Carrot Cake Cheesecake

Two of my favorite things combined. How great is that! I was looking through my March issue of Better Homes and Gardens and came across this prize-winning recipe. I immediately pulled it out of the magazine to put in my file, but before I did I made a few changes. This weekend I decided that it was time to make this little beauty. I looked online to see if anyone had any comments or suggestions on how to improve its appearance. However, much to my surprise, not many have had much to say about this cake except for a few newspapers. I took some suggestions from a Seattle paper and finalized the recipe below.
So what is different? Well, in the original recipe it had a step and a lengthy list of ingredients for caramelized walnuts. Not worth my time. Instead, I traded the raisins in the cake for 1/3 chopped walnuts. The newspaper's baking time was 70-80 and the original recipe put it at 90-105 minutes. I settled on 90 because I did not want a dry cheesecake. Finally, I drizzled the entire cake with the powdered sugar glaze instead of each individual piece. But, it was still kind of ugly. So, to solve this problem I pre-cut each slice and put it on a serving platter to avoid having to show the ugly center.
Overall, this was the easiest cheesecake I have ever made and also one of the biggest. I got to pull out my 10-inch springform instead of my standard 9-inch. You do have to babysit it a little. The baking time is long and then there is 45 minutes afterwards of tasks and then complete cooling and finally chilling in the refrigerator. It is an amazing thing to watch in the oven. The carrot cake comes up out of the center and runs down the sides much like a volcano. That is how you get the cheesecake in the center and the cake on all sides.
Taste is great, reminded me of Cheesecake Factory’s version of Carrot Cake Cheesecake. I think that next time I will not use the glaze and go over the top with some sweetened whipped cream. Wow, I can’t wait!

Carrot Cake Cheesecake
1 2-layer-size carrot cake mix
1 cup water
½ cup cooking oil
6 eggs, divided
½ cup walnuts
3 8-oz. pkgs. cream cheese, softened
1½ cups granulated sugar
2 tsps. vanilla
1 cup powdered sugar
3 to 4 tsps. milk
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour a 10-inch springform pan; set aside.
In a large bowl combine carrot cake mix, water, oil, and 3 of the eggs. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds, scraping sides of bowl constantly. Beat on medium speed for 3 minutes. Fold in raisins. Pour into prepared springform pan.
In another large bowl, beat cream cheese with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Beat in granulated sugar and vanilla until smooth. Beat in remaining 3 eggs just until combined. Slowly pour over carrot cake layer. Use a thin metal spatula to gently swirl the batters. Place cheesecake on a baking sheet. Bake for 80-90 minutes or until top is set except for a 1-inch circle in the center. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Using a small sharp knife, loosen the cake from the sides of the pan. Cool for 30 minutes. Remove sides of pan; cool cheesecake completely on rack. Cover and chill at least 4 hours before serving.
In a medium bowl combine 1 cup powdered sugar and enough of the milk to make drizzling consistency. Cut cheesecake into wedges and place each wedges on a serving plate. Drizzle each serving with some of the powdered sugar icing. Serves 16

Sopaipilla Cheesecake

Just another 2 for 1 deal day at the Baking Redhead. Sopaipilla Cheesecake and Chocolate Crinkles.
Last night, I had a family dinner to attend and my job was to bring a dessert. I know, so hard to imagine. I needed a quick dessert that was a little different from oh, I don't know say, Chocolate Cake. I thought of shortgirl’s recipe. I have made this a couple of times in years past, but I had forgotten the taste. The dessert came together very fast and was in and out of the oven in no time at all. I took the pan and put it in a tray for easy transport and covered it with foil. Dinner was not served promptly, so the dish had to sit and stay warm. Here is my BIG warning. Don’t tightly cover this with foil right out of the oven and let it sit for an hour or two. BIG mistake. Don’t get me wrong, it was still wonderful, but it lost its crunchy topping of buttery, sugary, cinnamony, crescent roll goodness. It was a bit chewy. It reminded me of the time a few years ago when I made gingerbread. I took the cake pan out of the oven and plopped it on a towel and went to church. What a terrible mistake I had made. The gingerbread was a gooey, soggy, mess because the towel that it had been sitting on trapped the heat. So, that is when I went out and bought some really good wire cooling racks. Problem solved.
Give this recipe a try. You will love the smooth creaminess of the cheesecake topped off with the sugary crunch of the buttery pastry.
Chocolate Crinkles. This is one of the cookies that I made for our Cookie Exchange last week. I found the recipe in the Better Homes and Gardens Special Edition Cookie Magazine. I thought they looked festive and I really loved the name. Ranks right up there with Fudge Puddles. Isn’t that the cutest? I don’t make fudgy things much, but I might have to make those just because it is fun to say. To me, it was a dark chocolate brownie bite topped with powdered sugar. Not very sweet, but still enjoyable. Simple to make and the recipe made so many that I finally just stopped assembling them before the dough was gone.


