Pumpkin cheesecake (swirled)




Pumpkin cheesecake

 I am on a baking spree! Maybe its the uncertainty of 2015, or being away from home this Xmass.. (Can you believe? the ONE year I don't fly 7'500 km to be home they have a 10 year highschool reunion!! How unfair Lol ..no 'nerd outcast rebirth' for me xD oh well, maybe in d 15 year reunion then Lol)

This cheesecake was so sunctuous and delicious that it barely survived 5 minutes in d office!!

It ranked top #1 (along with d carrot cake)!! so it is definitely a winner!

*Disclaimer: my cheesecake cracked a bit, so I have included some detailed steps to avoid craking :) 

Preparing base ingredients

Ingredients: 

Crust:

- 225 gr Speculoos cookies (powdered)

- 75 gr Pecan (powdered)

- 60 gr Butter (melted)

Cheesecake filling:

- 680 gr Philadelphia cheese (room temperature)

- 200 gr White sugar (caster)

- 2 Tbsp Cornstarch (or AP flour)

- 2 tsp Vanilla extract

- 4 Eggs (large; whole)

- 215 gr Pumpkin puree

- 2 tsp Cinammon (powder)

- 1 tsp Nutmeg (powder)

Butter a 9 or 10 inch round pan (all inside).

Pre-heat oven to 170 C (top & bottom), place a rack in the middle.


Making the cookie/pecan base

 To make the crust, in a blender powder the cookies & pecan together. 

Melt the butter in the microwave.



Then mix butter & cookie powder well together, and introduce into the greased baking pan. Press onto the bottom (and a little on d sides), and place into the oven to bake fo 6 minutes.



Once the 6 minutes are over remove from the oven and let cool down to room temperature (or place in the fridge to cool - of course over a heat-proof surface).

In the meantime, you can prepare the cheesecake filling:



Making d plain cheesecake



In a large bowl, place the Philadelphia cheese (room temperature!), white sugar, cornstarch and vanilla extract. Beat together until well creamed (2-3 min).

NOW, add the eggs and incorporate well with the lowest amount of beating/mixing possible.

The more you beat it, the more chances that your cheesecake will crack!!

Once it is well mixed, place 200-220 gr of the mix into a smaller bowl. To the small bowl, add the cinnamon, nutmeg and 215 gr of Pumpkin puree. AGAIN, incorporate with minimal amount of beating/mixing.



Split cheesecake, prepare pumpkin cheesecake mix



Remove the cold cookie crust from the fridge, and place half of the pumpkin mix onto the mold. Then, place the entire (plain) cheesecake mix on top. With a knife, swirl around a bit (without cutting into your cookie base).



Then, add the remaining pumpkin mix in spoonfuls over the top; and swirl with a knife. (See the picture for the swirling outcome).

Now you are ready to bake!

*So about craking:



A cheesecake cracks when the center reaches 65 Celsius.

The best way to bake the cheesecake is to do it "Bain Marie" (a.k.a. in a water bath). Unfortunately as you see I do not have a large enough pan to contain my 9 inch cake-pan.. Also if you line the tin with foil it will aid the no-cracking.




Filling pan by layering, and swirling

 

While baking do NOT open the oven.

So, after all that disclaimer :) ,, place the cake in the center of your middle oven rack, and bake for 55-60 min.

Once done, remove from the oven, wait a couple of minutes & pass a thin knife along the borders of the pan (to make sure it doesn't stick & crack while cooling down). Then, cover (not too tightly) with foil to let it cool down to room temperature.

Once at room temperature, place into the fridge and let refridgerate for a couple of hours.



After it refridgerated you can remove from the pan and serve as desired :)

.. a nice way would be with some Dulce de Leche drizzle & whipped cream :D


Pumpkin cheesecake - longside cut

 

Pumpkin cheesecake (slightly craked..)



Macarroni n cheese



Macarroni and cheese

One of the first American things that I taught myself to cook (on a "cold" 25 C Doha winter evening :P ) was mac&cheese. I think we all crave hearty comfort food (with a bit of a crunch/texture!) when the weather gets colder.. and knowing that 'cream-based sauces' are preferred at home, I gave this winner a try! It has evensince become a staple in my house :)

This is a really fast recipe is nice and creamy/moist (but not overwhelmingly heavy).

You can prepare this in provably 15-20 min if you don't intend to gratinate cheese & breadcrumbs on top.. (Gratinating takes about 15 min on its own,, but it is well worth the texture!!)

So here we go!

