Vanilla Bean Cheesecake

It's been quite a while, readers! I recently went to New York for a wedding that I was a bridesmaid in-- and that I provided a cheesecake for. It was a bit stressful making sure the cheesecake made it from Virginia to New York all in one piece and unscathed. But it made it there OK, and the hotel staff was very helpful! So the wedding cake was already included in the catering (phew!) so all I had to do was make a special cheesecake for the bridal party (the bride and groom are not fans of cake).

The bride, Dvon, loves the vanilla bean cheesecake from a certain restaurant named after a certain weekday. So after a little research, I discovered that the cheesecake is actually from a foundry, or factory, per se, that creates these confections. After even more research, I was able to find a copycat recipe that had rave reviews. The recipe is as follows (I doubled it so I could have enough to make a 10" cheesecake with a bit left over for an extra little 6" cheesecake! :))

The Crust:

• 1 1/2 c crushed graham crackers
• 1/4 c sugar
• 1/4 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 c melted butter
• 1 egg yolk

The Filling:

• 16 oz cream cheese
• 1 c sour cream
• 2 Tbsp corn starch
• 1c sugar
• 2 Tbsp softened butter
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 vanilla bean, scraped 

First, crush the graham crackers. (a wine bottle and thick zipper bag comes in handy here)

Mix in sugar, then add egg yolk and vanilla. Then stir in melted butter.
Line a springform pan with non-stick foil, and press the cracker mixture into the pan.

Bake at 375 for 8 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool!

Then combine cream cheese, sour cream, corn starch, and sugar and mix well until sugar is dissolved.

Scrape the vanilla bean...

Then add the "caviar", butter and vanilla extract. Blend until smooth and do not overmix!

Mmmm be-speckled with vanilla goodness

Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes. Cool for 1 hour! At this point, I had wrapped it several times over and popped it into the freezer. Then I moved it to a refrigerator the night before it was to be consumed, so it could thaw out.

As the finishing touch, I added a layer of French Vanilla Cool-Whip ( I would have made some whipped cream from scratch, but I didn't lug my Kitchenaid with me to New York). Then I added some purple roses and silver leaves (those were the colors of the wedding) and topped it off with some shaved white chocolate. And at Dvon's request, I added white chocolate-dipped strawberries around the edge.

That's the only picture I have of this cheesecake. I'm sure there were other pictures taken at the actual wedding.

I was so happy to find that the cheesecake was a hit! I thought it would be pretty tough to please New Yorkers since they are probably used to amazing New York cheesecake, but they loved mine! And I managed to snag a piece, and it actually was pretty awesome, if I don't say so myself! :)

Congratulations, Dvon and Brian!

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Vanilla-Ginger Buttercream

Hello, all! I've returned with yet another pumpkin recipe (trust me-there will be more to come). This came up out of my love for all things pumpkin, which stretches back to my childhood. I actually have my mom to thank for introducing me to this delicious gourd. Every Thanksgiving, she'd make pumpkin muffins, and since the first bite, I was fascinated by them-- and their ability to stain surfaces orange. After that, I wanted to eat other things with pumpkin: pies, cakes, ice cream, scones, lattes, anything. So it's only natural that I also love the spices that help enhance the pumpkin flavor. Cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, and in this case-- ginger! I started with the Pumpkin Spice Cake recipe I used last year. I used the full recipe so I could make a few cupcakes and two 6-inch layers (more of that later).

While those were baking, I made the Vanilla- Ginger Buttercream.

• 1/2 c shortening
• 1/2 c (1 stick) butter, room temp
• 2 tsp vanilla
• dash salt
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 4-5 c powdered sugar
• 2-3 Tbsp milk

1) Cream butter and shortening then add vanilla, salt, and ginger.
2) Add sugar, 1 cup at a time, beating on medium speed.
3) Add milk 1 tablespoon at a time and beat on high until completely blended.

And voila!

Like my cute little fondant pumpkin?

These cupcakes were amazingly delicious and deliciously amazing. I must say, these cupcakes have left a huge orange stain on my heart. :)

Sample Machine Cake

My dear brother recently celebrated his 30th birthday (which was also a special birthday--30 on the 30th!) so I just had to make him an awesome cake! He has been making beats for several years, and music is his passion, so I wanted to make something that embodied that. Then I thought, "why not make a cake that looks like his sample machine?" I started with a white cake recipe from allrecipes.com

• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 cup milk

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Baker's Joy a 9x9 inch pan ( I used an 8x8)or line a muffin pan with paper liners.
2) In a medium bowl, cream together the sugar and butter. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Combine flour and baking powder, add to the creamed mixture and mix well. 

3) Finally stir in the milk until batter is smooth. Pour or spoon batter into the prepared pan. 

 
4) Bake for 30 to 40 minutes in the preheated oven. For cupcakes, bake 20 to 25 minutes. Cake is done when it springs back to the touch.* For my 8x8 pan, it took about an hour*

While the cake was baking, I worked on a Ghirardelli Chocolate Buttercream recipe:

• 4 ounces Semi-Sweet Chocolate Baking Bar ( I used semi-sweet chips)
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 1/3 cups hot milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/8 teaspoons salt

1) In heavy saucepan on low heat, melt broken chocolate with butter, stirring constantly. 

2) Beat sugar with milk, vanilla, and salt until smooth. Add melted chocolate, and beat until thick enough to spread on cake. 

After the cake had cooled, I cut a layer, and added some frosting and Heath bits.

After covering the cake in fondant, I went to work on some details.

Little knob detail...

And here was my reference...

Courtesy  zzounds.com

He loved it!