Filed under: Snacks, Dessert, Comfort Food, North America, Feast Your Eyes

Filed under: Vegetables, Food News

Continue reading Sweet Potato Recipe Contest Winners

Ines De Costa has been the chef at St. John's Athletic Club in Fall River for 30 years.

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The other day, while looking for sweet potato fry recipes, I came across a recipe from Our Best Bites that was not only baked, but looked very crispy!

The problem with my past attempts at making sweet potato fries in the oven have always ended with limp results. These fries came out perfect.

I did change-up the spice mixture a bit since I was not in the mood for cumin or coriander at the time, and my husband liked it so much he kept asking me all day if I had written down the spice mixture yet.

Ingredients:

500 grams Sweet Potatoes

2 T extra virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon Oregano

1/2 teaspoon Salt

fresh ground Pepper (about 10 turns of a pepper mill - use a rough grind for the best flavor)

Directions:

please see the picture-perfect directions at Our Best Bites here.

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These rainbow cupcakes are, hands down, some of the cutest cupcakes I’ve made in a very long time. The colors make the cupcakes vibrant and fun - and, frankly, they’re just too cute NOT to eat!

Although they look complicated, the cupcakes are actually very easy to make. First, you need to mix up the batter for plain vanilla or white cupcakes. Divide it evenly into 5 small bowls, then add a generous amount of food coloring to each one to create the batters for the red, orange, yellow, green and blue layers. Vibrant colors are the best thing about these cupcakes, so don’t be afraid to add a little bit extra food coloring if you don’t think that yours are strong enough. The colors should be added to the cupcake cups one at a time, working one spoonful at a time. It’s a little tedious when you compare it to a single-color cupcake, but it still only takes a few minutes to get everything into the pans.

I used a cupcake recipe that calls for oil, instead of butter, and has a fairly thin batter. I like to use this cupcake recipe for a few different reasons. First, the cupcakes are very moist. Second, since there is a relatively high ratio (compared to some, but not all other cupcake recipes) of fat to flour, you don’t need to worry too much about overmixing and making the cupcakes tough when you stir in the color. Finally, these cupcakes don’t brown too much in the oven, letting those rainbow colors really shine through. I also did not use paper liners for these cupcakes so that their colors would immediately be apparent when you looked at them. Paper liners will work fine, of course, but I would opt to grease the pan and go without, or to use silicone cupcake liners instead.

Although it has nothing to do with the color, it’s also worth mentioning that these are not too sweet, so you can pile on the frosting to top off the rainbows.

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First off let me say that this post will most likely stir some people in the wrong way. So feel free to speak your mind but do so respectfully and with a real email address (no real one, your post goes bye-bye).

So other than the Person of Size comment, the other thing that has been bugging me is the word… chef. It seems everyone is one now, or so they think. People throw this word around a lot. But 90% of them who are throwing it around aren’t actually chefs.

Case in point. The other week when we were at a gathering, a man turns to me and says, “I heard you made the cake, it’s really good” and I replied back that “yes, I did, thank you”. He then told me, my “wife is a gourmet chef”. I said, “oh really, where does she work”? He went on to tell me that she doesn’t actually work in a kitchen that she was a stay at home mom. I told him then his wife was a gourmet cook, not a gourmet chef. The man seemed very put out. “Well, she’s really good, so she is a chef”. Ugh. *I need to clarify that this is a Foodie group. We meet up soley about food. And so, yes, he should have know the difference.

A chef is a person who cooks professionally. Professionally. Heck, I got me some pastry schooling and I don’t call myself a chef. I am an excellent baker and a good cook. That is what I am. If it annoys me I can only imagine how annoyed real chefs get.

There are a lot of blogs that use the word chef as well. I see amateur chef a lot. Because when I get a headache and I diagnose myself and give myself aspirin, I am now an amateur doctor. I stopped my rabbit from bleeding the other day when he broke off his nail, I am an amateur veterinarian. When I was using my blowtorch and my meringue caught on fire and I blew it out, that makes me an amateur firefighter. I think you see where I am going with this. Just because you cook that doesn’t make you a chef.

