i made a blueberry cheesecake

I don't know why but I had been craving cheesecake for a little while. It's not something we have often during the year, and I think I've only made 3 or 4 times in my life. There's something a little daunting about it to me for some reason. I'm not sure if it's because I'm afraid it will crack down the middle while it cooks. Or if it's because you usually have to use a spring form pan to make it, and I have this nightmarish scene in my head of going to pick up the pan and the bottom completely falling out. But blueberries were on sale at the store (buy one get one free) so I decided to try my hand at making one last weekend.

I think it turned out pretty well for someone like me with the jitters. I used Tyler Florence's ultimate cheesecake recipe but changed the crust from a traditional graham cracker to more of a shortbread base since I don't think I can eat graham crackers.

It turned out shorter than I had anticipated, which was just fine with me. I think I used my larger spring form pan and if I had used my smaller one it would've been taller in the end. In hindsight, I think it justified the need for cutting wider slices. :)

Here's my recipe for the crust:

- 2 sticks of unsalted butter, room temperature
- 2 cups of flour
- 1 cup of sugar

Mix all of the ingredients together until it forms a dough consistency, and then press it along the bottom and slightly up the walls of the spring form pan. (I actually had some leftover so I just made a few little shortbread cookies with them.) Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes or until light brown.

I pretty much followed Tyler's recipe for the filling. For the blueberry topping, I added about 1/2 cup of water and increased the sugar to 1/2 cup and cooked it a lot longer so that a simple sugar would form with the blueberries which made it a little bit thicker.

I hate to sound like I'm bragging, but I have to say it was quite a delicious cheesecake! It was definitely not as difficult as I had anticipated it to be, although some water did seep into the foil that was wrapped around the pan (but I don't think that caused any damage).

The only disappointing part was forgetting that it would need to chill in the fridge for at least 4 hours, so we were kind of bummed that we had to wait until the next day to dig into it. But, as you can see, once we did it was quite rewarding! Tony took a couple of pieces in to work to thank a couple of his coworkers for their help on a project, and one guy who said he normally doesn't like cheesecake ate the whole piece without a complaint!

That, besides an empty plate, has to be the biggest compliment. :)

layered blueberry cake

I saw a recipe/article in a recent issue of the Rachael Ray magazine where the woman baked a cake in a large jelly roll pan so that it was really thin and only took about 15 minutes to bake. I decided to give it a try and brought it to work for a picnic lunch at work on Friday. I was a bit skeptical about the recipe because it only called for 1/2 a cup of flour and that just seemed way too low to me. Instead, I went with a cake recipe from the How to Cook Everything cookbook by Mark Bittman (you all know how much I heart this cookbook!) and I think it turned out great. Super easy to put together and the flavors are so refreshing for warm and sunny summer days.

Ingredients for the cake:

2 cups of flour
2 -1/4 tsps baking powder
4 eggs
1-1/4 sticks of butter (room temperature)
1 cup of sugar
¼ tsp almond extract
1 tsp vanilla extract
¾ cups of milk
½ tsp salt
1 pint of blueberries

Directions for the cake:

Beat the butter and sugar for a couple of minutes until it’s smooth, then add the eggs one at a time. Add the sugar, extracts, salt, and baking powder and mix well. Then alternate adding the flour and milk until it’s all blended together well. Add ½ of the blueberries, then pour it out into a buttered and floured jelly roll pan (I put a sheet of parchment paper on top of the pan which made it much easier to clean up later).

My batter didn’t reach all of the edges which was fine because I ended up trimming the edges anyway when I cut out the rectangles, and it made for good snacking. Hee hee. Oh and bake it in a 350 oven for 15-18 minutes (I started with 15 minutes but it wasn’t quite brown enough on top). Let it cool in the pan for a few minutes, and then cut it into rectangles. Transfer the rectangles to a cooling rack and let them completely cool before icing.

Icing ingredients:

1 – 8 oz. package of cream cheese (room temperature)
½ cup of prepared lemon curd (I like the Dickinson’s brand)
½ cup of sugar

Directions:

Blend all three ingredients until smooth. Then spread the love.

I stored the cake in my cake carrier with the lid on in the refrigerator overnight, and then let it thaw out to room temperature before we cut into it at lunch time (around 12:30 pm). The cake stayed nice and moist that way vs. the piece that I made for my husband that I put in the fridge without anything covering it. The cake got tougher overnight, but it was still yummy.

