tbsp chia seeds
1 tbsp hemp hearts
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
Pinch of nutmeg (I mean it; it’s very strong!)
Pinch of salt
1 cup (8 oz) can pumpkin
2 eggs
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 water
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup mini chocolate morsels, plus 2 tbsp for sprinkling

1. Pre-heat oven to 350° F.
2. Mix dry ingredients together in a bowl. In a separate bowl, mix all wet ingredients.
3. Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, fold in chocolate morsels as well.
4. Spoon into oven-safe paper baking pans or paper-lined muffin tins. Sprinkle more chocolate morsels.
5. Bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of a muffin comes out clean. You can drizzle chocolate ganache on top of muffins, if you like.

When you eat one of these, remember all the healthful ingredients that went into it and the unhealthful ones that didn’t. You’ll be surprised how good it really is!

Pumpkin Pull-Apart Bread
Gerard from Tortillas and Bread always comes up with bread recipes that sound too good not to try. Well, Gerard, I finally made one your breads. I just shaped it differently, that’s all. And I drizzled caramel sauce on it instead of piloncillo sauce.

The recipe for the bread is here, and the caramel sauce here.

Here’s how I shaped my pull-apart bread:

First, I rolled the dough into a rectangle, brushed on the melted butter, sprinkled the cinnamon sugar mix, then cut the rectangle into several strips.

Then, I stacked up the strips, and cut the stack into squares. The whole thing was then stacked again into a tower, and the tower was then placed sideways in a loaf bread pan.

The recipe makes 2 loaves, by the way. And don’t forget to check on the bread after it’s been in the oven for 20 minutes. If the top was turning too brown too soon, cover it loosely with aluminum foil.

Pumpkin Pull-Apart Bread

What happened to the roasted fresh pumpkin, you ask? It’s been turned into this.

Recipe will have to wait. I have a potluck dinner to go to, right now. But I do have something pretty for you to look at.

Fall Centerpiece, using pumpkins

Clever Chicks Blog Hop #60
Saturday Sparks Link Party 37

Those lime green things

Tags

fig & caramelized onion tart, fig recipes, fig tart, figs, food, food photography, food styling

They were sitting by the cash register. Just a couple of pints. As if being watched and guarded, almost like they weren’t up for sale. Of course I snatched them up. I didn’t even ask how much they cost. Are you kidding me, they’re green figs! Petite, cute, pear-shaped things with tiny handles of stems.

After gorging on the first pint, I generously shared the other with la familia. In the form of individual tarts. This is a highly recommended recipe. Recommended by me, that is.

Fig & Caramelized Onion Tarts (adapted from this recipe, from The New York Times)

1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed
5 slices of bacon
2 medium onions, sliced thinly
1 tsp garlic, minced
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tsp fresh thyme leaves
1 egg
Salt & pepper
Fresh figs, cut into halves or quarters, depending on the size of the fruits
2/3 cup crumbled goat cheese
2 tbsp pine nuts

(Makes 4 individual tarts)
1. Preheat oven to 375° F.
2. Roll out puff pastry, on a lightly floured surface. Mine was store-bought, measuring 9×9 in. I rolled it into 10×10 in, maybe slightly bigger.
3. Cut circles out of the puff pastry to fit into your tart molds. Prick the pastry several times with a fork (This is important, so pastry doesn’t puff up too much.)
4. Bake the pastry for about 10 minutes until puffed and golden. Remove from oven.
5. Cut up bacon into small pieces and fry until crisp. Remove and set aside.
6. You can use the grease left from frying the bacon to sauté your onions, or use olive oil and butter.
7. Sauté onions over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until onions become soft and caramelized, about 25-30 minutes. If onions become dry, you can add more oil/butter or water. Add garlic, salt & pepper, and balsamic vinegar. Sauté for a couple more minutes. Remove from heat and add thyme.
8. In a small bowl, beat egg. Stir in the onions and bacon pieces.
9. Divide onion mixture evenly into 4 portions and spread evenly over pastry. Arrange figs, cut-side up, on onion mixture. Scatter cheese and pine nuts over figs.
10. Bake for 10 more minutes.

***

So, the tarts were made last night, and I was planning to publish the post after I came home from work. Would you know it, this morning I received a wonderful surprise, from my good friend Angie B. We work in the same building but don’t always see each other. I bumped into her this morning as I came in, and what a serendipitous bump it was because she presented me with this, fresh figs from her tree! Wrapped and bowed. Isn’t she sweet?

I cup up some and let my daughter have at it, for an after-school snack.

The beautiful bowl of figs also came with a recipe.

Hello, no brainer, fig salad is on the menu tonight. And I get to share another fig recipe with you, a good one. I added toasted pine nuts and a little drizzle of balsamic vinaigrette prior to serving.

Thanks, Angie! You’re a sweet, sweet friend!