In non-related news my adorable hubby has been feeling a little under the weather as of late. Can’t seem to shake whatever ickys have come his way. So, me being nice, I decided to make him a treat. I am chocolate chip cookie making out so I went for brownies. My husband is a big fan of Bailey’s Irish Cream and so I thought I would throw that into the mix of some cream cheese brownies to make theme a little more special…and they are.

And with that I am off to watch a movie and practice being a amateur movie critic.

Bailey’s Irish Cream Cheese Swirl Brownies

For the Swirl:

3 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

2 TBSP unsalted butter, room temperature

¼  cup sugar

1 large egg

1 TBSP all purpose flour

2 TBSP Bailey’s Irish Cream

For the Brownies:

6 ounces sweet baking chocolate (I used semisweet), chopped

3 TBSP unsalted butter, room temperature

½  cup sugar

2 large eggs

½  cup all purpose flour

½  tsp baking powder

¼  tsp salt

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

For the Glaze:

4 ounces sifted powdered sugar

1 TBSP Bailey’s Irish Cream

milk to thin out (amount will vary)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly butter 8-inch square nonstick baking pan. Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese and butter in medium bowl until light and fluffy. Gradually add sugar and beat until well blended. Beat in egg. Mix in flour, Irish Cream,  and vanilla. Set mixture aside.

Stir baking chocolate and butter in heavy small saucepan over low heat until smooth. Cool slightly. Using electric mixer, beat sugar and eggs in large bowl until slightly thickened, about 2 minutes. Mix in flour, baking powder and salt. Mix in chocolate mixture and extracts. Stir in chocolate chips.

Spread half of chocolate batter (about 1 1/4 cups) in prepared pan. Using rubber spatula, spread cream cheese mixture over chocolate batter. Spoon remaining chocolate batter over top of cream cheese mixture. Using tip of knife, gently swirl through batter, forming marble design. Bake brownies until tester inserted into center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, about 30 minutes.

Make glaze. Combine powdered sugar and Irish cream. If too thick thin out with milk.

While still warm brush (using a pastry brush) glaze over brownies. Let sit for 15 minutes. Cut into squares.

I have a new form of people watching now. I guess it will help the time go by. I got my first round of allergy shots today. Yep, they hurt. But at least the nurse didn’t lie to me, she told me they would hurt. She was right.

After you get allergy shots you have to sit around and wait for 30 minutes to make sure you don’t have a reaction to them. And even though I did bring a book to read I found myself people watching far more than reading.

See the waiting area is right next to the exit. We must be next to some section where there are a lot of elderly people. And well, they are the funniest of all. My favorite today was the woman that reminded me of my grandmother. My grandmother always had her hair covered up with a plastic bag almost everywhere she went if the weather was bad or looked bad. This was to prevent her hair from being ruined and looking bad. It never seemed to occur to her that wearing a grocery sack from the produce department on your head would look bad.

I got to hear the little old couple argue for a good 10 minutes as to what parking lot they parked the car in. Only to be picked up by their son. So they didn’t even drive. Oye.

There was the head to toe leather couple. I really wanted to know what department they were going to. Yes, I was nosy. You don’t get a man in all leather pant, leather coat, leather boots and fringe everywhere. His wife or girlfriend was the same as well, though she had on a leather hat with fringe and an all leather purse. I sure hope they ride motorcycles, because if I find out they drive like a Ford Taurus I will be deeply disappointed.

I sure do hope I continue to have some good people watching as it made the time go by quickly. If I am not people watching or reading I am trying to think of recipes to invent. I didn’t think of this one today, I thought of this one while actually waiting at the allergist last week. I was so wanting a creamsicle but it was cold that day and I didn’t want ice cream, but still wanted the flavor.