Ingredients:

- 75 gr Butter

- 75 gr Flour

- 1/3 tsp Salt

- 1/3 tsp Black pepper

- 1/8 tsp Nutmeg

- 1/4 tsp Cayenne pepper

- 1/4 tsp Garlic granules

- 0.75 cube Chicken stock (Maggi cubes)

- 600 gr Heavy cream (or light cream - depending how dense & heavy you want the sauce)

- 350 gr Very sharp Cheddar cheese (grated)

**Before you start I must say the "very sharp" for the cheddat cheese is what I suggest if you want to avoid the taste of boxed/artifical mac & cheese. The sharpness gives it a nice geniune flavour. (You will find sharp is a more dry looking cheese.)**

Place the macarroni to cook in a large pot. Once done, strain them and run through them cold water to stop cooking (to mushy).

Melt the butter in a pan over medium heat (4/6). Once melted, add the flour and mix together; keep stirring until butter looks golden color.

Add in all spices, and the heavy cream gradually; mix well (still over the medium heat) with a silicone-coated whisk (so you dont scratch your pan! :) ). Keep stirring constantly, making sure there are no lumps, until the mixture has thickened (~10 min).

Then remove from the heat, and whisk/mix in all the grated cheese, until well melted & combined.

(If you are having trouble with the cheese not melting, stirr it for 10 seconds over the heat until it does completly melt).

Mixed mac n cheese

In the large pan mix the macarroni and sauce together (straight after you finish preparing the sauce; so still warm). Then place into the desired pans.

**At this stage, the mac and cheese can refridgerate for a couple of days; or freeze for later use.**

- If you want to gratinate the top:

Sprinkle the top with cheddar/emmental cheese (or even parmesan), as well as some breadcrumb powder (this will be making it crunchy!).

Pre-heat the oven (top heat) at 240 C, then place the pan on the highest/er rack and let gratinate.

Keep an eye on it!



Ready for the oven (large or individual portions)



Serve hot! :)

Chocolate rice krispy treats

Chocolate rice krispy treats (packaged)

So this is d same as d "dragon glitter poo" recipe, but with regular Chocolate rice krispies :) and adjusted quantities to make it easier.

Took pictures along d way for you! (u can imagine d mess between stirring & photographing...

Ingredients:

50 gr Butter

30 gr Marshmallows

310 gr Choco krispies (full pack)

Grease spray a square pan (browney tin), set aside.

Melt butter at low-medium heat. Once fully melted, add d marshmallows, and stirr while melting them fully.

Melt butter, add marshmallows; melt completly (low heat)

Remove from hear and mix-in d choco-krispies until well combined.

Place into tin, and use a greased spatula to press the krispie mix into d tin. (If d spatula is not greased it will stick and u will struggle to press it down).

Add rice krispies, mix well; transfer to GREASED pan, press with GREASED spoon.

Let cool, then demold and cut into serving pieces.



Demolded chocolate rice krispies



Chocolate rice krispy treats







Doubletree cookie

Ingredients:

- 450 gr Butter

- 340 gr Castor Sugar

- 280 gr Brown sugar light

- 4 Eggs

- 2.5 tsp Vanilla essence

- 0.5 tsp Lemon juice

- 266 gr Flour

- 10 gr Baking soda

- 2.5 gr Cinnamon powder

- 75 gr Oats

- 2 tsp Salt

- 177.5 gr Walnuts (broken pieces)

- 900 gr Chocolate chips

Preheat oven at 170C (top & bottom).

Cream d butter and sugars together at medium speed (2 min).

Add eggs, vanilla and lemon juice; blend at low speed for 30 sec, then at medium speed until light and fluffy (2 min).

Add all dry ingredients, mix at low speed until just incorporated (45 sec).

Add chocolate chips and walnuts, blend at low speed until well incorporated (45 sec).

(Should make 48 cookies - each cookie ~52 gr).

Line each sheet with baking paper, and arrange cookies (they will expand greatly!). Place them in d freezer for 10-15 min to harden up a bit before baking.

Bake for 15-16 minutes (they should start being a big golden brown on d edges, and not crazy moist in the center).

(When baking more than one tray at a time, allow 9 cm space between oven shelves).

Let cookies cool down on the tray for at least 20 minutes (if not completely 1 ) before handling.

