CandyCane Cheesecake

*the great thing about doing a cheesecake in a 9x13 or on a cookie sheet, is that it not only cooks faster and more even, but you don't have to do it 2 or 3 days ahead of time. My vote now goes to cheesecake bars, instead of your typical cheesecake.

chocolate shortbread cookie crust:

1 c. butter
1 c. powdered sugar
3/4 c. powdered cocoa
3/4 c. flour

Cream butter, sugar, and cocoa in a mixer until completely combined, make sure to scrap the bottom of the bowl. Add flour, and mix until combined. In a buttered 9 by 13 pan (or bigger if you have it) press dough evenly on the bottom of the pan.
Bake at 375 for 10-12 minutes. Because you cannot see a golden color, you just want to make sure that it looks as if it is cooked, and not a cough dough texture anymore.


Cheesecake filling:

24 ounces of cream cheese (3 boxes)
¾ c. sugar
3 eggs
1 T. vanilla
¼ t. salt
1 c. sour cream
a few drops of peppermint extract (to taste)
1/2 c. crushed peppermint candies (I like the ones that melt in your mouth, not the hard candycane ones)

Topping:
2 c. sour cream
1/2 c. sugar
crushed peppermint candies, and whole candies

Cream the sugar and cream cheese in a mixer or with beaters. Add one egg at a time, scraping the bottom of the bowl after every egg. When completely combined (it is very important that you have no lumps, so the first few steps are crucial) add vanilla salt and sour cream. Mix until smooth. Add peppermint extract and candies, if you want more flavor, add a few more drops. Pour filling into crust, smooth out top.

Bake for about 1 hour and 20 minutes at 330 degrees. It can be tricky to know when the cheesecake is done. The top should lose it's wet luster and have a dull look to it and it should be set. Check at the 1 hour mark first, if it is starting to crack or brown, turn the temp down to 300. Add the 2 cups of sour cream mixed with the sugar to the top of the cheesecake. Be careful to only add small spoonfulls at a time as to not break to the top. Smooth out and bake for another 10 minutes. Make sure you place on a rack for an hour or so before placing in the fridge. You should keep the cheesecake refrigerated for at least 24 hours before serving.

Decorate with the crushed candies, and chocolate sauce.. you know, if you like chocolate :)

I hope the directions make sense. I took most of the instructions from my basic cheesecake, and then made the adjustments for the chocolate crust and candycane filling. Normally I put the candycane crumbs on before serving, but I put it on a few hours earlier, and so it somewhat dissolved, hence the pink/red layer over the top. It turned out kind of pretty.

Gingerbread Cake

Remember the gingerbread cupcakes I posted from the wonderful Martha Stewart, well I used the same recipe and made an amazing cake!! Try it out for the holidays, it was honestly so delicious, I know you'll love it.

Gingerbread Cake

2 teaspoons baking soda
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
2/3 cup packed dark-brown sugar
1 cup unsulphered molasses
2 large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten

1.Heat oven to 350 degrees.. In a small saucepan, bring 1 cup water to a boil. In a bowl, combine boiling water and baking soda; set aside. In a large bowl, mix together flour, ground spices, salt, and baking powder; set aside.
2.In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter until light. Beat in the brown sugar until fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes. Beat in the molasses, baking-soda mixture, and flour mixture. Beat in the eggs.
3.Using 2 cake pans (that have been buttered or sprayed with a non stick) evenly distribute. Bake cakes until a toothpick inserted in the center of them comes out clean, about 20-25 minutes. ** The most important part of baking a cake is to not let it overcook. If you check the center with a toothpick and it comes out almost clean, so cake morsels, not just goo, take it out. I keep this in mind with making just about any dessert.

Let cakes cool for an hour or so before frosting.

Whip about a cup of cream and 1/2 c. powdered sugar until stif peaks form. Use as frosting. Lightly dust with cinnamon or nutmeg for decoration. Keep refrigerated until you serve.

I owe a huge thank you to my friend Ashley who found this amazing cake stand for me!! I'm still on the lookout for a few more, so any ideas help, I've checked out a few places, but I'm always willing to go somewhere new. Anyways, isn't it so cute!?

Because I've become a part of Martin's family over the past year or so, I now have more birthdays to make desserts for!! Happy belated birthday to Grandpa Gallagher and Uncle Johnny. (A cheesecake post is on it's way, and another cake actually, I had a very, very busy weekend).

Happy Tuesday everyone!!!

{If you have any recipe suggestions for the holidays, let me know, I'd be happy to help.}

Christmas Sugar Cookies and Peppermint Sugar Cookies!!

This is one of my favorite recipes! Given to us by Debbie Childs; I know this will become one of your favorites as well. Jana and I love holidays purely for the fact that we have a reason and a theme for a new batch of sugar cookies!! Yes I have posted these before.



