Tackling Cheese Cupcakes

It's time for Tackle It Tuesday with 5 Minutes for Mom . This week, I tackled another Iron Cupcake: Milwaukee Challenge and this time it was Cheese!! Well, I couldn't pass up a chance to showcase my famous Chocolate Cheesecake and here they are:

I made chocolate cheesecake cupcakes with a chocolate truffle snuggled in the center of chocolate candy clay to make Brown-Eyed Susan flowers. I added the flowers to a window box to make:


Can you believe that people actually thought that I was Suzy from Suzy's Cheesecake? Too funny!!! Here I am in all my presentation glory:

And I say glory because:

I don't know if you can make it out but, the score board says, I WON!! First for presentation and second for taste:-) Yeah Me!! What a fun event!

Friday's Foto Fun with Eclair Cheesecake

It's time for Carrie's Friday Foto Fun:-) And I am up to my old tricks again.

This little beauty that I made for a dinner party last week may not be pretty but it was really good!! It was inspired by a dessert that I always order at a local restaurant called Maxims. It is a brilliant creation of a layer of cheesecake, topped with a layer of chocolate cake, filled and frosted with chocolate buttercream, glazed with chocolate ganache and garnished with a mini eclair. What's not to like right? Would you like the recipe? Ok:-)



Eclair Cheesecake

Ingredients:
For Cheesecake Layer:
1-1/4 cups vanilla wafers, crushed
1/4 cup butter, melted
3-8 oz. packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 tbls vanilla
1-1/2 cups sour cream

For Chocolate Cake Layer:
1 Devil's Food Cake box mix and all ingredients it requires

For the Chocolate Buttercream Frosting:

1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened
3/4 cup cocoa or three 1 oz. unsweetened chocolate squares, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar (approximately 1 lb.)
3-4 tablespoons milk

For Ganache:
8 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tbls unsalted butter

For Whipping Cream for Assembly of the Cake:
1/4 cup whipping cream
2 tbls powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Directions:
1. In a small mixing bowl, combine wafer crumbs and butter and stir well. Press crumb mixture into bottom and 1 inch up the sides of a 9-inch springform pan. Chill.

2. In a medium mixing bowl, beat together cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, melted chocolate and vanilla until smooth. Fold in sour cream. Pour mixture into crumb crust.

3. Wrap bottom and sides of the springform pan in foil and put it in a roasting pan. Fill the roasting pan with boiling water until it is half-way up the springform pan. Bake the cheesecake in the water bath for 1 hour and 10 minutes at 325. Turn off the oven and let cheesecake stand in the oven for 30 minutes with the oven door ajar. Remove and cool on wire rack. Cover and chill for at least 8 hours.

4. Bake Cake per the directions on the box.

5. In large bowl, cream shortening and butter with electric mixer. Add cocoa and vanilla. Gradually add sugar, one cup at a time, beating well on medium speed. Scrape sides and bottom of bowl often. When all sugar has been mixed in, icing will appear dry. Add milk and beat at medium speed until light and fluffy. Keep bowl covered with a damp cloth until ready to use. For best results, keep icing bowl in refrigerator when not in use.

6. For the ganache, place chocolate in a medium heat-safe mixing bowl. Heat cream and butter over medium heat then, bring to boil. Immediately pour cream over chocolate and mix until the chocolate is melted. Let stand for 5 minutes.

7. To assemble, frost cheesecake with the chocolate buttercream icing. Top with the chocolate cake. Frost the cake with the buttercream. Chill for 30 minutes.

8. For the glaze, place the fully chilled cake on a wire rack over a baking sheet. To cover cake, pour the ganache into the center of the cake. Working quickly, spread with a spatula over the sides of the cake to create an even coating of ganache.

9. To garnish, make the whipping cream. Chill a small bowl and your beaters. Put the cream, powdered sugar and vanilla in the bowl and whip until stiff. Fill a pastry bag with a star tip and pipe 14 stars on top of the ganache frosted cake. Chill for 5 minutes to set. Serve and enjoy:-)

Serves 14

Raspberry Cheesecake

Before I get started today, check me out on At Work, At Play or At Home All Day ! You may learn something new about me:-)

I don't know what happens in April in this family but a third of them have birthdays in January. Grandpa, Grandma, 2 nieces, 2 nephews and my brother all celebrate their birth this month. To keep the festivities manageable, my husband's side of the family have one big party. Of course, I bring dessert. I took a poll at Christmas and the vote resulted in my Pecan Pie and Raspberry Cheesecake.

