Day 61 - Raspberry Swirl Cheesecakes

Friday, April 19, 2013

Today I decided to make Raspberry Swirl Mini Cheesecakes. I tried to make them once before and it was a total disaster... I clearly wasn't paying attention when I made them and forgot to add sugar! Oops!

Today I was fully focused and ready to make these delicious looking treats. I love mini cheesecakes and they're always a hit when I make them for parties, so I wanted another version to have in my recipe collection.

I started by making the crust for the cheesecakes. I like to make both graham cracker crusts AND chocolate cookie crusts. The crusts are just made from cracker or cookie crumbs, melted butter, and sugar. The mixture is then pressed into the bottom of lined mini cupcake cups.

Next, I made the cheesecake filling which as has all the classic ingredients: cream cheese, eggs, vanilla, sugar (very important I learned), and a pinch of salt. I pour the cheesecake mixture over the crusts and they were almost ready for the oven.

The last component is the raspberry sauce which takes these cupcakes from average to amazing! The raspberry topping is made from fresh raspberries and sugar, that's it! I just blended the two together in a food processor, and put the mixture through a mesh strainer to remove the raspberry seeds.

I dotted the top of the cheesecakes with the raspberry sauce and swirled it in with a toothpick. The vibrant red color looked amazing!

The cheesecakes bake at 325 for about 18 minutes. Once the cheesecakes come out of the oven, I let them cool and then stored them in the refrigerator. Can't wait to share these with my friends and neighbors (it would be too dangerous to keep these bite sized treats in the house!).

Day 60 - New York Syle Crumb Cake

Friday, February 8, 2013

The blizzard "Nemo" is dropping tons of snow on our area today, so while I'm trapped inside for the next day or so, I decided I'd do some baking. I found a recipe for New York style crumb cake on Pinterest which looked divine! The recipe came from a blog called "Baked Bree," and it received rave reviews.

The recipe was super simple. I stared by putting together the batter using flour, sugar, baking powder, an egg, vanilla, oil, and milk. I spread the batter into a greased 9x13 baking dish, and then started on the crumb topping. I made the crumbs using melted butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon. I sprinkled the crumbs over the batter and it went into the oven to bake for about 25 minutes.

Dry Ingredients

Wet Ingredients 

Batter coming together

Ready to go in the oven

The entire kitchen smelled amazing as the crumb cake baked, I couldn't wait for it to be done! Once it came out of the oven, I sprinkled some powdered sugar over the top to finish it off.

Finished Crumb Cake

After tasting the crumb cake I can tell you that this recipe is definitely a keeper! The proportion of cake to crumbs is perfect! All you need is a glass of milk or a cup of coffee to go along with the cake, and I don't know anyone who wouldn't love this! Such a great treat to have while watching the snow fall outside! Stay safe out there everyone!