New York Cheesecake Minis ~ Sous Vide

We just adore rich, creamy, dense, luxurious cheesecake.  The problem though, when there's a large cake in the house, everyone keeps trying to "even out" the slices or the cake, eating more and more with no stopping.  Come on, you know you do it too!!  So when we want a treat, the best solution for our waistlines is portion control and making these mini cheesecakes works beautifully.  Also, it allows us to customize the cheesecakes.  For example, in Maisie's cheesecake we use gluten-free Graham cracker crumbs. Eammon gets a regular Graham cracker crumb crust and personally, I prefer no crust at all, so mine is crumb-free.  Easy-peasy to customize when you're making minis!! The sous vide method produces cheesecake perfection... dense, smooth, rich, & creamy deliciousness.

New York Cheesecake Minis ~ Sous Vide

makes 10

10 - 4oz. canning cars with lids and rings

1 1/2 TBS. Ghee or butter

1/2 cup Graham cracker crumbs or gluten free Graham cracker crumbs

1 lb. cream cheese - the block, not whipped or light - room temperature

1/2 cup sour cream

1/3 cup sugar or sweetener of your choice

2 eggs

1 egg yolk

1 TBS. pure vanilla extract

1 tsp. vanilla bean paste

Pre-heat the sous vide to 176F. 

In a pan on medium heat, melt the ghee and add the Graham cracker crumbs.  Stirring regularly, toast the crumbs.  Remove from heat and divide equally between the jars.  Press down on the crumbs to even them out and create the crust.  

Add the cream cheese to the bowl of a mixer.  Using a paddle blade, blend until smooth. Scrape down the bowl as necessary. Add the sour cream, sugar, eggs, egg yolk, and all the vanilla.  Blend until perfectly smooth.  Divide the cream cheese mixture evenly between the jars.  Add the lid and tighten the ring finger-tip tight.  

Once the sous vide has come to temperature, add the jars, making sure that they stay upright.  A few air bubbles may come from the jars, but if the ring are fingertip tight, no worries.  Set the timer for 1.5 hours.  At the end of the time, remove the jars to a cooling rack.  Once you can handle the jars, place in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours.  The flavor improves after a 24 hour chill so if you can wait that long, we would advise you do.  

Serve cheesecakes right in the glass jars.

Enjoy!

Special Dark Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Fluff Frosting ~ Gluten, Egg & Dairy Free

Today is a triple special day, it's my A-Maisie-ing Maisie's eighth birthday, it’s Improv Cooking Challenge reveal day AND after weeks of neglect I'm finally adding a new recipe to the blog. How appropriate is it that this month for the Improv Cooking Challenge our hostess Kristen of Frugal Antics of a Harried Homemaker challenged the participating bloggers to make any recipe of their choosing using the specified ingredients of cake & frosting! She must have known that it was my girl's day and that she adores cake and frosting.

Of course Maisie with her allergies, I had to make her special treats gluten, egg & dairy free...but still delicious. These cupcakes were a big hit with my girl and since I made them just for her, I only frosted one and then wrapped and put the extras in the freezer to be thawed, frosted and enjoyed another day.

Special Dark Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Fluff Frosting ~ Gluten, Egg & Dairy Free

• 1 1/2 cups pitted dates
• 1 1/2 cup unsweetened chocolate almond milk
• 1/4 cup coconut cream
• 2 tsp. vanilla bean paste
• 1 cup brown rice flour
• 1/2 cup cornstarch
• 5 TBS. Hershey's Special Dark unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt

Frosting:

• Marshmallow Fluff
• Unsweetened cocoa powder
• Pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 350F.

Using a food processor, combine the dates, almond milk, coconut cream & vanilla bean paste, pulsing until you have a smooth and creamy paste. In a separate bowl whisk together the rice flour, corn starch, cocoa powder, baking powder & salt. add the wet to the dry ingredients. Beat the mixture by hand for two minutes. Portion the batter into 4-6 cupcake liners.

Bake 15-20 minutes, until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting. To make frosting, stir together the desired amount of Marshmallow Fluff and flavor to taste with cocoa powder and a pinch of salt. Pipe frosting onto cupcake and decorate with sprinkles.

Enjoy!