The filling for this is nice and light, which is perfect because you don’t want it to be too heavy. If I had another vanilla bean I would have thrown another one it. I like to see my cookies speckled, but alas I was out. If you are a orange and vanilla fan, I think you will enjoy these Creamsicle Whoopie Pies.

Creamsicle Whoopie Pies

Vanilla Bean Whoopie Pies

2/3 cup vegetable oil

½ cup full fat sour cream

1 ½ cups granulated sugar

½ cup firmly packed light brown sugar

2 large eggs

2 vanilla beans, cut and seeds scraped out

1 tsp vanilla extract

zest of ½ a medium orange

3 ½ cups all-purpose flour

1 ¼ tsp baking powder

1 ¼ tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl, set aside.

Using a stand mixer (or a bowl and beaters) using the paddle attachment, beat together the oil and sour cream for 1 minute until combined.

Add the sugars and beat for another 2 minutes.

Add eggs, one at a time, making sure to scrap down the bowl after each addition.

Add the vanilla bean seeds, extract, and zest and beat for another 30 seconds until completely combined.

With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture. Mix until just combined, you don’t want to see any flour but you don’t want to over mix it.

Cover bowl with plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour.

Using a piping bag, fill the bag with batter. Pipe the batter to about the size of a quarter (I made mini ones) onto a parchment lined cookie sheet.

Bake at 350F for 6-7 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool on sheet for 5 minutes. Remove and move to wire rack to cool completely.

When cooled, match up two cookies of the same size. Take one cookie, and with the flat side up, pipe or spoon on the orange vanilla filling. Top with another cookie.

Repeat until you run out of cookies.

Creamsicle Filling

4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature

1 ¼ cups powdered sugar

1 ¼ tsp orange extract

¾ tsp vanilla extract

2 TBSP unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/3 cup heavy whipping cream

1 TBSP powdered sugar

In the bowl of a stand mixer (or use bowl and beaters) using the paddle attachment, combine cream cheese, powdered sugar, extracts and butter. Beat on medium-high speed for about 2 minutes. Transfer to a small bowl, using a spatula to get all of the cream cheese mixture. Set aside.

Clean bowl and place back at mixer. Add whipping cream. Using the whisk attachment, whisk the cream on high. When soft peaks form add the 1 TBSP of powdered sugar. Keep whisking on high until the cream has formed stiff peaks.

Add cream cheese mixture to the bowl with whipped cream. Using the whisk attachment, whisk together until completely combined and light and fluffy.

Now some may be wondering, what am I teaching the bunny to do? Nothing. I find it best not to train him (other than litter box train, which yes you can do) for everyone’s safety. See I am pretty sure that my bunny is the reincarnation of the Brain.

Now if you are wondering what I am talking about, I am in reference to Pinky and The Brain. It’s a cartoon that was out in the 90’s. It was original a short as part of another cartoon that became so popular they made it into it’s own show. It was about two lab mice. One is incredibly stupid, that would be Pinky. One is incredibly smart, that would be the Brain. Every night they would sneak out of their cage with one plan in mind….to take over the world.

I have come to realize that CCS is Pinky, lovable, happy, upbeat and generally doesn’t let much bother her.

LFB on the other hand is the Brain. I often see him plotting away in his cage. If he can ever figure out how to unlatch the cage…watch out. He already gets in and out of it when it is left open (it opens from the top). We used to do this all the time until we discovered that he was escaping…but would actually leap back into his cage if he heard you coming. Clearly, up to no good. Since I can’t be sure he’s not trying to take over the world or simply just get some beet tops from downstairs in the fridge, I find it best, in the interest of national security to not train him to do anything.

I, I on the other hand am trying to take over the world as well (quite unsuccessfully I might add). How? By slowly killing everyone off with fattening desserts. Alright, we know that is not true. We all know I am far too lazy to try and take over the world. But I still might be killing people with fattening desserts. This one is no exception.