It wasn't clear whether they wanted raspberries in the cheesecake itself or regular cheesecake with raspberry sauce. So, I make a cheesecake with both. Here's the recipe:

Raspberry Cheesecake
Ingredients:
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
3 tbls butter
4-8oz. pkgs cream cheese
1-8oz. pkg raspberry cream cheese*
1 cup sugar
3 tbsp flour
1 tbsp vanilla
4 eggs
1 cup sour cream
6 oz. fresh raspberries
6 oz. raspberry preserves


Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Mix crumbs and butter in a small bowl. Press firmly into a 9-inch springform pan. Chill.

2. Beat cream cheeses, sugar, flour and vanilla until well blended. Add eggs one at a time on low it is incorporated. Fold in sour cream.

3. Pour cream cheese mixture over crust. Wrap the bottom and the sides of the pan in aluminum foil. Place this in a roasting pan. Fill the roasting pan with boiling water until it is half-way up the springform pan.

4. Bake for 65 to 70 minutes or until center is almost set. Turn off the oven and let the cake sit inside with the door ajar for 30 minutes. Then, cool on a wire rack for 1 hour. Wrap the top of the cake in aluminum foil and chill for at least 4 hours but overnight is best.

5. Melt the preserves in a small sauce pan. Arrange the raspberries around the edge of the cake. Spread the raspberry sauce in the middle of the arranged raspberries and chill.

*If you want a more robust raspberry flavor, substitute some of the regular cream cheese with more raspberry cream cheese. You can also make a Strawberry Cheesecake by using strawberry preserves and strawberries instead of raspberries. Both are perfect for Valentines Day.

Susie's Oh My Gosh Ganache Chocolate Cheesecake

Here my next entry in my Christmas Menu : Susie's Oh My Gosh Ganache Chocolate Cheesecake.

I have been making this cheesecake for Christmas for over 10 years and it is always a hit. That's the "Oh My Gosh" part.


The ganache part is the glaze and the truffles on top.



And the chocolate cheesecake is the cake inside:-)

Ingredients:

For Cake:

1-1/4 cups chocolate wafers, crushed

1/4 cup butter, melted

8 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted

3-8 oz. packages cream cheese, softened

1 cup sugar

3 eggs

1 tbls vanilla

1-1/2 cups sour cream

For Ganache:

8 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips

3/4 cup heavy whipping cream

2 tbls unsalted butter

For Whipping Cream for Assembly of the Cake:

1/4 cup whipping cream

2 tbls powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Directions:

1. In a small mixing bowl, combine chocolate wafer crumbs and butter and stir well. Press crumb mixture into bottom and 1 inch up the sides of a 9-inch springform pan. Chill.

2. In a medium mixing bowl, beat together cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, melted chocolate and vanilla until smooth. Fold in sour cream. Pour mixture into crumb crust.

3. Wrap bottom and sides of the springform pan in foil and put it in a roasting pan. Fill the roasting pan with boiling water until it is half-way up the springform pan. Bake the cheesecake in the water bath for 1 hour and 10 minutes at 325. Turn off the oven and let cheesecake stand in the oven for 30 minutes with the oven door ajar. Remove and cool on wire rack. Cover and chill for at least 8 hours.

4. For the ganache, place chocolate in a medium heat-safe mixing bowl. Heat cream and butter over medium heat then, bring to boil. Immediately pour cream over chocolate and mix until the chocolate is melted. Let stand for 5 minutes.

5. Place the fully chilled cake on a wire rack over a baking sheet. Using a cake spatula, cover the sides and the top of the cake with about 4 tablespoons of the ganache to create a crumb coat. Chill. To cover cake, pour the remaining ganache into the center of the cake. Working quickly, spread with a spatula over the sides of the cake to create an even coating of ganache.

6. To make the truffles, strain the left over ganache. Then, spread it out in a line layer on a baking sheet that is lined with parchment paper. Chill 30 minutes. Scrap off balls of the layer with a melon baller to form 14 truffles. Chill for 30 minutes to set the balls. Dip each ball in powered sugar.

7. To assemble, make the whipping cream. Chill a small bowl and your beaters. Put the cream, powdered sugar and vanilla in the bowl and whip until stiff. Fill a pastry bag with a star tip and pipe 14 stars on top of the ganache frosted cake. Place one truffle on top of each star. Chill for 5 minutes to set. Serve and enjoy:-)

Serves 14