Sugar Cookies

2 c. butter
1 ½ c. sugar
4 egg yolks
2 t. vanilla
4 ½ c. flour

Cream butter and sugar, add yolks and vanilla; gradually add flour. Dough rolls out best if it has been chilled for at least 4 hours, but not necessary. Roll out dough with plenty of flour, about ½ inch thick. You don’t have to roll out the whole batch of cookies at one time; I usually split it in thirds or so. Place cut out dough on a buttered cookie sheet. They don’t bake much bigger than as cut out, so you can put them relatively close. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes. I only love these cookies if they’re a little undercooked. So when the edges have any golden color, take them out. Also, if your oven or cookie sheets tend to cause the bottom of your cookies to burn, place a piece of aluminum foil underneath the pan, shinny side down.

Icing

2 lb. bag of powdered sugar
3 T. powdered meringue (wilton)
1 t. clear vanilla
1 t. butter flavoring

With a whisk attachment mix ingredients, and color if wanted (preferably gel paste color). You will need to add water tablespoons at a time until it can be mixed completely and is thin enough to pipe through a bag. The frosting should still be thick. If it’s too thick to use a piping bag, add a very small amount of water. Use the thick frosting to outline the cookies, and save some if you’re planning to do any writing or decorations. With the remaining frosting, add water just until frosting is wet enough to drip off a spoon. Use this frosting to fill the cookies that have already been outlined, use fingers or spoon to push frosting to edges, but it should lay out smooth on it’s own, if not, add more water. Let frosted cookies dry over night.

**For Peppermint sugar cookies, I added crushed peppermint candies to the cookie dough. It was very annoying trying to crush them with a ziplock bag and a rolling pin, I was losing patience, but then end result was worth it. But if you can find crushed peppermint candies in the store, maybe in the baking section, it would be worth it. I also added some of the crushed candies to the cookies after being frosted (but while the frosting is still soft) either peppermint candies, or peppermint bark, or just shaved chocolate. I decorated the plate with some red hots, and other christmas candies.

**In the treat bags, I threw in a few regular sugar cookies (although they're not regular, they're amazing) and a few peppermint, and then some random holiday candies. The clear treat bags can be found at Michaels (The happiest place on earth, well, tied with Nordstrom). :)

Classic Gingerbread

Ingredients

Makes 18
3 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled), plus more for rolling
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup packed dark-brown sugar
1 large egg
3/4 cup unsulfured molasses
2 cups confectioners' sugar
4 teaspoons powdered egg whites (meringue powder)

Directions

1.In a large bowl, whisk together flour, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder, and salt; set aside. Using an electric mixer, beat butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy; beat in egg and molasses. With mixer on low, gradually add flour mixture; mix just until combined. Divide dough in half; flatten into disks. Wrap each in plastic, and refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours and up to 2 days, or freeze up to 3 months (thaw before baking).
2.Preheat oven to 350 degrees, with racks set in upper and lower thirds. Working with one disk at a time, place dough on lightly floured parchment paper, and roll out to 1/8 inch thick, dusting lightly with flour as needed. Using paper, lift dough onto two baking sheets; freeze until firm, about 20 minutes.
3.Remove paper and dough from baking sheets. Using a long offset spatula, loosen dough from paper. Cut out shapes with cookie cutters, and brush off any excess flour. Transfer to baking sheets. (Gather scraps, briefly freeze, and re-roll.)
4.For softer cookies, bake 8 to 10 minutes; for crunchier cookies, bake 11 to 12 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.
5.Make icing: In a large bowl, whisk together confectioners' sugar, powdered egg whites, and 1/4 cup water (if needed, adjust consistency with confectioners' sugar). Transfer icing to a pastry bag with a small tip, or place in a resealable plastic bag, and snip a small hole in one corner. Decorate cookies as desired, and store in a single layer in airtight containers.

Oh how I love anything Gingerbread!!!

So I've been looking around and trying to figure out what gingerbread recipes I want to try and I want to try all of them!! Next week I'll have plenty of personal kitchen time, so I'll have a few of my own, but for now, you'll have to settle with Martha Stewart, who is my favorite by the way. And everyone loves cupcakes!!

Gingerbread Cupcakes:

2 teaspoons baking soda
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
2/3 cup packed dark-brown sugar
1 cup unsulphered molasses
2 large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten

1.Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line 10 jumbo muffin tins with paper baking cups, and set aside. In a small saucepan, bring 1 cup water to a boil. In a bowl, combine boiling water and baking soda; set aside. In a large bowl, sift together flour, ground spices, salt, and baking powder; set aside.
2.In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter until light. Beat in the brown sugar until fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes. Beat in the molasses, baking-soda mixture, and flour mixture. Beat in the eggs.
3.Fill the cupcake papers three-quarters full, making sure that the batter is divided evenly. Bake cupcakes until a toothpick inserted in the center of them comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Let cupcakes cool a few minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before decorating.

Butter Glaze:

Makes 1 1/2 cups, or enough for 10 large cupcakes
2 1/2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons milk
Directions
1.Place 1 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar in a medium bowl. In a small saucepan, melt 4 tablespoons butter over medium heat. Remove the pan from heat; immediately pour the melted butter into the bowl with the sugar. Add 4 teaspoons milk; whisk until mixture is smooth. Working quickly, dip the top of each cupcake into the glaze, and place cupcake right-side up on a wire rack.
2.Repeat step 1; glaze remaining cupcakes. Allow glaze to set, about 20 minutes, before decorating.