Monday, August 22, 2011

Chocolate Peanut Pie for Mikey

Two Weeks ago, a fellow food blogger unexpectedly lost her husband.  I was not familiar with Jennifer Perrillo blogger of In Jennies Kitchen. before then, but as the news traveled, I found myself watching this video.  It brought tears, warmth, and loves to see a father and his daughter.

Jennifer husband Mikey died of a heart attack.  I could not imagine what Jennie is going through at this time.  My prayers go out to her family.

The food blogging community has showed love and has honored Jennifer wish of making a peanut butter pie for Mikey. 

To keep the food blog keep going I decided to contribute and make a pie also.  Even though its’ two weeks late, I think its better late than never to honor her wish.

After the pie has been baked and cooled I took a moment of silence before I covered it with marshmallow frosting and chocolate shavings.

So here it is.  Chocolate peanut pie for Mikey.

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Mini Baileys Strawberry Cheesecake Swirl Brownies

Today sweet treat contains alcohol, strawberries, cream cheese, and chocolate. A friend of mines asked is it even legal to combine all those flavors. Hell yeah. I had this craving for something sweet, a little kick to it, and some cheesecake. As you know I not a die hard fan of chocolate, but these flavors made me changed mine. David Lebovitz has these too die for cheesecake swirl brownies. The only thing I changed to his recipe is add ¼ cup of Baileys and strawberries and ooh la la.



Cheesecake Brownies
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
4 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
2/3 cup sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/2 cup flour
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup (80g) chocolate chips
1/4 cup Baileys Irish cream


8 ounces (200g) cream cheese, at room temperature
1 large egg yolk
5 tablespoons (75g) sugar
1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract


1/2 cup strawberries
2 tablespoons sugar


Directions
1. Line a 9-inch (23cm) or 8-inch (20cm) square pan with foil, making sure it goes up all four sides. Use two sheets if necessary. Mist with non-stick spray or grease lightly. For those of you, who like higher brownies, use an 8-inch pan.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees (180C).
3. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter and chocolate over low heat, stirring until smooth. Remove from heat and beat in the 2/3 cup (130g) sugar, then the eggs.
4. Mix in the flour, cocoa powder and salt, then the vanilla and chocolate chips. Spread evenly in the prepared pan.
5. In a separate bowl, beat together the cream cheese, the yolk, 5 tablespoons of sugar, and vanilla until smooth.
6. Puree your strawberries and sugar in a blender or food processor.
7. Distribute the cream cheese mixture in eight dollops across the top of the brownie mixture, add the same amounts of dollops on the brownie mixture then take a spatula and swirl the cream cheese mixture with the chocolate batter.
8. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until the batter in the center of the pan feels just set.
Let cool, then lift out the foil and peel it away. Cut the brownies into squares.
Storage: These will keep in an airtight container for a couple of days. They also freeze well, too.


Slightly adapted from David Lebovitz Ready for Dessert

Thursday, August 11, 2011

S'mores Cheesecake Cupcakes


This post was supposed to be for yesterday for National S'mores Day. But hey it’s better late than never when it come to a sweet treat. I originally wanted to do a Smore’s cupcake recipe that has been floated over the web from Trophy Cupcakes. But instead I felt in the mood for cheesecake. So I did a Smore’s Cheesecake cupcakes with a marshmallow frosting.




I am not a die hard fan of chocolate so I was skeptical if it even tasted good. I was so hard on myself I did not even get to use my torch that I have bee dying to use. But apparently it did taste great. I brought a batch to work 9:00 am and put them ins the café at 9:02 am when I got up to my desk to get a cup of tea not one of the dozen was left. Everyone loved it. Now I feel so much better that I have not lost my baking mojo. When you get a chance make a batch, hope you liked as much as my co-workers.


S’mores Cheesecake Cupcakes
Ingredients:
For the crust:
1½ cups graham cracker crumbs
4 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
3 tbsp. sugar
For the cheesecake:
4 oz. bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
¼ cup sour cream
½ cup marshmallow cream
2 tsp. cocoa powder
¾ tsp. vanilla extract
2 large eggs
For the frosting:
8 large egg whites, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
½ tsp. cream of tartar
2 tsp. vanilla extract


Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line two cupcake pans with paper liners. In a small mixing bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar and melted butter; mix well with a fork. Drop about 1 tablespoon of the graham cracker mixture in the bottom of each cupcake liner and press down to line the bottom. (Note: I found the bottom of my squeeze bottle to be the perfect size to do this job neatly and quickly.) Sprinkle a small amount of the chopped chocolate on top of the graham cracker crusts. Bake for 5 minutes. Remove from the oven, and maintain the oven temperature.

To make the filling, place the chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water. Heat until melted and smooth, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the cream cheese, sour cream and marshmallow cream. Beat on medium-high speed until smooth and well combined, 1-2 minutes. Blend in the cocoa powder, vanilla extract and eggs until incorporated. Stir in the melted chocolate until well blended. Pour the filling over the graham cracker crust and smooth the top with a spatula.

Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cupcake liners, filling each about ¾ of the way full. Return the pans to the oven and bake about 18-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, rotating the pans halfway through baking. Allow to cool in the pans 5-10 minutes, then remove and transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the frosting, combine the egg whites, sugar and cream of tartar in the top of a double boiler. Heat the mixture, whisking frequently, until it reaches 160° F with an instant-read thermometer. Transfer the mixture to the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Whisk starting at low speed and gradually increasing to medium-high speed until stiff, glossy peaks form. Mix in the vanilla until combined. Frost cooled cupcakes as desired. Brown with a kitchen torch and garnish with chocolate and graham cracker segments (optional).

Source: adapted from http://annies-eats.net/2010/06/11/smores-cheesecake-bars/

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Pink Ruffle Cake

Hi everyone. Over at Miso Bakes for the July challenge you had to design a 6 inch or 10 inch cake with a Wilton Tip #104. When I thought about the challenge I thought about Martha Stewart Ruffle Cake. So I put myself to the challenge and did a ruffle cake. The cake is a six inch three tier coconut cream cake with a Swiss Meringue buttercream.



Hope you like!

When you get a chance check out the other submissions at Miso Bakes. Some beautiful work presented!
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