I can see using this technique of layering with different fillings in the future for other fun cake ideas. It really is pretty quick to put together from start to finish. Enjoy!

limoncello liqueur cupcakes

Once in a while at work we have a baking contest. And boy, do I have a lot of coworkers who are talented bakers! I made these limoncello liqueuer cupcakes for a liqueur themed contest we had at work today, and the seemed to be liked by a lot of people, although it didn't win first prize in the contest. Here's the recipe for the limoncello cupcakes, just in case you feel like whipping up a batch!

I should preface this by saying that I ended up tripling the recipe for the cupcakes after realizing that it yields only 12 cupcakes. I filled each cup about 1/2 way and I ended up with 44 cupcakes total. Some came out rather peaked, and some came out rather level on top. I don't know why ... I'm just sayin'!

Ingredients for cupcakes (my measurements for triple are in the brackets):

3/4 cup all-purpose flour [ x 3 = 2 1/4 cups ]
1 teaspoon baking powder [ x 3 = 3 tsps ]
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda [ x 3 = 4.5 tsps ]
1/2 teaspoon salt [ x 3 = 1.5 tsps ]
zest of one lemon [ x 3 = zest of 3 lemons ]
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar [ x 3 = 1 1/2 cups plus 3 tbsps ]
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, softened to room temperature [ x 3 = 1.5 cups ]
2 eggs at room temperature [ x 3 = 6 eggs ]
3 tablespoons limoncello liqueur [ x 3 = 9 tbsps ]
juice of one lemon [ x 3 = the juice of 3 lemons ]
1 tablespoon milk [ x 3 = 3 tbsps ]

Directions for cupcakes:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Line the muffin pan with the paper muffin liners.
3. In small mixing bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir in lemon zest and set aside.
4. In large mixing bowl, beat the sugar and butter together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition to fully incorporate. Add the limoncello liqueur, juice of the lemon and the milk. Beat for one minute.
5. Divide the batter up evenly into the 12 muffin liners. [Note: I filled them up 1/2 way]
6. Place the pan on a center rack in the oven and bake for 15 - 20 minutes, until the cakes have risen and are golden-brown on top. Test one for doneness by inserting a wooden pick into the center. The cupcakes are done when the wooden pick comes out clean.
7. Remove cupcakes from the oven and allow to cool completely before frosting.

Ingredients for the frosting (I made just one batch and it was more than enough to cover all 44 cupcakes):

8 ounces cream cheese, softened to room temperature
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, softened to room temperature
2 teaspoons limoncello liqueur
zest of one lemon
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 - 3 cups powdered sugar (I ended up using a whole 1 pound box of powdered sugar)

Directions for the frosting:

1. In a large mixing bowl, beat together the cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add the limoncello liqueur, zest and lemon juice.
2. Add two cups powdered sugar and beat on low speed until mixed, then beat on high speed until smooth. Beat in additional powdered sugar as necessary until the desired spreading consistency is achieved.
3. After the cupcakes have completely cooled, frost the tops of each with a icing tube and star shaped tip.

Enjoy! :)

coconut milk shrimp

I love when the jumbo easy-peel shrimp goes on sale at the grocery store because I love to make this coconut milk shrimp dish.

It's super easy to make! I honestly think the part that takes the longest is deveining the shrimp, but then again, I am the pickiest person when it comes to doing that (ask my husband) so it might not take you as long as it takes me.

Ingredients:

1 pound of jumbo easy-peel shrimp, shells removed, deveined*
1 can of coconut milk (not the low fat stuff!)
2 shallots, sliced
2 shoots of green onions/scallions
3 or 4 cloves of garlic
1/2 a stick of butter
salt and pepper

Directions:

1. In a large saucepan about 2 inches deep, melt 1/2 the butter over medium heat and add the sliced shallots. Season with salt and pepper, stir occasionally, and let them soften (about 5 minutes).
2. Add the garlic cloves (I like to put them in whole so that you can remove them easier later if you don't want to eat them and have garlic breathe the next day), turn up the heat to high, and add the shrimp.
3. Let the shrimp get cooked on one side before stirring and flipping them over (about 2 minutes). Add the green onions and the remaining 1/2 of the butter.
4. Once the shrimp are nice and pink, add the coconut milk. Stir and let it get back up to a little bit of a boil. Then turn the heat down to really low and let it simmer for another 5 minutes.
5. Serve over rice and enjoy!