Sopaipilla Cheesecake
By shortgirl
2 pkgs. Pillsbury original crescent rolls
2 (8 oz.) boxes cream cheese
1 1/2 cups sugar, divided
1 tsp vanilla
1 stick butter, melted
Cinnamon

Mix cream cheese, 1 cup of sugar, and vanilla. Spread 1 package of crescent rolls in a 9x13-inch pan. Spread cream cheese mixture on top of rolls. Spread 2nd package of crescent rolls over cream cheese mixture. Mix melted butter and ½ sugar and pour over top layer of rolls. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Bake for 30 minutes at 350.

Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake Bars

We were inside a lot this weekend because my husband was well, we will say he was under the weather and I needed to bake. We did venture out to a friend’s house for dinner and I brought this. See picture. I found this over at Picky Palate awhile ago when I discovered her blog.
When I was at the store collecting the ingredients for this dish I started thinking about the last time I had a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup. I am not a big candy person unless it is Dove chocolate. Love it. I have a cookie jar on my counter full of Dove chocolate, not cookies. But, that is where my candy knowledge ends. Don’t get me wrong, if given a test of random candies, outside of their wrappers; I think I would pass it. So, I was standing in the candy aisle looking at the Reese’s and thinking to myself that they did not look large enough. However, probably the last time I held one was when I was a child and my hand was smaller. But, not too much smaller because I’m an adult with hands the size of a fourth grader’s. Really annoying.
This dessert was good, but I baked mine too long. The recipe says 30-40 minutes and she said it took 30 minutes for hers. At 30 minutes I did a check and it seemed too gooey so I kept it in for 5 more minutes. Too long. I think 30 minutes would have been better. Mine was a little dry on the bottom for my taste. The cream cheese layer was excellent but a little hard to spread with the Reese’s in it. They liked to clump together. Some people got a lot and some got a little. Chocolate cake, cream cheese, salty peanut butter, with melted chocolate on top, you really need to give this one a try.

Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake Bars
from Picky Palate
1 box devils food cake mix
1 egg
1 stick softened butter

8 oz softened cream cheese
1 egg
1/3 Cup sugar
10 regular size Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, cut into little pieces

1 Cup semi sweet chocolate chips
4 Tablespoons heavy cream

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9x13 inch baking dish with tin foil. Spray with non stick cooking spray. Mix cake mix, egg and butter together then press into baking dish.
2. Mix cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Stir in egg until well combined then stir in peanut butter cups. Pour over cake layer and bake for 30-40 minutes or until cheesecake is cooked through (it only took 30 minutes in my oven). Remove and let cool completely.
3. Carefully lift bars out of dish using ends of foil. Melt chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl in 30 second intervals until melted through. Stir in heavy cream and stir until glossy smooth. Spread chocolate over cheesecake layer, cut into squares and serve.

Banana Cream Cheesecake

When we go to the Cheesecake Factory I always ask my husband which cheesecake he is going to choose and it is the same every time. Banana. I don’t really know why I ask anymore. I myself do not have a favorite unless it is the two weeks out of the year that you can get Pumpkin. Yum. I’m a fan of pumpkin. You will see by my recipe selections this fall. Aren’t you excited? I know I am. So back to Banana Cheesecake. He loves banana flavored things which is interesting to me cause I don’t see him actually eat any bananas. But, I made this cheesecake yesterday with him in mind.
There are a few things to note. Number 1, make sure the sides of your crust do not clump up in the edges of the pan or it will be too thick and hard. You need even amounts of crust all over the pan. Number 2, the lemon juice is important for flavor. I did use a drop of lemon extract for extra flavor. It needed it. Number 3, the cheesecake cracks! (30 minutes after it comes out of the oven.) Yes, I hate when that happens, and no one took the time to warn me so I could guard against it. By simply putting a shallow pan of water on the lower rack of your oven you will create steam which will keep the cake from cracking and drying out. This works the majority of the time however, since I was not warned I did not get to try this out. My big clue should have been the small amount of Cool Whip topping.
The brown sugar in the crust and cake was excellent. The bananas baked very well and did not look strange afterwards. I did enjoy the creaminess and simplicity of this dessert; a lot less fuss and cost of a normal cheesecake in a springform pan.
If you find yourself at the Cheesecake Factory and you want real food, give the Chicken Piccata a try. It is the best!

