Red Velvet Cheesecake Cake

Today is Tom's birthday.  Happy birthday Tom!  I always let him pick out whatever kind of cake he wants for his birthday.  I think the last 2 years it was Guinness chocolate cake.  But this year, I was at the Cheesecake Factory for a lunch with coworkers before Christmas and they had this cake that was layers of cheesecake and red velvet cake.  We were all ooh'ing and ahh'ing over it but were too stuffed after lunch to get a piece.  Then, literally the next day, this post from Beantown Baker with almost the exact same cake showed up in my Google reader.  I sent the link to Tom and said "I think I found your birthday cake!"  This cake is time consuming but totally worth it.  I added a little more cocoa powder to the red velvet cake than the original recipe and altered the frosting recipe a bit.




Red Velvet Cheesecake Cake
Adapted from Beantown Baker


Cheesecake
1 1/4 pounds cream cheese (20 oz), room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp lemon zest, plus 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 tsp coarse salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup sour cream

Cake
2 1/2 cup cake flour
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk
2 Tbsp (1 oz.) red food coloring
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp white distilled vinegar

Frosting
12 oz. cream cheese, room temp
2 sticks of butter, room temp
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3-4 cups confectioners' sugar

Cheesecake Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line bottom of a springform cheesecake pan with a piece of parchment paper.  Set a pot of water to boil.


2. Beat cream cheese on medium until fluffy, scraping down side of bowl. 


3. Add sugar 1/4 cup at a time and mix until fluffy.  Add in lemon juice, zest, and salt.  Then mix in eggs, then sour cream.  Scrape down sides of the bowl as needed.


4. Pour batter into springform pan.  Place pan in a roasting pan and then pour boiling water in roasting pan so it comes about halfway up the springform pan. 


5. Bake for 50-60 minutes until set in the center.  Remove pan from water and let cool.  Once cool, run a knife around the edge of the pan, remove edge of springform pan, cover cake in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.  Once chilled overnight, freeze the cheesecake before assembling the rest of the cake.

Red Velvet Cake Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350°. Grease and flour 2 9" cake pans and cover bottom of each pan with a parchment paper round.  I do this for ALL cakes now, just in case.  It makes taking them out of the pans so much easier.


2. Sift together flour, sugar, baking soda, cocoa, and salt in a medium bowl.

3. Beat eggs, oil, buttermilk, food coloring, vanilla, and vinegar in a large bowl with an electric mixer until well combined. Add dry ingredients and beat until smooth, about 2 minutes.

4. Divide batter evenly between two pans.  Bake for 25-30 minutes. 


5. Let cakes cool for 10-15 minutes and then invert cakes out of the pans and cool on a wire rack.  Wrap cakes in plastic wrap and freeze.  Cakes are much easier to frost nicely if they're frozen first, you won't have as many crumbs flaking off into the frosting.

Frosting Instructions
1. Beat cream cheese, butter, and vanilla together in a large bowl with an electric mixer until combined. 


2. Add sugar in 1/2 cup increments and beat until frosting is light and fluffy, 5–7 minutes.  Add  more sugar as needed if frosting is not stiff enough.

Assembly Instructions
1. Place bottom cake layer on plate or cake stand. Make sure you level the bottom layer either with a large knife (a long carving knife or a serrated bread knife works well).  After you remove the rounded part of the top of the cake, spread frosting on it, fold it in half, and enjoy a cake taco!


2. Spread a thin layer of frosting on outside edge of the cake then add frozen cheesecake layer on top of the red velvet layer.  My springform pan was slightly wider than my cake pans, so the cheesecake layer stuck out a little.  You can just easily work your way around the cake with a serrated knife and saw off the extra edge.  


3. Spread another thin layer of frosting on the edges of the cheesecake layer, then add the second red velvet layer.  I never bother leveling the top layers of cakes, I like having the top rounded.  If you prefer a flat topped cake, then feel free to level it before adding the layer.


4. Spread a thin layer of frosting around the whole cake.  This is called a crumb coat.  It's best to set aside a small bit of the frosting for this layer so that if you're dipping the knife in to the bowl of frosting you don't get the crumbs from the knife in the frosting.  This layer can be really thing, you just want something for all of the crumbs on the edges to stick to so they stay put when you put the final layer of frosting on. Once you have the crumb coat on, stick the cake in the freezer for a few minutes.