My previous Improv Cooking Challenge entries:

• September 2013 Macaroni & Cheese: Creamy Mac & Cheese, Gluten, Egg & Dairy Free
• August 2013 Vanilla & Chocolate: Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Rice Krispy Treats with Vanilla Coconut Frosting
• July 2013 Peaches & Herbs: Peachy Cola Ribs
• June 2013 Fish & Chips: Salt & Vinegar Crab Cakes
• May 2013 Cinnamon & Sugar: Cinnamon Bun Cookie Bars
• April 2013 Bacon & Eggs: Mini Bacon & Swiss Quiche Cups
• March 2013 Carrots & Peas: Mom’s Beef Vegetable Soup
• February 2013 Hearts & Flours: Three Ingredient Fudgy Nutella Brownie Bites
• January 2013 Bananas & Nutmeg: Baked Bananas
• December 2012 Chocolate & Marshmallows: White Chocolate Marshmallow Cranberry Cashew Bark
• November 2012 Sweet Potatoes & honey: Sweet Potato Glass Noodles with Honey Garlic Lime Shrimp
• October 2012 Oatmeal & Raisins: S’mores Granola Bars
• September 2012 Zucchini & Brown Sugar: Zucchini with Onion & Brown Sugar
• August 2012 Tomatoes & Peppers: French Fries Hash Browns
• July 2012 Corn & Butter: Fritos Crusted Pollock
• June 2012 Cherries & Almonds: Dried Cherry Almond Tart
• May 2012 Strawberries & Cream: Strawberry Soup
• April 2012 Peanut butter & Jelly: Peanut Butter & Jelly Bars
• March 2012 Potato & Cheese: Loaded Potato & Buffalo Chicken Casserole
• February 2012 Ginger & Carrots: Shrimp & Avocado Salad with Carrot Ginger Dressing
• January 2012 Lemon & Sour Cream: Ponderosa Lemon & Sour Cream Tart
• December 2011 Eggnog & Cranberries: Eggnog Popovers with Cranberry Butter
• November 2011 Pumpkin & Cream Cheese: Praline Pumpkin Cheesecake
• October 2011 Caramel & Apples: Caramel Stuffed Apple Cider Cookies

 

Marshmallow Pops

So what do you make to send to school for a girl’s birthday when she’s allergic to wheat, egg & dairy yet you want something special?  For my Maisie, that special treat was Marshmallow Pops.  Super simple to make, colorful and the perfect treat for my girl!

I first dipped the sticks in some melted chocolate and inserted them in the giant marshmallow.  I allowed them to set so that the marshmallow was securely attached to the stick as I didn’t want them sliding off on the kids.

After a skim coat of chocolate, and I do mean a skim coat as thick chocolate doesn’t work well on these, I sprinkled the ones Maisie would be taking to school with nonpareils.

I thought these pops were so fun I decided to make some for her spa birthday party too.  The birthday party ones I sprinkled with jimmies, or sprinkles for you non New Englander’s. 

Birthday girl Maisie adored her Marshmallow Pops and said that her classmates loved them too.

Marshmallow Pops

• 1 bag Campfire Giant Roasters marshmallows
• Enjoy Life chocolate bits or chocolate of your choice
• coconut oil
• nonpareils, jimmies or topping of your choice
• lollipop sticks

In a microwave safe bowl, melt the chocolate bits with a small amount of coconut oil being careful not to over heat.  Once the chocolate is mostly melted, remove and stir to melt the remaining chocolate.  Add additional coconut oil to thin the chocolate if it is thick but you don’t want it too thin and runny, just nice spreading consistency.  Dip one end of the lollipop stick into the chocolate and then insert into one of the flat ends of the marshmallow, until almost all the way through and place on a tray, stick pointing up.  Once all the sticks have been inserted, place the tray of marshmallows in the refrigerator for 10-15 minutes to allow the chocolate to set so that the marshmallow is securely fastened to the stick.  Once set, one by one, using a small offset spatula, lightly, very lightly, coat the entire surface of the marshmallow with the melted chocolate.  Sprinkle* the freshly spread chocolate with the topping of your choice.  Poke the stick into a block of foam so not to mess up the chocolate and refrigerate the Marshmallow Pops until the chocolate is set.  Once the chocolate is set the pops do well staying at either room temperature or in the refrigerator.