*I put that asterisk next to deveining because when I say I'm picky about deveining, I mean I devein the backside of the shrimp and the belly of the shrimp too. I know, it's a bit much but that stuff creeps me out.

lime cornmeal glazed cookies

I made these lime cornmeal glazed cookies (a recipe from Martha Stewart) for our valentine themed coffee hour at work yesterday. I made them years ago (back before I knew I was allergic to corn!) and so I thought I'd give them a shot again. I think people liked them (errr, at least I hope so!) so here's the recipe in case anyone out there would like to try them out.

Ingredients (for cookies; makes about 2 dozen):

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
4 teaspoons freshly grated lime zest plus 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice (about 6 limes total)
2 teaspoons freshly grated orange zest (2 medium oranges)
1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal, plus more for coating glass

Directions (for cookies):

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add egg; beat until just blended. Add citrus zests, lime juice, and almond extract.

2. With the mixer on low speed, add flour and cornmeal. Continue beating until well blended. Chill until firm, about 1 hour.

3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with Silpats or parchment paper. Using a 1 1/4-inch ice-cream scoop, form balls from chilled dough. Place balls on prepared sheets, spaced about 3 inches apart. Dip bottom of a medium drinking glass into cornmeal. Flatten balls with the bottom of glass until dough is about 1/4 inch thick.

4. Bake cookies until crisp and light-golden brown around the edges, 14 to 16 minutes. Transfer baking sheets to a wire rack, and let the cookies cool completely.

5. Place a wire rack on top of a piece of parchment paper. Pour the lime glaze over the cooled cookies, allowing the excess to drip off the edges. Let glaze set. Store cookies in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

Ingredients (for the lime glaze; makes about 1 1/3 cup):

3 1/4 cups confectioners sugar
8 tablespoons fresh lime juice, plus 2 1/2 teaspoons freshly grated lime zest (about 6 limes total)

Directions (for the lime glaze):

Sift confectioners' sugar into a medium bowl. Add lime juice; stir until smooth. Stir in lime zest. Use glaze immediately.

I say lemon, you say squares!

That was the subject line in an email I sent out to some of my coworkers yesterday afternoon. I received this email on Monday afternoon from my husband with his coworker, Trevor's, name in the subject line:

It's a long story but basically, Trevor knows that I a) can bake and b) love a good challenge. We've dueled it out in Bubble Spinner as seen here, here, and here. So perhaps it was time for another challenge? I was totally up for it.

I found this recipe from the Martha Stewart website for creamy lemon squares and decided to give it a try on Tuesday night. It was much easier than I thought it would be and required so few ingredients, so I made two. Tony took one into to work that was cut into 16 pieces, and I took one to work that was cut into 36 small, bite-sized pieces.

I think I can venture to say that it was a huge hit! I was told that Trevor LOVED them (yes, you read that, in all caps!) and that he ate four of them (that detail is a little disturbing, I'll admit). And they disappeared in my office too.

It really helped to line the pan with parchment paper because it made taking them out really easy.


They turned out taller than typical lemon bars, and people said that they had a creamy consistency much like key lime pie. [Side note: no, I can't eat these. At least, we don't know if I'm really allergic to lemons because I haven't tested them yet but I didn't really want to take a chance. I tasted a tiny piece that fell off the knife and it was quite yummy.] The recipe called for sweetened condensed milk and if you ask me, anything with sweetened condensed milk tastes yummy!

I think the biggest compliment I received about them was from one of my coworkers who said he didn't normally like lemon squares. I convinced him to try one (using my, "They're only small squares, it's just one bite ..." plea) and I think he said I've converted him to liking them. That's awesome!

So here's the recipe for those of you that wish to whip up a batch (again, an easy-peasy recipe!). And just as an FYI, it took 4 lemons for me to get 3/4 cup of lemon juice.

Creamy Lemon Squares

Ingredients (makes 16):

- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan
- 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar, plus more for dusting
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
- 4 large egg yolks [oh crap! see comment below!!]
- 1 can (14 ounces) sweetened condensed milk
- 3/4 cup fresh lemon juice (from about 3 lemons)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8-inch square baking pan. Line bottom with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on two sides; butter paper.

2. Make crust: Using an electric mixer, beat butter, sugar, and salt until light and fluffy. Add flour, and mix on low just until combined. Press dough into the bottom and 1/2 inch up sides of prepared pan; prick all over with a fork. Bake until lightly golden, 15 to 20 minutes.