5. Add second layer of frosting evenly around the cake.  Decorate however you want - sprinkles, chocolate shavings, etc.

"The Chewy" Chocolate Chip Cookies

One episode of Alton Brown's Good Eats show featured different recipes for chocolate chip cookies depending on how you like your cookies: thin, chewy, or puffy.  I've never actually seen the episode, but I saw the recipe for The Chewy on a few food blogs and was intrigued.

This is hands down my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe.  I'll never go back to using the recipe on the back of the chip bag again.  If you like your cookies thin and crispy or puffy you should check out Alton Brown's other recipes here but if you like thick gooey chewy cookies then make these.  Now.  They stay chewy, and the generous amount of kosher salt gives them a perfect salty/sweet contrast.


"The Chewy" Chocolate Chip Cookies
From Alton Brown's Good Eats

2 sticks butter
2 1/4 cups bread flour
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
1 egg plus 1 egg yolk
2 tbsp milk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips


1. Melt butter either in microwave or over the stove.  Cool for a few minutes.

2. Sift flour, salt, and baking soda in a mixing bowl.

3. In a separate bowl, combine melted butter, sugar, and brown sugar, mix with paddle attachment on low until combined.  Add egg and yolk, milk and vanilla.

4. Slowly add flour mixture then chocolate chips.  The batter will be fairly liquidy because of the melted butter.

5.  Chill the dough for about an hour.  This step is key, the dough needs to be cold so that when the cookies are in the oven they don't melt and spread out too fast.  If they do, they won't be thick and chewy, they'll be flat and crispy.

6. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

7.  Scoop dough with ice cream scoop out onto parchment paper lined cookie sheets.  And yes, you do want to use a cookie scoop size ball of batter here.  These are big cookies, part of what makes them super chewy and thick.

8. Bake for 14-16 minutes until golden brown on the edges and enjoy with a big glass of milk.

Double Chocolate Cookies

I got a stack of cookbooks for Christmas that I'm slowly working my way through.  One of them was Flour by Joanne Chang.  She owns Flour bakery in Boston, which I've actually never been to, but I'm loving the book so far.  Brioche and sticky buns and cookies and donuts.  Everything is drool-worthy.

My husband had a work lunch from Flour bakery recently and had a chocolate cookie that was amaaazing (he snuck one home for me because he knew I wanted to try something from there after getting the book).  They're super chewy in the middle.  I suggested making them for one of his friends for her birthday.  I didn't really read the instructions before I started making them and they are pretty time consuming and I was cursing them a little while I was making them but I think they were worth it.  They're almost like a flourless chocolate cookie, there's only 1/2 cup flour in the whole batch of cookie batter.  Because there's so much chocolate in here, the quality of the chocolate is really important.  Don't just substitute store brand semisweet chips here.


Double-Chocolate Cookies
From Flour

4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, finely shaved
9 ounces (5 ounces and 4 ounces, separated) bittersweet chocolate, chopped or chips
1 stick unsalted butter
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup unbleached flour
4 eggs
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp instant espresso powder or instant coffee
3/4 cup walnuts (optional, I left these out)


1. Combine 4 ounces unsweetened chocolate, bittersweet chocolate, and butter in bowl of double boiler (or a metal bowl on top of a pan of boiling water).  Stir until melted and smooth, remove from heat and whisk in vanilla.  Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

2. Beat together sugar and eggs in a stand mixer with a whisk attachment for about 5 minutes until a light pale yellow.  Slowly add cooled chocolate mix on low speed until just barely combined.

3. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, salt, espresso powder, shaved chocolate, the remaining 4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, and walnuts.

Side note here, you can shave the chocolate with the fine part of a grater or with a microplaner.  It's kind of a pain in the ass step, it makes quite the mess (you try to wipe up bits of shaved chocolate and it just melts and smears everywhere).  I might try the recipe next time without this step or by just adding additional unsweetened chocolate to the melted mixture.

4. Fold the flour mixture into the chocolate mixture with a rubber spatula until evenly mixed.

5. Refrigerate the dough overnight or at least a few hours.  When ready to bake, set oven to 350 degrees.

6. Drop dough in 1/4 cup balls onto baking sheet.  The dough will be REALLY sticky.  It gummed up my cookie scoop and got alllll over my hands when I tried just using my fingers.  The best strategy I found was to use 2 spoons, one to scoop out the dough and one to push the dough off the other spoon onto the cookie sheet.  Don't worry about the dough being in perfect ball shapes.