Red velvet cake w cream cheese frosting

Red velvet cake & cream cheese frosting

Ingredients:

- 312 gr Flour

- 250 gr Sugar

- 22.5 gr Cocoa

- 5 gr Salt

- 5 gr Baking soda

- 2 Eggs

- 350 gr Oil

- 240 gr Buttermilk (1cup milk + 1 tsp lemon juice)

- 15 gr White vinegar

- 6.25 gr Vanilla extract

- Red food coloring

Cream cheese frosting:

- 226 gr Cream cheese (softened)

- 100 gr Butter (softened)

- 10 gr Vanilla extact

- 1 kg Powder sugar

Preheat oven to 180C. Grease and flour your baking pan (I used a 23 cm round; twice).

Beat eggs, oil, buttermilk, vinegar and food coloring. Add in dey ingredients.

Divide in two, and bake for 25 min each.

Fruity pebbles rice krispies (Unicorn treats)

When i saw this online... It was love at first sight! i HAD HAD HAD to make these!! And after raiding 2 malls I found pink & violet fruity pebbles!! Ohh it was just SO meant to be 😂😂😂 ... I felt tempted to dust edible glitter all over them 😱



Fruity pebbles rice krispies

Ingredients:

45 gr Butter

280 gr Marshmallows

6 cups Fruity pebbles (almost d whole pack)

Grease spray a square pan (browney tin), set aside.

Melt butter at low-medium heat. Once fully melted, add d marshmallows, and stirr while melting them fully.

Remove from hear and mix-in d fruit pebbles until well mixed.

Place into tin, and use a greased spatula to press the krispie mix into d tin. Let cool, then demold and cut.

Cooling down (in greased pan)

Voilaaaa, food that wud make Choupette Lagerfeld poop glittery fairy dust! 💖

Cut & ready fruity pebbles

Carrot cake

Super moist carrot cake

I stumbled upon this recipe on food.com while searching for a moist (not overly complicated) carrot cale and cream cheese frosting (DC cupcake style). It had raaaaging reviews! you will STOP buying carrot cake for d rest of your life. Guaranteed! 

**Before u start, as a petite chef suggestion, get d man of d house to help and grate d carrots :). Alternatively, wear some gloves to prevent getting cuts.. (I always end up all bandanged after grating anything)**

Ingredients:

2 cups Flour all-purpose 145gr

2 tsp Baking soda 5gr

1 tsp Baking powder 4gr

1 tsp Salt 3gr

2 tsp Cinammon powder 5gr

1 cup Sugar (white)97gr

1/2 cup Vegetable oil55 gr

1/2 cup Apple sauce (75 grif u dont have, u can replace w 1/2 cup vegetable oil)

3 Eggs 

1 1/2 tsp Vanilla extract 

2 cup Carrots (shredded)

1/2 cup Coconut powder

1 cup Walnuts (chopped)

1 small can = 226 gr Pineapple (drained & crushed) 

Cream cheese frosting:

1 pack = 226 gr Philadelphia cream cheese

1/4 cup Butter (softened) 60gr

2 cup Icing sugar 200gr

Pre-heat oven at 175 C (top & bottom).

Grate the carrots, and set aside. Butter & flour a 20-23 cm round pan (tall one, this cake rises quite a bit).

Mix (I use a whisk) flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinammon, sugar, oil, apple sauce, eggs, and vanilla until smooth.

Stir in carrot, coconut, walnuts and pineapple. 

Ready for baking!

Pour in d pan & bake for 45 min.

Once done let cool a little before demolding. The cake must be at room temperature when you frost it, give yourself time.

For d frosting, cream the butter & cream cheese until smooth. Add d sugar, and beat until creamy.

You can frost outside only, or cut the cake in half and frost also in through d middle prior. Serve, or refridgerate in an air-tight container (holds for 1-2 days).

Pancakes

This is provably the first recipe that I ever cooked on my own... or more precisely my best friend Gema and I cooked on our own when my parents were out of town Lol We must have been 13 or so, silly silly girls :P

While this is a different recipe, here is a super easy recipe for normal (or more runny/light pancakes):

Pancakes:		Pancakes (light version):
- 1 cup Flour		- 1 1/2 cup Flour
- 1 tbsp Sugar		- 1 tbsp Sugar
- 1 tsp Baking powder		- 3 1/2 tsp Baking powder
- 1/2 tsp Baking soda
- 1/4 tsp Salt		- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 cup Milk		- 1 1/4 cup Milk
- 2 tbsp Vegetable oil		- 1 tbsp Vegetable oil
- 1 Egg		- 1 Egg

Place all ingredients in a bowl, and use a mixer to beat the mix until well blended.

Heat a pan at medium heat and place some vegetable oil (or butter), get a ladle and pour 1 ladle of mix into the pan, once the mix is not runny flip and ensure both sides are cooked.