Rice pudding hooked up with flan one day and what got created was this beautiful, straight to your hips Creamy Rice Pudding Cake. Oh my. If you are a rice pudding lover and you have never tried something like this  you must. It’s so comforting and yummy. The only problem I had is that even with the butter some of the caramel wanted to stay attached to the pan…but I forced it to work with me. I served it with a raspberry-lime coulis (yes, I realize I am on a raspberry sauce kick as of late) to cut through some of the richness of the dessert.

Approximately 279 WW points.

Creamy Lemon-Lime Rice Pudding Cake

2 cups half and half

2 cups heavy whipping cream

2/3 cup Arborio rice

½ cup packed brown sugar

4 strips lemon zest, removed with a vegetable peeler (you want them large enough to see so you can remove them later)

4 strips lime zest, removed with a vegetable peeler (you want them large enough to see so you can remove them later)

pinch of salt

3 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/3 cup granulated sugar

2 TBSP water

Bring cream, half and half, rice, brown sugar, zests, and salt to a simmer in a medium heavy saucepan over medium heat. Stir frequently. Reduce heat a cook to just a bare simmer, stirring occasionally for 15 minutes, or until most of the liquid is gone. Mine took almost 20. Remove from heat and let cool for 10 minutes. Once cooled, remove lemon and lime zests from the pudding mixture.

Whisk in eggs and vanilla. If you are not sure about how cool your pudding mixture is I would temper the eggs first.

Butter a 8 by 1 ½ inch round cake pan. Heat the granulated sugar and water in a small heavy bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Stir until the sugar has dissolved. Increase heat to high and bring mixture to a boil, washing down the sides of the pan with a wet pastry brush if you see any sugar crystals. Boil without stirring. Swirl the pan when you see color forming in order to get the caramel color to spread evenly. Cook until caramel is dark amber in color (you can go lighter if you like). Pour the caramel into the prepared pan. Let stand until cooled and hardened.

Pour rice mixture into the cake pan and smooth top with a rubber spatula. Bake at 350F for 35-40 minutes or until the top begins to brown but the center is still slightly jiggly. Let cool completely on a wire rack.

Run a knife around the edge of the pan. Invert cake onto a plate, tap the pan and carefully remove the pan. Serve in wedges.

Adapted from Luscious Creamy Desserts by Lori Longbotham

Raspberry-Lime Coulis

1 1/3 cup raspberries, fresh or frozen

juice of 1 small lime

3 TBSP powdered sugar

Combine raspberries and lime juice in a small saucepan. Cook over medium till the juice of the raspberries starts to come out. Add sugar. Cook until sugar is dissolved and berries are heated through.

Run berry mixture through a sieve. If you desire more sugar you can but remember this is going on a rich dessert so tart is good.

Like many people, I found TFL in my quest to learn how to make sourdough.  I had a starter going and was sure I had killed it.  The advice I found here gave me the knowledge and confidence to make a starter that I've been using for months now, with ever-better results.

Although there is a wealth of information here, there was no one source that detailed the method I used, which was based on Reinhart's "barm" in BBA.  Now that I have succeeded in making several starters, I've been thinking about making a video tutorial to walk through the process step-by-step, day-by-day.  My own experience and that of others here has taught me one thing:  sourdough starters don't read baking books, so they don't know how they are "supposed" to behave.  I could have been spared the angst, the wasted time, and of course, pounds of precious flour, if only I had known what to expect and what to look for. 

I don't have the technical part of video-making worked out yet, so I have decided to do a tutorial blog.  This will be a real test, as I am trying out a modified starter that I haven't made before.  It's still based on Peter's starter, but I have altered the amounts, and possibly the times, to suit my own fancy.  If all goes well, I will end up with a more reasonable (i.e., much smaller) amount of starter, and I will get there with much less wasted flour.

So here goes:

Day 1: 

Ingredients:  1/3 cup rye flour and 1/4 cup water

For the flour, I use stone-ground rye.  Nothing special, just what I got from the grocery store.  My water is tap water run through a filter.  Before I had a filter on my sink, I used bottled drinking water.

