rice krispies - easter bunny wars

Growing up, my family never really celebrated Easter with me. I think I've gone Easter egg hunting once in my entire life, and it was essentially to just babysit my little cousins. If I recall correctly, I was about 14 years old, surrounded by 5 and 6 year olds. Of course I didn't take all to eggs (that would just be too unfair), but I did walk away with a good big purse full of chocolates. Now that I'm an adult (lol), I wanted to delve into these hidden ignored emotions. That one pitiful East egg hunt did not make up for my lack of Easter-love as a child.

So what else is a grown adult to do other than make rice krispie treats in Easter-themed shapes?

Making the rice krispies was the easy part, molding the adorable Easter bunnies was the hard part.

I've come to realize I'm pretty nifty with these little cereal pieces. Remember last Christmas I sculpted an impeccable Holiday House, which was unfortunately destroyed the NY blizzard of '09 (RIP Holiday House).

Okay, so I cheated a little. I used canned vanilla frosting and mixed them into ramekins with food dye. I figured I wasn't going to be eating my little bunnies, so there was no use to whip up a batch of some bangin' homemade frosting.

Decorating was a lot harder than anticipated. I may be a master in the kitchen (har, har), but I'm pretty inept and decorating crudely-shaped bunnies.

The ear of my bunny was too heavy to support its own weight with all that disgusting frosting, hence the breakage. And that obscure pink mishmash to the right would be my boyfriend's stocky-horned concept of a bunny.

Easter-fail.

mini cinnamon brown sugar cheesecake - wrong season, but equally yummy

While waiting for my mini blackberry cheesecake to bake, my mind began to wander. What if, for some unknown reason, the jam separates in the cream cheese mixture and floods the entire cheesecake? Or, what if, for some other unknown reason, I got the timing wrong for these damn mini springform pans and happened to be severely overcooking them? Whatever the case may be for these strange exaggerations running through my mind, I was just not content with the cheesecake (and yes, this was while the cheesecake was still in the oven). I scrambled for another recipe to make; there was no way this Friday's baking activities were going to end unsatisfactory.


I figured- what the hell, I'd try to conjure up yet another mini cheesecake. (You see, technically, two mini cheesecakes equal half of a regular size cheesecake. Mathematically, I think these cheesecakes are still aligned with my diet plan, hehe.)


As for flavoring, I chose to go in a complete opposite direction from the blackberry cheesecake. Perhaps something seasonal and warm? I found a lot of recipes online for a cinnamon brown sugar cheesecake and it just spoke to me. (I guess I was confused and thought the current season was Fall.)


"You call me a bitch like it's a bad thing?" Believe it or not, shot glasses are useful for more than just measuring vodka shots when you've had a bad baking day. I used the shot glass to press down the graham cracker crumbs and push them up against the walls. Oh, and did I mention I flavored the crust with more cinnamon and brown sugar? (Delicious!)


So unlike the blackberry cheesecake, this little monster decided to collapse upon itself while baking. This is an everyday occurrence for my 9-inch spring form pan, but I'm truly appalled that this is the first time my mini pan caused breakage.


Besides the disgusting depression in the center, the tiny brown cylinder of deliciousness really pleased me. Mini cheesecakes just might be my new favorite thing.


These little slices were just the right size to nibble on (that is, if you were in the nibbling mood).


My boyfriend and I, on the other hand, probably found the entire 4.5 inch diameter cheesecake the perfect size to share between just the two of us.


For the record, both my cheesecakes I made today were equally delicious. I have no idea why I freaked out about the blackberry one, but at the same time I'm glad I decided to venture out and make this little baby. So I guess I've found my ultimate go-to basic cheesecake recipe.

---RECIPE---
Adapted from All Recipes.
I one-fourthed the recipe to fit my 4.5 inch springform pan.

crust ingredients:
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts (omitted)
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
5 tablespoons butter, melted

cheesecake ingredients:
3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese
1 cup white sugar
1 cup sour cream
1 cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 eggs
A few good shakes of cinnamon and a little bit of nutmeg
A few heaping tablespoons of brown sugar

directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a medium bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs, chopped walnuts, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and melted butter. Mix well and press into the bottom of a 9 inch springform pan (4.5 inch in my case). Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool.
2. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar together until smooth. Beat in sour cream and heavy cream. Blend in the flour and vanilla. With mixer on low speed, add eggs one at a time. Pour batter over crust.
3. Bake in the preheated oven for 60 to 70 minutes, or until center is almost set (filling will be soft). Refrigerate at least 6 hours or overnight before removing from pan. ()If using a 4.5 inch baking pan, I got these directions from Hub Pages: Bake at 300 degrees for 40-45 minutes or until center of cheesecake is almost set. I let them sit in the oven after I turned it off for another 10-15 minutes.)

mini blackberry cheesecake - purple and fruity, just like me

My weekends typically begin on Fridays. You see, I've perfectly arranged my schedule these past three years in college to avoid the dreaded Friday morning classes. The only way to celebrate (at least in my book) is to bake! What else is new? Although this is nothing out of the ordinary for me, as I typically already do bake my ass off every Friday, I wanted to do something a little different today. Perhaps I'd fiddle with some recipes and conjure up some baked goods of my own. Hold on- am I even capable of such a feat?


