Recipes






 WHITE CHOCOLATE CHEESECAKE
 (Food of the Gods)



CHEESECAKE
3 (8oz) packages cream cheese
11/2 cups sugar
5 eggs
2 egg yolks
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
8 oz white chocolate
raspberries

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Beat cream cheese with sugar until smooth. Whisk in eggs, egg yolks, flour, heavy cream and vanilla. Melt chocolate in a double boiler or in a large metal bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water, stirring until smooth, and remove from heat. Add melted chocolate slowly to mixture and stir until well combined. Pour into prepared Nut Crust in springform pan. Place on the middle rack in the oven. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 225 degrees and bake additional 50 minutes or until set. (Alternative is to bake at 350 degrees for 45-55 minutes.) Cake may be refrigerated, covered, up to 3 days.

Garnish with raspberries and/or white chocolate shavings.

NUT CRUST
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (or try shortbread cookie crumbs)
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup melted unsalted butter
1/2 cup ground walnuts

Combine crumbs, sugar, melted butter and ground walnuts in a bowl and mix until crumbs are moistened. Press over bottom and 2/3 up side of a 10-inch springform pan.






 7 LAYER JELLO
 (For the kid in you. It's quite the adventure.)





INGREDIENTS:
1 pint sour cream
1 cup sugar
2 cups milk
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 packages Knox gelatin
3oz lime jello
3oz orange jello
3oz cherry jello
3 oz lemon jello

Dissolve each jello in 1 ½ cups of boiling water.*  In a medium saucepan bring 2 cups of milk to a boil, then turn heat to medium and add sugar until dissolved.  Add sour cream and vanilla.  Stir until smooth. Dissolve knox gelatin in ½ cup of cold water in a separate small bowl. Then add it to the milk and sour cream mixture.

Use a 9”x13” glass dish or a jello mold of your choosing.
Pour 1st jello into the dish or mold and refrigerate for 45 minutes or until hardened. Measure approx 1 ½ cups of milk mixture and spoon over first layer of jello. BE SURE MILK MIXTURE IS ROOM TEMPERATURE! Harden 20 minutes.  Pour 2nd jello color over this hardened milk mixture.  Harden 45 minutes. Spoon another 1 ½ cups of milk mixture over jello and harden 20 minutes.  Pour 3rd jello color over this and harden 45 minutes. Spoon last 1 ½ cups of milk mixture over 3rd jello and harden 20 minutes.  Pour last jello color over this and harden for 45 minutes.

*I have found it best to just dissolve the first jello at the start. Then when you have put the first milk mixture layer in the refrigerator, dissolve the second jello. And so on. Otherwise the jello left for remaining layers sits out too long and can crust on the bottom, or even begin to gel at room temp. Not as pretty a picture.







LEMON LAYER CAKE (10.28.11)
(For Lemon Lovers Only)




CAKE
2 cups granulated sugar
4 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup dry white wine
2 ½ cups unbleached flour
½ teaspoon salt
2 ¼ teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest

  1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round layer cake pans.
  2. Beat sugar and eggs together, using an electric mixer, for 30 seconds on medium speed. Add oil, wine, flour, salt, baking powder and lemon juice & lemon zest; beat for 1 minute.
  3. Pour batter into the prepared pans. Set on the middle rack of the oven and bake for 30 minutes, or until cake has pulled away from sides of the pan and a testing fork inserted in the center comes out clean.
  4. Let cakes cool in pans for 5 minutes. Turn them out on rack and let cool for at least 2 hours before frosting or layering.

LEMON FILLING
1 cup sugar
¼ cup corn starch
1 ½ cold water
3 egg yolks, slightly beaten
Grated peel of 1 lemon
¼ cup lemon juice
1 tablespoon sweet butter

Combine sugar and corn starch in medium saucepan. Gradually stir in water until smooth. Stir in egg yolks.
Bring to a boil over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, and boil 1 minute. Remove from heat. Stir in lemon peel, lemon juice and butter. Cool.

LEMON ICING
1 pound confectioners’ sugar
8 tablespoons (1 stick) sweet butter, softened
3 tightly packed tablespoons grated lemon zest
¼ to ½ fresh lemon juice (start with ¼ and add as needed for personal consistency)

Cream sugar and butter thoroughly. Mix in lemon zest and juice.

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER:
Once cake and filling are cool, slice each cake horizontally. Best to use a very long, large serrated knife. Now you have ‘4 cakes’. Set the bottom layer on a cake dish using the top of one of the baked cakes facing down, cut side up. Spread 1/3 of the filling on that layer.

Gently place the other half of that cake on top, cut side down. Spread 1/3 of the filling on that layer.

Set the bottom half of the other cake on top, cut side up. Spread final 1/3 of the filling on that layer.
Place the last layer on top, with cut side facing down.

Spread icing on sides and top of cake.

Serve large slices and watch your guest’s lips pucker. 









STARBUCKS STYLE LEMON POUND CAKE (10.28.11)
(Easy way out, but still really good)



CAKE
1 pkg Duncan Hines® Moist Deluxe® Lemon Supreme Cake Mix
1 (3.4 oz) pkg instant lemon pudding and pie filling
4 large eggs
1 cup water
1/3 cup vegetable oil

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour 10-inch tube pan.
2. Combine cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, water and oil in large bowl. Beat at medium speed with electric mixer for 2 minutes. Pour into pan.
3. Bake at 350°F for 50 to 60 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 25 minutes. Invert onto heat resistant serving plate. Cool completely.

GLAZE
2 lemons
2 cups sifted powdered-sugar

Juice the 2 lemons. In a small bowl, slowly add the powdered sugar to and stir until smooth. It should look thick and opaque, but should be thin enough to be pourable. If it's too thin, add more powdered sugar. If it's too thick, add more lemon juice. Poke small holes all over the top of the cake using a fork or toothpick. Carefully pour about ½  of  the glaze over the tops and the sides of the cake. Let the glaze harden for about 2 hours or overnight. Cover the remaining glaze and keep at room temperature. About a half hour before you're ready to serve, pour the remaining glaze over the cake.

Watch you don’t eat the whole cake. 




 DECANDENT CHOCOLATE CAKE  (10.11.11)
(This will make them swoon.)


CAKE
1 cup boiling water
3 oz unsweetened chocolate
8 tablespoons (1 stick) sweet butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups granulated sugar
2 eggs, separated
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ cup dairy sour cream
2 cups less 2 tablespoons unbleached, sifted flour
1 teaspoon baking powder

  1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour a 10-inch tube pan. (or 2, 8 inch round pans). Knock out excess flour.
  2. Pour boiling water over chocolate and butter; let stand until melted. Stir in vanilla and sugar, then whisk in egg yolks, one at a time, blending well after each addition.
  3. Mix baking soda and sour cream and whisk into chocolate mixture.
  4. Sift flour and baking powder together and add to batter, mixing thoroughly.
  5. Beat egg whites until stiff but not dry. Stir a quarter of the egg whites thoroughly into the batter. And gently fold together. (DO NOT OVERMIX)
  6. Pour batter into the prepared pan. Set on the middle rack of the oven and bake for 40 or 50 minutes, or until the edges have pulled away from the sides of the pan and a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes; unmold and cool completely before frosting.

CHOCOLATE FROSTING
2 tablespoons sweet butter
¾ cup semisweet chocolate chips
6 tablespoons heavy cream
1¼ cups sifted confectioners’ sugar, or more if needed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Place all ingredients in a heavy saucepan over low heat and whisk until smooth. Cool slightly; add more sugar if necessary.

(Best ever, from The Silver Palate Cookbook)
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