Mix the flour and water in a bowl.  It will be thick and pasty, kind of like the oatmeal that's left in the pot if you don't come down for breakfast on time. 

Once all the flour is mixed in, put it in a pint-sized or larger container and cover with plastic wrap.  Leave it out on the counter. 

And that's it for today.

Day 2:

Ingredients:  1/4 cup unbleached AP, bread, or high gluten flour; 1/8 cup water

There should be little, if any, change in the culture from yesterday.  Again, I'm not really particular about the flour.  I would just recommend staying away from bleached flour.  I am using AP flour for this batch.

Mix the flour, water, and all of the starter from yesterday in a bowl.  It will still be thick but a little wetter than yesterday. 

Put it back in the container (no need to wash it), press it down as level as you can get it, and mark the top of the culture with a piece of tape on the outside of the container. 

Put the plastic wrap back on top, and you're finished.

Day 3:

Ingredients:  1/4 cup unbleached AP, bread, or high gluten flour; 1/8 cup water

Around Day 3 or 4, something happens that puts terror in the heart of the amateur sourdough maker:  they get a whiff of their starter.  When you check your starter on Day 3, you may notice a strange, and not at all pleasant, odor.  And unless you know better (which you will now), you'll swear something is drastically wrong.  In fact, I would venture to guess that that smell has been the ruin of more amateur sourdough growers than anything else.  It's an acrid, sour, almost rotten smell, and it's perfectly normal.  And rest assured, your new baby sourdough starter will soon outgrow it.  So, take heart, and press on.

You may also notice that your starter has begun to come to life.  It probably won't grow a lot, maybe 50%, but you will start to see bubbles, like these:

Regardless of the amount of growth, stir down your starter, throw out about half (no need to measure, just eyeball it), and mix the rest with today's flour and water.  You will get a slightly more doughy-looking mass:

Once it's well mixed, put it back in the container (still no need to wash), pat it down, and move your tape to again mark the top of the starter.

Put the plastic wrap back on the container, and take the rest of the evening off.  You worked hard today.

Day 4:

Ingredients:  1/4 cup unbleached AP, bread, or high gluten flour; 1/8 cup water

And now, a word about measurements.  If you bake regularly, or even if you've just been nosing around baking sites for a while, you are no doubt aware that the ingredients in most artisan bread recipes are listed by weight rather than volume.  I measure by weight for my baking and for maintaining my sourdough starter. 

You might wonder why, then, am I using volume measurements here?  Two reasons: first, I have tried to make this starter as simple to follow as possible -- no special tools, no monkeying around with the scales, just a couple of measuring cups and a bowl.  And, when it comes to starting a starter, the measurements aren't as critical as when you actually go to bake with it.  So for now, we're just using measuring cups. 

Today is another one of those days where novice sourdough starter makers often lose heart.  Your starter is now coming to life, and like most living things, it kind of has a mind of its own.  Up until now, we followed the clock, making our additions every 24 hours.  Now, we will be letting the starter dictate the timeframe. 

Before you do your Day 4 additions, you want to make sure your starter has at least doubled.  If it doubles in less than 24 hours, you should still wait until the 24 hour mark.  If it takes more than 24 hours, be patient.  Let it double.  It may take another 12 or 24 hours, or it may take longer.  Again, be patient.  It will double.  Just give it time.  Eventually, you'll end up with a nice, bubbly starter:

You can see that mine more than doubled.  But I still waited for 24 hours.  Once it doubles, throw out half of the starter, then mix the rest with the flour and water, and back into the bowl it goes:

Replace the tape and plastic wrap.  Then wait for it to double.   It could take as little as 4 hours, or it may take more than 24 hours.  This time, you can move on to Day 5 at any point after doubling.  It's OK if you let it more than double; it's also OK to move on right when it hits the double mark.  So, hurry up and wait.