3. Make filling: In a large bowl, whisk together yolks, condensed milk, and lemon juice until smooth. Pour over hot crust in pan; return to oven, and bake until filling is set, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool completely in pan.

4. Refrigerate until filling is firm, about 2 hours or up to 3 days. Using paper overhang, lift cake onto a work surface; cut into 16 squares, and dust with confectioners sugar.

Okay, so um, I just realized that I made a mistake. I do this a lot where I read through a recipe way too quickly (i.e. not enough attention to details!). It calls for 4 egg yolks and I just realized that I used 4 whole eggs. That might explain why one of my coworkers said that "the other lemon bars you see at the grocery store are so yellow ... makes me wonder what else they put in them." Alas, it's probably because mine were so light from too much egg! Oh well. I hope they weren't too eggy!

Oh and one more note: I put the confectioners sugar on in the morning but then by the time I brought them out of the bag in the middle of the day it all had been absorbed into the lemon. So even though the directions don't call for it, I'd suggest storing them in the refrigerator until you need them because the surface gets a little slick at room temperature. (Although now I'm wondering if it was because my filling was too custard/pudding-like with the extra egg whites? Hmmmm ...)

easy sugar cookies

It was Sunday night. I was craving something sweet. Let's see, what's in the cupboard: flour and sugar. Do I have any eggs? Yes, got two eggs left. Hmmm ... maybe I can make myself some cookies? Let me Google (<-- I think that's a new legit verb) a sugar cookie recipe. A-ha! Here's one ... let's try it.

And voila!

They were super easy and so good. SO good. :)

coconut custard

I love to bake, but because of my stupid food allergies, most of the stuff I bake is stuff I can't eat myself. But, I love to bake. It's the one thing that I have to focus on actually using precise measurements to make something, which is so unlike my other crafty obsessions. Like cooking especially. Recipe? What recipe? Oh my poor husband - the same dish never tastes the same twice.

I found this recipe for coconut custard on Alicia Paulson's blog the other day and decided to give it a try. I remembered having some dried, unsweetened coconut in our cupboard at home so I made ours using that. Here's what it looked like in the end:

It turned out good but rather wet, and I think she refers to this in her post. Perhaps the coconut releases more liquid when it cooks? Too much sugar? Hmmmm. Still yummy though. :)

magic blondies

I tell you one thing, Ms. Martha sure can come up with good recipes. Or else, perhaps, the food people she hires can. I made a batch of these magic blondies for a coworker's birthday earlier this week and they were such a big hit! Super simple and super yummy (yes, I snuck a bite of Tony's, shhhhh!). I'll have to make another batch sometime next week after the holidays.

Magic Blondies (makes 1 dozen)

Ingredients:

2/3 cup sweetened flaked coconut
2/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
2/3 cup chopped walnuts (about 2 1/2 ounces)
2/3 cup dried cherries or cranberries (I used cherries)
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder (oh crap! just realizing that I forgot to add the baking powder! whoooopsies!)
3/4 teaspoon coarse salt
9 tablespoons (1 1/8 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350. Line a standard 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners; set aside.
2. Stir together coconut, chocolate, walnuts, and cherries in a medium bowl; set aside.
3. Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl; set aside.
4. Put butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla; mix until combined. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture, and mix, scraping down sides of bowl, until well combined. Mix in 1 cup coconut mixture.
5. Divide batter among muffin cups, filling each about three-quarters full. Sprinkle remaining coconut mixture over tops.
6. Bake blondies until a cake tester inserted into center comes out with a few crumbs but is not wet, about 25 minutes. Blondies can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature up to 2 days.

And here's snapshot of how they turned out. Enjoy!!

blueberry bread pudding

I stopped by the farmer's market near Harvard Yard after work today and picked up another crate of freshly picked blueberries, plus three ears of corn for Tony to enjoy tomorrow night. Dang stupid corn allergy! These look so yummy!

Last week, I bought a really long loaf of French bread that we only managed to eat half of. So I thought I'd try to figure out how to make bread pudding with the hardened loaf tonight. I Googled for a recipe and basically came up with this one by combining a couple of them and based on what I had on hand. It actually came out really good! :)

Here's a shot of what it looked like before I put it in the oven:

And what it looked like after. Not very pretty actually since the blueberries kind of exploded. But it tastes much better than it looks!