Recipe of the week: Oreo Cheesecake

Cheesecake is by far my favorite type of cake. You can play around with flavours, add cookies, nuts or chocolate to the batter and change up the crust to serve all year round. But, how many times have you made a cheesecake that was hard and dense, with large cracks on top that you wondered how to cover them up? Well, after 20 years of baking, I finally found the secret to making a cheesecake that was so silky, smooth and crack-free that it resembled cutting through soft butter: a bain-marie! For the novice bakers, a bain-marie is the French term for a water-bath. This method is commonly used to make custards, souffles and creme caramel (or flan), so I adopted it to my cheesecake and voila! True indulgence! Do not, and I repeat, do not use light cream cheese as you will not get the true silkiness or flavour needed. Instead, just eat a sliver, or burn the extra calories washing the dishes that your guests will use once they polish off their plates!

Picture courtesy of kraftfoods.com

Oreo New York-style Cheesecake

Crust:

1 1/4 cups Oreo crumbs

1/4 cup melted butter

Batter:

4 pkgs Philadelphia regular cream cheese, at room temperature

3/4 cup granulated sugar

4 eggs, room temperature

1 cup regular sour cream                                         

2 tsp. vanilla extract

10 oreo cookies, broken in large pieces

Preheat oven to 350 F. For crust, combine crumbs with butter until combined. Press along bottom and up sides of springform pan. Do not bake. Cover bottom of pan with aluminum foil and set aside.

Boil a large pot of water (or a tea kettle) while preparing the batter. Beat cream cheese with flat beater (do not overmix). Add sugar and mix until fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time until well incorporated. Add sour cream, vanilla and oreos until just combined. Pour into prepared crust and put pan in a larger casserole or roasting pan. Pour water in this pan until halfway up sides of springform pan. Bake for 1 hour or until just set (middle of the cake will still jiggle when shaken). Allow to cool on baking rack to room temperature before refrigerating. Top with more Oreos!

Massimo's Birthday Cake

Which 5 year old boy doesn't like Spiderman? For my son Massimo's 5th Birthday, I made him a 3D Spiderman cake! The head was made of Rice Krispies and the whole cake was covered in red fondant. The white and blue were also fondant while the black webs were made of royal icing tinted black. When making dark coloured fondant or icing, you'll need to use quite a bit of paste colour and need a lot of muscle to work it through. One tip: use the dough hook on your mixer to do the work for you!

Recipe of the week: Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes

This recipe is great for all who are lactose-intolerant and allergic to eggs:

1 cup soy milk

1 tsp. apple cider vinegar

1 1/4 tsp all purpose flour

2 tbsp. cornstarch

3/4 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1/3 cup canola oil

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 F. Combine soy milk and vinegar. Let stand a few minutes until curdled. Sift flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a large bowl. Beat together soy mixture, oil, sugar and vanilla in another bowl. Add dry ingredients to wet. Spoon into cupcake liners. Bake for 20-22 minutes or until toothpick inserted in centre is dry.

Vegan Vanilla Frosting:

1 cup unsalted margarine

2 cups sifted icing sugar

1/4 cup soy milk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Beat all ingredients until smooth and lump free. Pipe or spread on cooled cupcakes. Can be coloured with Wilton gel colours (available at Bulk Barn).

My first Blog!

Thanks for visiting my site. OK, I'm not totally computer illiterate, but thanks to my friend Anastasia I finally figured out how to set up my blog. For my first post, I wanted to share pictures of some cakes I made this past summer. The first is an Elmo birthday cake for Isabella who turned 1! This cake is totally edible , including Elmo's nose and eyes which are made of rice krispies (covered with fondant). The number "1" is also made of fondant. The icing on Elmo's body is a traditional Italian buttercream (not the sugary stuff). I'm sure Isabella and her friends left the party with red tongue and teeth! Elmo can be replaced as any type of 3D bear or animal for a special 1st birthday cake.