Day 5:

Ingredients:  3/4 cup unbleached AP, bread, or high gluten flour; 1/2 cup water

Once your starter has at least doubled, it's time for the final mix.

Combine flour, water, and 1/4 cup starter in a bowl and mix well.  Transfer to a clean container with room for the starter to at least double.

OK, one last time, cover with plastic wrap and let it sit on the counter until it gets nice and bubbly.  Don't worry so much about how much it grows, just so that it's bubbly looking.  This will probably take around 6 hours, but, again, don't stress about the time.  Let the starter tell you when it's ready.

When your starter gets bubbly, pat yourself on the back:  you are now the proud parent of a bouncing baby starter!  Put a lid or other cover on your container and put it in the refrigerator.  Let it chill overnight, and you can begin using it the next day.

Day 6 and beyond:

By today, your starter is ready to use.  The flavor will continue to develop over the next several weeks to month, so don't be disappointed if your first few loaves aren't sour enough for you.  I would still recommend beginning to bake with it right away, especially if you have never made sourdough bread before.  That way, you can hone your skills while your starter develops its flavor.

Feeding your sourdough:  If you keep your sourdough in the fridge, you only have to feed it about once a week.  And you can minimize your discards by keeping only what you need and feeding it when you want to bake with it.  I recommend a 1:1:1 (starter:flour:water) feeding, which means each feeding includes an equal amount, by weight, of starter, flour, and water. 

Start by weighing your starter, subtracting the weight of your container.  Then add an equal amount of flour and water directly to the container.  So, for example, if you have 100 grams of starter, you would add 100 grams each of flour and water.  If you feed your starter right out of the fridge, as I do, warm your water to lukewarm (90 - 100 degrees F).  After you mix in the flour and water, leave it out on the counter for a few hours, then put it back in the refrigerator.  It's best if you feed your starter a few days before you intend to bake with it.

To illustrate, here is an example of my feeding routine, starting with the Day 5 starter and assuming that I finished making the starter on Friday night:

• Saturday morning, I take out what I need to bake bread (2/3 cup using my normal sourdough bread recipe) and return the rest of the starter to the refrigetator.


• Wednesday of the next week, I get out the starter, weigh it, and add equal amounts of flour and water in a 1:1:1 ratio, as outlined above.  My goal here is to build up as much starter as I need to make bread on the weekend, and enough left over for my next build.  It's OK if I have more than I need to bake with.  If I don't think I'll have enough after a 1:1:1 build, I will increase my ratio of flour and water, maybe to 1:2:2 or 1:1.5:1.5.  In that case, I will let it sit out until it almost doubles before returning it to the fridge, which might take a bit longer, as I'm using less starter relative to flour and water.


• Friday night or Saturday morning, I again take out what I need to bake with and return the rest to the fridge, to be fed again mid-week.

This is just an example of how I keep my starter.  You can feed yours more often if you bake more than I do.  It's also OK to let it go more than a week between feedings.  If you do that, though, you might want to feed it a few times before you bake with it.

So, that's it.  Hopefully I've unravelled some of the mystery of sourdough starters and given you the confidence to try one yourself.  Good luck, and let me know how it works out for you!

Is it just us, or is this time of year exhausting? With all the shopping and parties, you need the right kind of fuel to get you through the day. Luckily, Gaslight, a French brasserie in the South End, is offering a filling and cheap brunch every Saturday and Sunday throughout this month.

For only $10, Gaslight's Prix Fixe brunch includes a glass of fresh-squeezed juice (orange or grapefruit), coffee or tea, a delicious pastry, and your choice of french toast, omelette, or soft baked eggs. Bostonist tried the omelette Lyonnaise - fluffy eggs surrounding sweet caramelized onions, savory cheese, and perfectly cooked potatoes. Served with crispy fries, the omelette was delicious and filling and definitely good shopping fuel. The pastry, Julia Child's spiced shortbread with raspberry jam, was a great ending to the meal - a buttery crust topped with gooey jam. You really can't beat this much well-crafted food for so little money.