* I found sprinkling the topping on the chocolate worked best, gave me the best coverage and didn’t make the toppings look flat and mashed into the chocolate.

Enjoy!

Pink Strawberry Cake Balls

I’ve gotten better at actually photographing the things I make but it takes a lot longer for me to actually write up my post and get it published, or what happened with this recipe, it just sort of got lost amongst the drafts.

It was back the beginning of September that I posted this picture on Moments with Maisie of Maisie helping to make a strawberry cake because it was just what we had done that day but I never posted what we did with cake…Until now.

Maisie and I made adorable little pink Strawberry Cake Balls.

There were mini chocolate bits inside and they were coated with white chocolate and pretty pink sugar.

Pink Strawberry Cake Balls

1 box strawberry cake mix, prepared according to package instructions
1 8 oz. brick cream cheese, room temperature
1 16-ounce can strawberry frosting 
1/2 bag mini chocolate chips 
white candy melts 
Crisco solid shortening, if needed
pink sugar crystals

Prepare the cake mix according to the package instructions.  Allow the cake to cool completely and then crumble into a large bowl.  To the cake crumbles stir in the cream cheese and strawberry frosting until fully mixed.  Mix in the mini chocolate chips.  Using a cookie scoop form and place each cake ball on a Silpat lined cookie pan.  Once all the cake balls have been formed place the tray in the freezer to allow the cake balls to harden.

Melt the candy melts in the microwave, stirring every minute so not to burn the candy.  Add Crisco if the candy needs to be thinned a little.  Dip the frozen cake balls in the melted candy, place back on the Silpat and immediately sprinkle with the sugar crystals.  Refrigerate to set the candy.

Enjoy!

Happy 6th Birthday Maisie Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Tomorrow my sweet little Maisie Miao Miao will turn six years old.  I totally can’t believe that she’ll be six because I swear that it was just a year ago when she was 14 months old and we first saw her sweet little cue ball cutie face.  To celebrate her birthday Maisie has had a number of parties.  First was Friday when she had cupcakes with her USA Level 3 gymnastics teammates and then Saturday morning another round of cupcakes with her TOPs teammates.  Two hours later on Saturday afternoon Maisie had her “big” little party of pottery painting with her girlfriends who aren’t on team or in school with her.  We have one more party scheduled for tomorrow with her classmates then the “Maisie is six” birthday parties will be over and she’ll officially be six!

For Maisie’s pottery painting party she requested a pink zebra cake so that’s what my little girl got.  

Maisie of course was a big help in making the Cream Cheese Frosting.

She was an even bigger help in taste testing the pink frosting.

Best of all she “cleaned” the mixer paddle for me.

Maisie supervised as I made and assembled the cake.

Crumb coat completed and Maisie “cleaned” the offset spatula, such a helpful little girl!

All the little cutie-patootie girls loved the pink zebra cake and everyone, including the adults thought it delicious.

I had tried to make the cake zebra patterned and I can see hints of the pattern but I realize now that I should have used more batter in each scoop as I made my layers as they were too thin as they spread so it ended up more marbled looking…oh well it was still delicious.  The cake was beautifully moist and the Cream Cheese Frosting was wonderfully delicious and not overly sweet, just perfect!  The recipe I used for the frosting is my go-to favorite and I have been making it for years.  It’s simple to make, works well for spreading and piping and everyone thinks it tastes like cheesecake, a real winning recipe.

Cream Cheese Frosting
4 8-oz. packages cream cheese, softened (I use regular full fat bricks of cream cheese)
1 cup salted butter, room temperature
1 TBS vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract 
4 cups confectioners sugar

In a stand mixer blend the cream cheese, butter and vanilla until smooth.  Add the confectioners sugar and on medium speed beat until smooth and fluffy.  Add gel icing color of your choice, if desired and blend.

Enjoy!

For the cake I totally cheated and used boxed cake mixes.   I used a 10x3-inch round pan so I used one box each of French Vanilla and Dark Chocolate Fudge cake mixes.  For the zebra top I used a Wilton sugar sheet which was simple and looked great.