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!!!

Banana Cream Cheesecake
1 (18 1/4 ounce) package white cake mix, divided
4 eggs, divided
3 tablespoons oil
2/3 cup brown sugar, packed, divided
2 bananas, sliced
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, Philadelphia, Softened
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 1/2 cups milk
1 1/2 cups whipped topping, Cool Whip, thawed
Directions
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Reserve 1 cup of the dry cake mix. Mix remaining cake mix with 1 egg, oil and 1/3 cup sugar with mixer (mixture will be crumbly). Press onto bottom and 1 inch up sides of a greased 13 x 9-inch baking pan; top with bananas.
Beat cream cheese and remaining sugar with mixer. Add reserved cake mix, remaining eggs and lemon juice; beat 1 minute. Blend in milk (batter will be thin). Pour into crust.
Bake 45 to 50 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool. Refrigerate 4 hours. Top with whipped topping, Refrigerate leftovers.

Cheesecake Bars

Update: The bars were a success! One thing that I forgot to say in the original post was that I did not use real lemon juice. I did not feel it was worth the effort for 2 teaspoons. Obviously they were looking for taste not liquid. I simply used an 1/8 of a teaspoon of lemon extract. Worked great.
They asked me why? You are doing what? That will cost a lot of money. Aren’t you going to gain weight? But, 6 months and 89 recipes later I’m still here.
It has been a big week of Ebaying, fancy things, some baking, and a little detective work on the side. I have an excellent story for you later that has absolutely nothing to do with baking, but one you will think is simply amazing. Well, I thought it was amazing, but I tend to be overdramatic about little things. I’m not going to tell you now because I would like to share it with a few other people in person.
So what is the recipe for Sunday School? Glad you asked, Cheesecake Bars. I asked for a few requests today and cream cheese was one of them. I don’t really like going to other dessert blogs to get my recipes because I feel like a copy cat. However, I ran out of time and jumped over to Cookie Madness for some help. One of the ways I try to challenge myself when baking a new recipe is to see the least amount of bowls and utensils I can use for one dessert. This one today was a one bowler and I used a sheet of wax paper to set aside my topping. Very easy. The recipe was simple and it did not take that long to bake so my oven did not heat up the house very long. Another thing I liked about this dessert is the bake time is very exact. No guesswork. yea.
Taste? Good question. Okay. You know what a moist cheesecake tastes like? Now, instead of a crumb crust, substitute a crumbled up Mexican Wedding cookie minus the powdered sugar. Wow. Excellent and I tried it before it chilled. I can't imagine how good it would be after sitting in the frig for two hours!

Cheesecake Bars
1/3 cup unsalted butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt (omit if using salted butter)
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup chopped, toasted nuts (pecans or almonds)
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
2 tablespoons milk
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8 inch square metal pan or line with non-stick foil. Beat butter, brown sugar and salt together until creamy. Add flour and stir until it is fully blended – batter will be thick and crumbly. Stir in the nuts. Measure out about 1 cup and set aside. Press remainder into bottom of pan. Bake crust for 15 minutes .Beat cream cheese and granulated sugar until creamy. Beat in lemon juice and vanilla, then add egg and milk and beat just until smooth. Pour cheese mixture over baked crust. Sprinkle reserved crumb topping over top. Return to oven and bake for 25 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack, then transfer to refrigerator and chill for at least 2 hours or until ready to serve. Makes 12 bars.

Where did those come from?

A Cheesecake for Valentine's

This has been a busy day for me in the kitchen. In an earlier post you may have noted that I made a glaze for a cheesecake. Well, here is that cheesecake. I got this recipe off of cookiemadness.net, but I changed some things. The cheesecake was well received tonight, I think, nothing like 4 bricks of cream cheese right before bedtime.
The cake had a little more of a hint of lemon than I would have preferred. I think I will cut back on the lemon extract next time just a little. Also, I knew that there would be a huge crack in the cake and there it was when it finished baking. I am curious if a bain marie, a water bath, would have helped in two ways. One, the crack and two, the ever so slight dryness to the cake. However, it was still very good and stood up so tall and proud, if a cake can be proud. Hmmm. I covered the crack with the chocolate glaze that I posted earlier and cut up strawberries in a sugar syrup. (Note: Sorry, my presentation was a little lacking on this post.)


Below are a few more desserts served at the party for your enjoyment. Paula Deen's Fresh Apple Cake and a Lemon Icebox Pie.