Chocolate Cherry Cheesecake Layer Cake

9 May

Today I came across a wonderful cake that incorporates a little bit of this and that. While surfing for a cake to prepare for a birthday party I found this recipe at Picky Palate. I love Jenny’s site and her recipes. I had nearly all of the ingredients so after a quick trek to the store, I was off to bake. The differences that I made were not using the brownie layer (more on that in a minute) and adding a layer of cherry pie filling under the cheesecake layer. For the frosting I prepared a chocolate buttercream frosting from Recipezaar. With over 300 positive reviews I knew I could count on this recipe. I doubled it for this cake.

Now as for the brownie layer in the cake, I had to omit it due to the massive size of the cake. I’m sure that it would make a wonderful addition, but next time I will bake the brownie layer in two pans, so I can easily only use a layer of 1/2 the height. So I am going to make brownie pops tomorrow with the brownie batch.

So, now for the how to:

Chocolate Cherry Cheesecake, Cake
Adapted from Double Chocolate Cheesecake Layered Cake @ Picky Palette
  • 2 – 8 oz packages softened cream cheese
  • 1/2 Cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 brownie mix 9×13 inch size (I baked but didnt use in this cake)
  • 1 chocolate cake mix
  • Chocolate Frosting Recipe, prepared

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place cream cheese and sugar into a stand or electric mixer bowl. Beat until softened. Beat in the eggs until smooth. Pour into a wax paper lined and greased 9 inch springformpan. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until middle is set and not jiggly. Remove and let cool completely. Refrigerate overnight or for 2-3 hours. Carefully remove sides and transfer to wax paper. **I placed the cheesecake in the freezer for about 30 minutes before removing from pan.

Prepare brownie mix according to package directions and divide evenly into a wax paper lined and greased 9 inch cake pan. Bake for 25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean from center. Let cool completely then carefully turn over onto wax paper; set aside.

Prepare cake mix according to package directions and pour into 2 wax paper lined 9 inch cake pans. Bake for 25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean from center. Let cool completely then carefully turn over onto wax paper; set aside.

Kittencal’s Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
Doubled from the original recipe

  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 3/4 cup cocoa
  • 1 tbl vanilla
  • 1/2 – 2/3 cup milk
  • 5 1/3 cup powdered sugar

Cream the butter in stand mixer. Add the cocoa and vanilla. Add the powdered sugar and milk alternately ending with the sugar. depending on the consistency you are looking for, you may not need 2/3 cup of milk, so don’t dump it all at once.

Putting it all together: (without the brownie layer)

Trim domed part of both cakes. Place one layer of cake, trimmed side down on serving plate and frost. Place a thin layer of the pie filling on top of frosting then top with cheesecake layer. Add another layer of pie filling then a layer of frosting. Place other cake layer cut size down, on top of the cake and finish frosting completely. Refrigerate to set the cake. Keep leftovers refrigerated.

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…May Flowers

1 May

Baking is one of the few things (if not the only) where I find myself indecisive. That is to say that I have bookshelf of baking recipes (cakes, bars, cookies…) on my ever-growing ”to do” list. This recipe was no different. Oh yeah, plain and simple aren’t in my repertoire. What starts quick and easy often escalates to something bigger and better. Enough rambling. I made these for my daughter’s 9th birthday party. There was no real theme to this party, so my decision wasn’t eased any.

My final decision for this cupcake was made just a few hours before the party. It was a last-minute epiphany that originated from recipes of Kraft and Betty Crocker magazines. The recipe uses a standard cupcake and frosting, but makes it bigger and better with a few marshmallows and some sprinkles. I was more than pleased with the result.

 

What you need:

  • 24 prepared cupcakes
  • Frosting, any of choice
  • 24 large marshmallows
  • Sprinkles
  • Jelly Beans or other round candy for the center
  • Here’s how to do it:

Frost the cupcakes, I colored mine green to match the tablecloth. Cut the marshmallows into 4 slices. Cut on the width, not the length of the marshmallow. Dip the sticky side of the marshmallow into sprinkles and place on top of the frosting. Arrange on top of frosting and place a jelly bean in the center. I suggest you refrigerate the cupcakes until the frosting has set completely, or the marshmallows may slide (depending on the consistency of the frosting).

You can create a more 3-D look by using 5 cut marshmallows and overlapping them on the cupcake top. That’s what I started doing, but they kept slide down the side and I didn’t have a lot of room to place the candy in the middle, so I dropped to 4 slices on each cupcake.

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Five Ingredient Dessert (never let em see you sweat)

25 Apr

 

Ha, lame title I know. Truth is this dessert is so easy, sweating will have to be reserved for post dessert exercise. This is a Kraft recipe, probably so well known I am just burning my wordpress memory to post it, but hey, it’s that good. The recipe is taken directly from the Kraft site. If you go to the link, you can also watch a video on how to prepare the cake.

Oreo & Fudge Ice Cream Cake

  • 1/2 cup hot fudge ice cream topping, warmed
  • 1 tub  (8 oz.) Cool Whip Whipped Topping, thawed, divided
  • 1 pkg. (3.9 oz.) Jello Chocolate Instant Pudding
  • 8  Oreo Cookies, chopped (about 1 cup) see note below
  • 12 vanilla ice cream sandwiches

Directions:

Pour fudge topping into medium bowl. Whisk in 1 cup Cool Whip. Add dry pudding mix; stir 2 min. Stir in chopped cookies. 

