chocolate cheesecake with dark chocolate ganache drizzle

In addition to the mini pumpkin pies that I made for Thanksgiving last year, I also made this luscious chocolate cheesecake! I had just seen it on America's Test Kitchen (before they got rid of Christopher Kimball 😭) and I was dying to make it!

Instead of using traditional graham crackers for the crust, this recipe used smashed Oreo cookies (my mouth is watering already) which are ground in the food processor and then mixed with melted butter, pressed into a springform pan, and then baked until set.

For the filling, it's your basic cheesecake recipe, but amped up with cocoa powder and melted chocolate (YUM).

Once the filling is poured on top of the cooled crust, the method is to cover the cheesecake with foil and bake at a low temperature halfway, and then remove the foil and bake for the remaning half. And best of all, no water bath is required! Yippee!

Here it is right out of the oven, all puffy and creamy delicious looking.

But we're not done yet. The final touch is to drizzle chocolate ganache...  All. Over. The. Top.

Delicious!

I know it's way past Thanksgiving at this point, but hope you had a happy one!

mini blueberry cheesecake tarts

I was so enamored with the little chocolate cookie crusts from my previous post, I made them again for my second day of Thanksgiving "Harvest Potluck" at my kids' school last year. (The first day was for my oldest son, the second day was for my daughter, as they have their potlucks on different days). This time, instead of using the cookie crusts for mini chocolate cream pies, I turned them into mini blueberry cheesecake tarts! 

You can check out my previous post on how I made the cookie crusts, but for this filling I made a no-bake cheesecake type of filling. I've made it before for large tarts (such as this flag tart and this father's day tart), and the filling worked just as well for mini tarts. (You can find the recipe at Martha Stewart's website.)

After using a disposable pastry bag to pipe the filling into each cookie crust, I topped them with fresh blueberries. So simple and easy!

The final step was a light dusting of powdered sugar.

This cookie crust and filling combo is so versatile, you could top them with any fresh fruit, or even a drizzle of salted caramel or chocolate ganache instead of fruit would be delicious!

These little tarts are the perfect portable dessert for potlucks or picnis, and elegant enough to serve at dinner parties as well! Enjoy!

mini pumpkin swirl cheesecakes

It's about that time of year where everything in pumpkin flavor starts to show up everywhere! And these are no exception. I made these mini cheesecakes for Thanksgiving last year, but I think they would be great around Halloween time as well!

It starts with an Oreo cookie crust, made with melted butter mixed with pulverized Oreo cookies (filling and all). I used this recipe from Crazy For Crust, but you could also do a graham cracker crust if you like. Just press the crust mixture into the bottom of a cupcake tin lined with paper liners.

Next comes the filling!

The basic recipe for the filling is in my book, except instead of topping the cheesecakes with jam after baking, I mixed a small portion of the filling with canned pumpkin puree, ground cinnamon, ground cloves, ground nutmeg, and ground ginger (you could also use pumpkin pie spice to make it easier). (See here for other filling options!)

After adding a few dollops of the pumpkin mixture on the top of the filling, I used a toothpick to swirl it around into a pretty pattern.

Then I baked them in a water bath at 325F for 20-25 minutes, until set and just barely jiggly in the center. (Note that it's important to bake them in a water bath to prevent cracking!)

Then I popped them into the fridge to let them cool and continue setting, until it was time to serve them!

You could also use raspberry puree or blueberry puree instead of the pumpkin, but I think the pumpkin swirl is just perfect for this time of year!

Enjoy!

japanese cheesecake with whipped cream and raspberries

I've been meaning to try making a Japanese cheesecake again, after making this one a few years ago. I remember it being very light and fluffy, yet super flavorful at the same time (think soft fluffy cheesecake instead of a dense rich cheesecake!). So when it was time to make something for my brother's birthday, I thought it would be the perfect cake for him!

What makes this cheesecake so light and fluffy are eggs whites, which are whipped to stiff peaks and then folded in with the rest of the cream cheese batter.

I used this recipe at Diana's Desserts once again, but this time instead of baking it in a 9-inch springform pan I baked it in an 8-inch round cake pan (lined with parchment paper), in a water bath.

Look how tall and fluffy it got!

After letting it cool to room temperature, I let it chill in the fridge overnight. Then the next morning I whipped up some fresh whipped cream, tinted with a bit of vanilla extract and sweetened with a bit of confectioner's sugar, and covered the top and sides of the cake with it.

Then I used a Wilton #104 petal tip to pipe rows of ruffles along the sides of the cake. (My new favorite way to frost a cake, see here and here!)

Then I decorated it with a ring of fresh raspberries (since my brother likes cakes with fresh fruit!)

I loved the color effect - the striking red of the raspberries against the white of the whipped cream. So cute! (Now that I think about it, this combination looks a bit like the Mother's Day cake I made last year ... hmmmm.)

Happy Birthday, Michael! Hope you enjoyed the cake! :)

pink baby shower dessert table - sugar cookie favors, macarons, mini cheesecakes, and ruffle cake

In addition to the pink ruffle flower cake that I made for my best friend Sue's baby shower, I also made a few other items for the dessert table! I envisioned a girly pink table, with handmade tissue pom poms floating above the table, and some desserts on tiered cake stands beside the cake. In front would be onesie and flower sugar cookie favors, and the table would also include some fizzy pink lemonade in cute drinking jars. Here's the sketch that I made during the planning:

And here's how the desserts turned out!

The first dessert I started on was the sugar cookies a week before the shower, since I would be wrapping them individually as the favors and they keep really well this way. I decided on onesie cookies, as well as flower cookies (click on the links for more details).

I did the onesies in white, with pink outlines...

... and the flowers in pink, with white centers.

Then three days before the shower, I made the strawberry macarons, since they need at least 24 hours to set in the fridge.



Two days before the shower, I made the mini cheesecakes. The crust was made with a combination of chocolate graham cracker crumbs, and regular graham cracker crumbs...

... topped with a creamy cheesecake batter and baked in a water bath to avoid cracks ...

.. and the top was decorated with fresh strawberries and strawberry jam to hold them in place.



Finally, the day before the shower I baked and decorated the pink ruffle flower cake (shown in my my previous post).



During the week I also made these mint ice cubes to put in a cute pitcher of water.

The secret to getting the mint leaves to stay in the middle of the ice cube (instead of floating on top) was to fill the ice cube trays halfway and then place the mint leaf in the tray, freeze it to keep the leaf in place, and then fill the rest of the ice cube tray to trap the leaf perfectly in the middle!

Oh and I forgot to mention the handmade tissue pom poms! I started on them about a month before the shower - I would make one or two whenever I had some free time, using this tutorial at Martha Stewart. I ended up making ten poms (five above the dessert table, and five above the food table), and they turned out super cute! I ordered tissue paper in various colors from Amazon - pale pink, darker pink, and two different shades of gold.

I also bought cute pink stripe paper straws, wooden utensils, and cute paper plates and napkins on Amazon.

Sue loves afternoon tea, so the girls and I had decided to make that the theme. We made various tea sandwiches, deviled eggs, scones, tossed salad and fruit salad, and had a cheese and crackers platter as well. We also had four different flavors of tea at the drink station, as well as the mint ice water and more fizzy pink lemonade.

Everything turned out lovely and we had such a great time celebrating Sue and her baby girl on the way!

Happy baby shower, Sue!!! We love you!