7. Bake for about 15 minutes, until you see some crinkles on the tops of the cookies and the middle looks soft but not liquidy.  Cool on the cookie sheet for 10-15 minutes, these will fall apart if you try to take them off too soon, you have to let the chocolate set.

Eat them warm with a BIG glass of milk!

Hot Fudge Sauce

For Christmas the last few years I've been making food gift baskets for some extended family rather than buying gifts. I haven't actually done the math to see if this is cost effective or not but I like doing it. This year's baskets included a jar of hot fudge or butterscotch sauce.

Unfortunately I don't remember where I got this recipe from. But I've seen some other hot fudge recipes that say you need to cook the sauce for up to an hour to get it the right consistency. Not true! This sauce comes together in about 5-10 minutes once on the stove. Super easy and sooo good.

Another good thing about this recipe is that it can be adjusted depending on how "healthy" you want it to be. You can use skim milk and eliminate the unsweetened chocolate or you can use a dark higher fat cocoa and whole milk for a really dark rich sauce.

Hot Fudge Sauce

Ingredients:

3/4 cup cocoa

1 cup sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup butter

3 oz. unsweetened chocolate

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

1. Combine cocoa, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a double boiler over low heat and whisk to combine

2. Add milk, butter, and chocolate.

3. Stir constantly until butter and chocolate have melted and the sugar has dissolved. Do not let the mixture boil.

4. Remove from heat and whisk in vanilla.

5. Serve immediately or refrigerate and reheat as needed. The sauce will thicken when cool.

Snickerdoodles

This is my mom's recipe for snickerdoodles. Most people think that snickerdoodles are just regular sugar cookies rolled in cinnamon and sugar. And for the most part, they are. But the cream of tartar is the key ingredient. It gives the cookies a bit of a sour bite that's unique. Don't bother with any snickerdoodle recipe that has little or no cream of tartar, it's just not the same.

Snickerdoodles

Ingredients:

1 cup shortening

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

2 3/4 cups flour

2 tsp cream of tartar

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 tbsp sugar

2 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Sift dry ingredients and set aside in a bowl.

3. Combine shortening and sugar in mixer bowl until light and fluffy. Add eggs and mix to combine.

4. Slowly add dry ingredients to the wet.

5. Refrigerate the dough for about 15 minutes to stiffen it up.

6. Combine cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl. Roll balls of cookie dough approximately 1 inch in diameter, then roll in the cinnamon and sugar.

7. Bake on ungreased cookie sheet for 8-10 minutes.

Apple Cake

Fall is my favorite season. As it starts to get cooler and the air conditioner is no longer needed in our apartment I start to think about baking more. I love it when the kitchen smells delicious and the oven warms the whole room. Another favorite thing about fall is apples. Apple picking, apple cider, apple pie, apple cake. Yum! This is a super easy recipe for apple cake that I got from my former roommate Jen. It's moist, crisp and sugary on the edges and takes only about 10-15 minutes to get it in the oven.

Apple Cake

Ingredients:

2 cups sugar

1 cup melted butter

2 eggs

2 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

dash salt

4 cups peeled and diced apples (6-8 medium sized apples)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13 pan with either butter or oil spray and set aside.

2. Mix sugar and melted butter in a bowl until light and fluffy, then add eggs and mix to combine.

3. Sift dry ingredients together and add slowly to the wet ingredients.

4. Fold in diced apples.

5. Spread batter evenly in greased 9x13 pan.

6. Bake for 45 minutes until edges and top of cake are golden brown.

Easter Cake Pops!

Cake pops are making the rounds on food blogs lately mostly thanks to the insanely cute creations from Bakerella. This was my second attempt at making these and it went much more smoothly than the first! While both tasted good, getting the aesthetics down takes a bit of practice, and I still haven't quite figured out how to avoid flat topped cake pops yet, but with more practice I'll be busting out cute little mini cupcakes, chicks, and all sorts of holiday related pops.


Cake Pops
Original inspiration from http://www.bakerella.com/


1 box cake mix of your choice
1 can of store bought frosting of your choice
Candy melts or chocolate (from your local craft store)
Lollipop sticks
Decorations/sprinkles of choice



1. Cook the cake according to the box directions in a 9x13 pan.

2. Cool cake completely.

3. Once cool, break up cake into large bowl, add can of frosting and stir with large spoon to combine. You want this all pretty smooth, any big chunks of cake may fall out when dipped later.

