Tuesday, December 20, 2011

1-2-3 Cheese Cake


Very easy to make. Hardest part is letting it sit for 24 hours after making. Then not eating it all in one sitting (boy, you'd get sick!)

350 Degree Oven
9 to 10 inch spring form pan
I have also used this recipe and made a few small cheesecakes. I got some little spring forms. Sooo cute. People could have their own individual cake)
Cookie tray will go under the pan to catch any spills and helps be get the thing in and out and in and out (the cake goes in and out and in and out)

1. Crust
Graham crackers (honey and / or chocolate)
3/4 cup all crushed up. I use maybe two or three of the packages inside a box

Ground walnuts (if you want)
3/4 cup

Melted unsalted butter
3 Tablespoons or so. Not too much - but enough to stick the crumbs together.

Pat down the graham cracker nut crumbs at the bottom of the pan. Pour melted butter. Try to get it kinda smooth. Have it kinda form a barrier at the edge/seam of the pan all around the sides. Lick fingers.

2. Base
4 packages of 8 ozs of cream cheese blocks (I mix and match Philadelphia Brand and generic or whatever I find)
4 eggs (I think, by default, these are usually large - which is what I normally buy. Not mediums and not extra large)
1 1/4 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon of lemon juice (the standard amount - but if you don't want it too lemony use less. if you want it more lemony an extra splash. I have experimented with adding orange extract splash. Couldn't tell at all.)
2  sloppy teaspoons of vanilla (that sloppy spill just adds that much more yumminess)

Cut the cream cheese into chunks that won't jam your Cuisinart. Using the setting that lets you go on and off in "pumps" - start creaming that cream cheese.  After adding the last of the cream cheese let the machine run to get it really broken up and heading towards smooth - it will want to start balling up so you add one egg at a time to get it going toward liquid.  Then add the sugar and let it whirl to get nice and smooth. As it is mixing pour in the lemon and the vanilla and let it continue to get all mixed up.  

I stop the machine and take the whole top off from time to time to scrap down the sides.  After I add the lemon and vanilla, I check to see what got splattered on the inside top and scrap and swirl a bit more.

I pour the base into the spring form (or divide it up into the littler spring forms) and put it in the oven for 50 to 55 minutes.  If I keep checking it, usually 55 minutes - if I am patient, 50 minutes is usually good enough. It will still be a bit jiggley but not too jiggley. I guess error on the side of less jiggley for the first time until you can tell - because, you know, you will be making this over and over again.

3.Top
While the cake is in the oven - mix together
2 cups sour cream
1/4 cup of sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

After the 50 to 55 minutes, take the cake out and let it just sit there for about 15 minutes.  It will settle down a bit and probably crack. But who cares?! You will be covering the top with the sourcreaminessgoodnessyummy.

Spread the sour cream mix on the top. Start in the middle and go close to but not exactly touching the edges of the pan.  It is n't the end of the world to get it to the edge - it just looks prettier when you take the sides off the spring form if the sour creamy yumminess hasn't gotten stuck.

Put the whole cake back into the oven for 5 minutes.

Let it cool down.
Refrigerate for 24 hours.

Top with cut up fruit  - I've done strawberries cut different ways. Blueberries and strawberries. I've done thin sliced lemons. I've done nuthin'.

I've topped with fruit and then took the edges of the pan off.
I've taken the edges off and then topped with fruit.

I don't know if it really matters.

The whole cake is pretty dang heavy.
And it gets even better on day 3 if you have any left.

Vegan Oatmeal Cookies (With Suzanne's alternations)


3/4 cup margarine  (Earth Balance Butter Flavored)
1/3 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar (Dark Brown Sugar)
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup soy milk (Almond Milk)
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp ginger powder
1/4 tsp cloves (Barely any at all – just a hint)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg (Barely any at all – just a hint)
3 cups quick cooking or rolled oatmeal (2 cups quick and 1 cup rolled – about)
1 cup dried cranberries (Skipped)
Preparation:

Cream together the margarine and sugars until smooth. Add vanilla and soy milk and mix well.
Add flour, baking soda and spices until well mixed, then stir in oats and cranberries.

Spoon 1 1/2 inch balls onto an ungreased cookie sheet  (Sprinkle the top with just a smidge of Kosher Salt – I was accidentally too heavy handed on some!)
and bake 10-15 minutes at 350 degrees, or until done.

Saturday, December 10, 2011