Gaslight is offering this deal Saturdays (10am-3pm) and Sundays (10-11am) for the rest of December. If you have to deal with the malls or family, make sure to feed yourself well beforehand.

For more local food writing from Pam Aghababian, check out Cave Cibum.

If your lives are as hectic as mine, simple recipes can be a blessing. I especially need a few simple ones in my repertoire during the even-busier-than-normal holiday season.

While my preference is to make cakes from scratch, I am not opposed to augmenting a cake mix. This cake starts with both a boxed cake mix and boxed pudding mix. It really is so quick and easy to put together. I had it mixed and in the oven within minutes.

….there is a Red Velvet Cheesecake.

Falling into the why didn’t I think of that category I ran across a recipe in Southern Living Christmas Cookbook for a Red Velvet Cheesecake. My mouth dropped open just a bit. How had I never thought of this before. I mean my husband is the man who loves all things red velvet and he eats cheesecake. Plus I love to experiment with cheesecake flavors.

The question I get from most people when I made this was, does it taste like the cake. For the most part yes. It has all the flavor components but in a creamy texture that is cheesecake. And it has cream cheese frosting on top. So cheesecake with cream cheese frosting. Yeah, a pretty darn good invention if you ask me. The cheesecake is not baked in a water bath which I was reluctant about. It came out creamy but the next time I make this I will bake in a water bath.

I would love the say that I have crossed more things off my Holiday to-do-list. Other than getting the tree up that would be a big fat zero…and I got invited to another party. I find this the most ironic. For last year I was invited to zero parties. None, zippo, nada. This year 10. You think they could have spread these things out.

No gifts have been bought. Apparently when I told my editor that I needed my check so that I could Christmas shop, he must have thought I was super early and shopping for Christmas 09. It’s been “getting out” to me for over a month now and at this point I’m no longer holding my breath. I almost bought cards today but just didn’t find any I like. Hopefully you are having better motivation than me.

Red Velvet Cheesecake

For the Crust:

1 ½ cups chocolate graham cracker crumbs

¼ cup butter, melted

1 TBSP granulated sugar

For the Filling:

3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, at room temperature

1 ½ cups granulated sugar

4 large eggs, lightly beaten

3 TBSP unsweetened cocoa

1 cup sour cream

½ cup whole buttermilk

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp distilled white vinegar

2 (1 oz) bottles red food coloring

For the Topping:

1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese, at room temperature

¼ cup butter, at room temperature

2 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

For the Crust:

Stir together graham cracker crumbs, melted butter and 1 TBSP sugar; press mixture onto bottom of a 9-inch springform pan.

For the Filling:

Beat together cream cheese and sugar at medium low speed with an electric mixer 1 minute.

Add eggs, unsweetened cocoa, sour cream, buttermilk, vanilla extract, vinegar and food coloring.  Mix on low speed just until fully combined.

Pour batter into prepared pan.

Bake at 325F for 10  minutes, reduce heat to 300F, and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until center is firm.

Run knife along outer edge of cheese. Turn oven off and let cheesecake stand in oven 30 minutes.

Remove cheesecake from oven; cool in pan on a wire rack for 30 m minutes.

Cover and chill for 8 hours.

For the topping:

Beat cream cheese and butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth; gradually add powdered sugar and vanilla, beating until smooth.

Remove cheesecake from refrigerator and spread topping evenly over top of cheesecake.

Remove sides of springform. Garnish if desired.

Source: Souther Living Christmas Cookbook

Don’t you love it when you actually make up a recipe—all by yourself—and it WORKS?

That’s just what happened to me a couple of years ago, when I enjoyed a simple fruit-nut bread at a local Italian bakery. The bread itself wasn’t sweet at all; but it was packed with dried fruit, gilded with a light/crunchy sugar topping, and the entire package was simply out of this world. (more…)