Quad Chocolate Cheesecake

Recipe and photo from Grandbaby Cakes
Ingredients 
For crust 

• 1 9-ounce box chocolate wafer cookies
• 6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted

For the Filling 

• 1 1/2 cup whipping cream
• 1 teaspoon instant coffee powder
• 12 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
•  2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
•  3/4 cup sugar
•  1 tablespoon cornstarch
•  1 cup sour cream
•  2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 large eggs

For Chocolate glaze  

• 1/2 cup whipping cream
• 4 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

 For White Chocolate glaze

• 1/2 cup whipping cream
• 4 ounces white chocolate, finely chopped

Preparation

Make crust:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Wrap outside of 9-inch-diameter springform pan with 2 3/4-inch-high sides with double thickness of foil. Spray bottom of pan with vegetable oil spray. Finely grind cookies in processor. Add butter and process until blended. Press mixture onto bottom (not sides) of prepared pan. Refrigerate while preparing filling. 

Make filling:
Combine cream and coffee powder in medium saucepan. Stir over medium heat until coffee powder dissolves. Reduce heat to low. Add chocolate; whisk until chocolate melts and mixture is smooth. Cool 10 minutes.

Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar in large bowl until well blended. Beat in cornstarch. Add sour cream and vanilla; beat well. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each addition. Whisk 1 cup cheese mixture into chocolate mixture. Return chocolate mixture to remaining cheese mixture; whisk until smooth.

Pour batter into crust. Place springform pan in large baking pan. Add enough hot water to baking pan to cone halfway up sides of springform pan. Bake cheesecake until softly set and slightly puffed around edges, about 1 hour. Turn off oven. Let cake stand in oven 45 minutes. Transfer springform pan t rack and cool. Cover; chill cake overnight. 

Make Chocolate glaze:
Bring cream to boil in heavy small saucepan. Remove from heat. Add 4 ounces chocolate and whisk until melted and smooth. Pour glaze over top of cake. Using spatula, smooth glaze evenly over top. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)

Make White Chocolate glaze:

Bring cream to boil in heavy small saucepan. Remove from heat. Add 4 ounces chocolate and whisk until melted and smooth. Drizzle over set chocolate ganache glaze in pretty pattern.  Refrigerate until both glazes are set, at least 2 hours.  Using knife, cut around sides of pan to loosen cake.  Remove pan sides.  Cut into wedges and serve. 

Bear with me while I fix my blog!

My apologies. In my attempts to pretty up this page, I appear to have broken it. Now nothing lines up and the pictures are all skewiff.

I will return tomorrow to continue fixing it. For now, bedtime.

Nikki

QUADRUPLE LAYER PEANUT BUTTER CHOCOLATE CARAMEL CHEESECAKE!!!!

Recipe and photos from Hugs and Cookies

THE QUADRUPLE LAYER PEANUT BUTTER CHOCOLATE CARAMEL CHEESECAKE!!!! 2 CHEESECAKE LAYERS, 2 GF CHOCOLATE CAKE LAYERS, 2 LAYERS OF THICK HOMEMADE CARAMEL, GANACHE GLAZE, WHIPPED GANACHE FROSTING, PEANUT BUTTER TOPPING FOR DECORATION, REESE'S PEANUT BUTTER CUPS AND HOMEMADE CHOCOLATE CRAFTED CURLS.

SET ASIDE 2 DAYS MINIMUM AND GET TO WORK. USE ANY CHOCOLATE CAKE RECIPE OR MIX YOU LIKE.
THIS RECIPE USED BETTER BATTER GLUTEN FREE CHOCOLATE CAKE MIX TO MAKE THIS A GLUTEN FREE RECIPE. THIS CAKE IS WORTH EVERY SINGLE CALORIE!

BAKE BETTER BATTER CAKES IN TWO 9 INCH PANS FOLLOWING BOX MIX.

Crustless Cheesecake portion:

30 mini peanut butter cups, CUT IN FOURTHS

2 sticks softened butter

1 cup granulated sugar

4- 8 oz packages cream cheese, softened

1- 3 oz. package cook and serve vanilla pudding

4 eggs

2 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease two 9" pans with shortening, line the pans with
parchment and then grease the parchment. Lightly flour the pans and tap out excess
over the sink.

Cream butter and sugar. Add cream cheese until smooth. Add remaining ingredients except peanut butter cups. Mix again until smooth. Fold in peanut butter cups. Divide batter evenly between 2 pans. Bake 55- 1 hour. Once out of the oven, place immediately in freezer! Cheesecake will deflate forming a nice pocket for the caramel.
Turn out frozen cheesecakes and remove parchment. Reline the pan they
were in with enough parchment to hang over the sides of the pan.
Place the cheesecakes back in the pans and return to freezer.

Make the caramel

TWO -14 ounce cans of Eagle sweetened condensed milk

10 T. butter

80 KRAFT caramels

Make the caramel in 2 batches dividing above ingredients. Put 1 can sweetened condensed milk, 5 tbsp. butter and 40 caramels in a bowl. Microwave about 3 mins. until smooth-stir as you go.

Pour caramel evenly over center of frozen cheesecakes. Return cheesecake layers to freezer.