Arrange 4 ice cream sandwiches, side-by-side, on 24-inch-long piece of foil; top with half the Cool Whip mixture. Repeat layers. Top with remaining sandwiches. Frost top and sides with remaining Cool Whip. Bring up foil sides; double fold top and ends to loosely seal packet. I didn’t do that, it didn’t really work. So I just placed it in the freezer uncovered and covered the remaining cake after dessert.

Freeze at least 4 hours.

Note: I didn’t want to buy a whole package of Oreo’s (as no one here needs them!). So I purchased one snack pack of Mini Oreo’s. It was the perfect amount.

 

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Chicken Parmesan Burgers

25 Apr

I am always leery about serving a “new food” when company comes, but after all of the reviews, I knew I would be safe with this one. I adapted my recipe just slightly from the original recipe at Annie’s Eats (who got it from Elly Says Opa!) using the Bon Appetite recipe for the same dish. Note that my recipe is doubled.

I said all that to say this is an awesome recipe. Easy and easily adapted to your taste. Dessert too was new to us (see next post). It also was really, really good. I had the company fooled into thinking I slaved over this one, but later revealed the truth. Try it, you’ll like it, I promise. My kids kept moaning about how good dessert was.

Chicken Parmesan Burgers

Adapted from this and this

  • 2 lbs ground chicken
  • 3/4 cup Italian bread crumbs
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • 2 tsp Italian seasoning, and salt and pepper
  • 1 tsp fresh basil, chopped
  • 2 tbsp pasta sauce
  • 8 french bread rolls (or hamburger buns)
  • Zesty Italian salad dressing
  • Additional pasta sauce
  • Mozzarella Cheese, sliced (6 – 8) or shredded
  • Saute’d mushrooms (optional)

Prep:

In a large bowl, combine the chicken, bread crumbs, Parmesan, seasonings and 2 tbsp pasta sauce. Mix well until thoroughly combined. Form into 8 patties (though mine made 9). Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Pre-heat broiler. Broil the burgers for 4 – 6 minutes then flip and broil 4 – 6 mor minutes until cooked through (160 degrees). Remove and top each burger with pasta sauce and cheese. Return to broiler until cheese is melted.

For the buns, brush Italian dressing and toast under broiler until golden. Place burger on bun and serve with additional cheese, sauce and mushrooms if desired.

Notes about the recipe:

  1. I was concerned about not having the “breading” that goes along with traditional chicken parmesan, however the bread crumbs mixed in with the chicken forms a breading-like texture when broiled. The bread crumbs were already seasoned too, so that added to the wonderful flavor
  2. I used a jarred Pasta sauce – Classico Traditional Sweet Basil and Tomato
  3. I used bakery fresh french bread rolls that were the same size as the traditional hamburger bun
  4. From the Bon Appetit recipe was the idea to add some sauce into the chicken mixture. It was good because there were chunks of tomato intermingled in the burgers.
  5. The salad dressing brushed on the buns was epic. Ok, exagerrating slightly, but rather than butter slathered all over the buns, they toasted up nicely and had an Italian flare. I used Kraft Light Zesty Italian

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Black Bottom Cupcakes

13 Apr

I really didn’t plan the heart on the cupcake, but it turned out to be my favorite one. These cupcakes are easy to prepare and once baked, require no additional steps, other than eating it of course. This is another cake mix creation that has a long history in internet recipes. Some of the recipes include a cake baked from scratch and many from a basic cake mix. I would love to prepare the from scratch cake, but time did not afford that today.

This “cupcake”, may also be considered a cheesecake, or perhaps it is even muffin-like. No matter what you consider it to be, it is still a rich, luscious dessert that will meet any choco-holics expectations. I recommend a tall glass an ice cold milk in accompaniment. The cupcake itself starts with a basic devil’s cream cake base then a couple dollops of a cream cheese mixture are placed in the center of the batter. The end result are these beautiful decadent mini cakes. Hope you enjoy them!

Black Bottom Cupcakes (AKA Cheesecakes)

  • 1 box of Devil’s Food Cake Mix, or a homemade recipe like this one (at CookieMadness.com)
  • All ingredients as listed on the cake mix
  • 1 block (8 oz.) Philadelphia Cream Cheese, softened
  • 1/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips (or any size desired)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 (or as directed by the recipe). Place 24 cupcake liners in a regular size muffin/cupcake pan(s).

Prepare cake mix as directed. Fill cupcake liners about 2/3 full. If you fill each one evenly, you should have the perfect amount of batter with none leftover.

In a medium bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar and egg and mix until well blended. Stir in chocolate chips. Using a small ice cream or cookie scoop (about 1 tsp), drop 1 – 2 rounded teaspoons of cream cheese mixture into the center of the cupcake batter. I ended up with 2 tsp in each cupcake.

Bake according to directions for regular cupcakes. Remove and allow to cool. Serve warm, or refrigerate until ready to serve. Because of the cream cheese, you should store these in the refrigerator.

 

 

 

 

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