4. Once combined, scoop out cake into small balls, about 1" in diameter with a cookie scoop or melon baller. Or just eye it. Roll balls in your hands until uniform in shape and place on cookie sheet.

5. Freeze or refrigerate cake balls until cold and stiff throughout.

6. Put candy melts or chocolates in a small container, not too wide so the cake can be almost submerged. Melt candy according to directions or by putting in microwave at 50% power for 30 seconds at a time, stirring in between.

7. Take cake out of freezer or fridge. Place a stick in the cake and then evenly roll it in the melted chocolate. Then place on parchment or wax paper to dry. If you are adding decorations, you need to do it now, the chocolate hardens very quickly. And if you need to reheat the chocolate, be sure to place the cake back in the freezer to keep firm. You don't want them falling apart or off the sticks in the chocolate!

8. If you have some that look like they're going to fall off the sticks, drizzle a little chocolate around where the stick is to seal it.

These are the Easter ones we made this weekend to bring to my family's. It's a good thing they're bite sized, cake + frosting + chocolate = major sugar rush!

Cinnabon Clone - A love at first taste recipe

Need a recipe that will instantly make someone fall in love with you? Or ensure that someone you're already with will love you forever? Well, this is it.

I saw a recipe on http://www.allrecipes.com/ recently for a "clone of a Cinnabon." Allrecipes can be a hit or miss site since anyone can upload recipes, but I like that it has a ton of traffic, so you can sort the good recipes from the bad by the ratings and reviews from other people. This recipe had a perfect 5 star rating from over 2,500 people. That's usually a good sign.

These are definitely a weekend kind of project, there are a few steps, a bunch of dishes, and a few hours involved in the whole process. But I've made cinnamon buns from scratch before and some from a King Arthur Flour kit, but this recipe takes the cake. If you click through to the allrecipes site, please, whatever you do, do not click on the nutrition information button. These are worth the calories.

Clone of a Cinnabon
Recipe from: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Clone-of-a-Cinnabon/Detail.aspx

For the dough:
1 cup warm milk (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
2 eggs, room temperature
1/3 cup butter or margarine, melted
4 1/2 cups bread flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup white sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons yeast

1. Combine all ingredients in stand mixer bowl fitted with the dough hook attachment. Turn on low to medium speed and let the dough hook do its thing. The dough hook is wonderful, no messy kneading by hand, it does all the work for you. Just remember, don't lock the mixer down since it will jump a little while kneading.

2. Once combined into a smooth dough, transfer dough to a mixing bowl that's been sprayed with oil. Cover tight with plastic wrap and put in a warm place to rise for about an hour. I usually put the bowl on the back burner of our gas stove where it gets some heat from the pilot light. But any other warm spot will do: top of your dryer while you're doing laundry, the top of your fridge. Or leave just out at room temperature for a little longer.

3. Wait until dough has doubled in size. It should go from this:

To this:
4. Lightly flour a spot on your counter, flip the dough out, then take a rolling pin and roll out to about a 16x21" rectangle. Cut off any uneven edges.

For the filling:
1 cup brown sugar, packed
2 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1/3 cup butter, softened
5. Combine brown sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. A trick I learned today: if you have some brown sugar that's rock hard, put it in a microwave safe bowl, cover the hard pieces with a damp paper towel and microwave for about 30 seconds. Don't microwave too long or the sugar will melt.

6. Spread 1/3 cup butter on dough evenly with a butter knife. Then sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture evenly. Make sure your dough is not too close to the edge of the counter, otherwise, when you go to roll it all up, the brown sugar/cinnamon will fall out the end all over the floor. Yes, I learned this the hard way. I am a very messy cook.

7. Start at one end and roll up the dough. Cut into 12 rolls. Place rolls in a lightly greased (Pam spray, not butter) 13x9 pan and place back in your favorite rising spot for another half hour until rolls have almost doubled and fill the pan.

8. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

9. Bake rolls at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes until just golden brown on top.

For the glaze:
3 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt

10. While the rolls are baking, beat together all glaze ingredients until smooth in a mixer with a whisk attachment. The consistency will resemble cake frosting more than glaze.

11. Spread the glaze evenly on warm cinnamon buns. Then, enjoy!