There are some baking recipes that are more forgiving than others- cheesecake, for example. Regardless if you're making a New York style cheesecake, a creamy smooth cheesecake, or even a flavored one for that matter, it all comes down to the basics. I generally stick to recipes with a smaller height and with the use of flour.


Luckily for me, I recently bought a mini cheesecake pan (4.5 inches). As seen in my mini lime cheesecake for St. Patrick's Day, I was able to one-fourth the recipe to create this little tin of creamy goodness. As for the flavoring for this cheesecake, well, let's just say I played around with it.


I found a delicious jar of blackberry jam in my fridge (I absolutely love blackberries). I separated about a quarter of the basic cheesecake batter into a little cup and mixed it with at least a heaping tablespoon of this delicious jam. After pouring the plain cheesecake batter in my little tin, I poured the jam version on top and did a little swirling. Gorgeous, is it not?


First off, purple is my ultimate favorite color, so this cheesecake is essentially me in a nutshell (creamy, fruity, and purple?)


But we all know that I can't eat an entire cheesecake, even a miniature one at that, all by myself. (Well, technically I could, but that probably wouldn't be suitable for my diet.) So the true test came when I had my picky-eater sample this concoction of mine.


The verdict? Creamy, smooth, and cheesecakey. Happily he did enjoy it (and ate most of it, thank goodness). But as for me, I was personally disappointed with the lack of flavor from the jam. Perhaps I didn't use enough jam (although the bright purple color of the cheesecake says otherwise). Anyways, my purple-colored plain cheesecake did entertain me for the day (oh, and did I mention I made another mini cheesecake that day too? Hehe).

---RECIPE---
Adapted from All Recipes.
I one-fourthed the recipe to fit my 4.5 inch springform pan.

crust ingredients:
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts (omitted)
3 tablespoons brown sugar (omitted)
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon (omitted)
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg (omitted)
5 tablespoons butter, melted

cheesecake ingredients:
3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese
1 cup white sugar
1 cup sour cream
1 cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 eggs
1 heaping teaspoon or so of jam/preserves of your choice

directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a medium bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs, chopped walnuts, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and melted butter. Mix well and press into the bottom of a 9 inch springform pan (4.5 inch in my case). Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool.
2. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar together until smooth. Beat in sour cream and heavy cream. Blend in the flour and vanilla. With mixer on low speed, add eggs one at a time. Pour batter over crust.
3. If adding jam/preserves, reserve a fourth of the batter mixture into a small bowl and mix well with jam. Pour that on top of plain batter and swirl with a toothpick.
4. Bake in the preheated oven for 60 to 70 minutes, or until center is almost set (filling will be soft). Refrigerate at least 6 hours or overnight before removing from pan. ()If using a 4.5 inch baking pan, I got these directions from Hub Pages: Bake at 300 degrees for 40-45 minutes or until center of cheesecake is almost set. I let them sit in the oven after I turned it off for another 10-15 minutes.)

tiramisu - granting the final of the trifecta

The day before I left for California, my boyfriend and I contemplated what to bake for the day (seeing as how we both needed our daily fix of sweets). My boyfriend, as predictable as he is, generally craves the same things. Besides the good ol' chocolate chip cookies and chewy chunky blondies, he's constantly on the request for red velvet cake, napoleons, or tiramisu. While I've granted him both the red velvet cake and the napoleon, I still have yet to make a tiramisu for him. What a poor, deprived baby.


Truth is, I've made tiramisu before (while at my parents' house over last winter break). It came out decadent and delicious, and quite possibly equal to the tiramisus I've tasted in Italy.


The reason why I've never made tiramisu at home is simple- money. Go and call me cheap, but when a recipe calls for 1.5 pounds of mascapone cheese (up to $4 for a single 8 oz. cup), more than 50 lady fingers, and a ton of heavy whipping cream, tell me you wouldn't do the same and put this pricey cost upon your parents.


Well I guess my boyfriend was craving tiramisu to the ultimate extreme that he was willing to forgo these pricey costs just to have a slice. But once I mentioned to him that there was a minimum 24 hour wait before taste time (which from my last experience I'm capable of attesting to this fact), he slowly surrendered.


In any case, we ended up baking the cookies and the blondies, for which I would bring half to my family in California. My conniving boyfriend on the other hand waited patiently for my return so we could finish up on his request. We spent the entire day preparing this boozy Italian cake, and then waited the allotted 24 hour span for it meld. (And yes, I was a tiramisu nazi making sure he didn't sneak a slice when I wasn't looking.)


When the appropriate time arrived, I cut him a big ol' slice of tiramisu. His eyes watched in amazement as these layers of cake and cream that he really did help create, magically transformed into this famous Italian "pick me up".


The taste was just as delicious as the first time I made it, (maybe even more, because I had a delicious boy helping me create it).

---RECIPE---
Taken from Cook's Illustrated.

Recipe found here.