Layer cakes: chocolate, cheesecake and repeat

Frosting Recipe
1 2/3 cup Nestle chocolate chips
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1/2 T. light Karo corn syrup

Put chocolate chips in a bowl. Heat cream in microwave. Pour hot cream over chips and stir. Remove 2/3 cup chocolate mixture into a bowl and add corn syrup to it. Pour this over top of cake for a shiny look. Return cake to freezer.

Pour rest of the ganache into the mixer bowl and whip on high for about 8 mins. until fluffy!! Frost sides of cake with this!

Peanut Butter decorations:
2/3 c. Skippy peanut butter-creamy!
8 T. soft butter
1 c. powdered sugar
Beat pb and butter and slowly add sugar. Beat till smooth. Pipe onto cake using pastry bag or ziploc bag with cut corner.

For Chocolate curls, I melted chocolate onto a cookie sheet and scraped it up when cool using a bench craper. You tube has great videos for technique!

ADAPTED FROMhttp://www.sprinklebakes.com/2011/03/peanut-butter-cup-chocolate-cake.html

Jack Daniels Cupcakes

Recipe and photo from Hugs and Cookies

INGREDIENTS

1 ¾ cups plus 2 tablespoons flour
¾ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
¾ cup butter, at room temperature
1 ½ cups sugar
3 eggs
¾ cup whole milk
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

BEAT BUTTER AND SUGAR. ADD EGGS ONE AT A TIME. ADD VANILLA. COMBINE DRY INGREDIENTS AND ADD, ALTERNATING WITH THE MILK. DIVIDE IN MUFFIN TINS AND BAKE AT 350 20-23 MINS 

UNTIL TESTER COMES OUT CLEAN. COOL COMPLETELY BEFORE FROSTING.

FROSTING!!!!!
ELECTRIC MIX ALL UNTIL FLUFFY...

3 STICKS SOFT BUTTER3 3/4C POWDERED SUGAR

9T. COCOA POWDER
6T. MILK
SPLASH OF VANILLA

6 TSP. JACK DANIELS

White Chocolate Key Lime Pie

Recipe and photo from Kitchen Simplicity

You can use key limes or regular limes for this pie.

Biscuit Crust

• 2 Packs Malt Biscuit (or similar) crumbs 
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup butter, melted

Mix ingredients together in a 9-inch pie plate until evenly combined. Press evenly onto the bottom and up the sides of the pie plate. Refrigerate for 30 minutes before filling.

Pie Filling

• 1 cup whipping cream
• 11 oz. white chocolate chips
• 1 tablespoon sour cream
• 1 teaspoon lime zest
• 1/3 cup lime juice
• Garnish: lime slices and chopped white chocolate

Melt together cream and chocolate chips in a small saucepan set over low heat. Remove from heat, stir in sour cream, lime zest and juice. Pour into prepared pie crust. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 8 hours, or overnight.

Garnish with limes slices and chopped chocolate if desired.

Lemon Meringue Pie

Recipe and Picture from Paula Deen

Ingredients 

1   8-inch prebaked pie shell or crumb crust
3   egg yolks
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1/2 cup lemon juice
1   14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk

Directions

In medium bowl, combine milk, lemon juice, and zest; blend in egg yolks.  Pour into cooled crust.

Meringue:
3 egg whites
1/4 teaspoon cream or tartar
1/4 cup sugar

In medium bowl, combine milk, lemon juice, and zest; blend in egg yolks. Pour into cooled crust.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Beat egg whites with cream of tarter until soft peaks from.  Gradually beat in the sugar until stiff.  Spread over filling; seal to edge of crust.  Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until meringue is golden brown.

Truffle Pie

Recipe and picture from Paula Deen

Ingredients:

Garnish: 
1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
1 cup heavy cream

Whipped Cream Topping: 
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cup heavy cream
6 ounce bittersweet chocolate chips

Whipped Chocolate Filling: 
1   (9-inch) prepared graham cracker crust
6 ounce bittersweet chocolate chips
2/3 cup heavy cream

Truffle Filling: 
1 1/2 ounce milk chocolate
1 1/2 ounce white chocolate
1 1/2 ounce semisweet or dark chocolate

Directions

For the truffle filling, in a saucepan, bring 2/3 cup cream to a simmer. Place the 6 ounces chocolate chips in a bowl and pour the hot cream over the chocolate. Let stand for 1 minute, then gently whisk until smooth. Spread truffle filling over the bottom of the prepared piecrust. Freeze for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, for the whipped chocolate filling, in a double boiler or a microwave set on low power, heat the 6 ounces chocolate chips with 1/2 cup of the cream until the chocolate is just melted, stirring often. Let cool to room temperature. In a chilled bowl, beat the chocolate mixture, remainint 1 cup of cream and the vanilla until soft peaks form (tips curl). Spread the whipped chocolate mixture over the truffle filling in the crust. Refrigerate overnight.

For the topping, just before serving, beat 1 cup cream on medium speed of an electric mixer until it begins to thicken. Add confectioners’ sugar and whip until stiff peaks form (tips stand straight). Spread the whipped cream over the top of the pie. Using a grater or vegetable peeler, make pieces or shavings of milk chocolate, white chocolate, and semisweet or dark chocolate. Garnish pie with chocolate pieces. Serve immediately.