Chocolate Truffle Cookies

These are amazing. Amazing. They are like chocolate truffles. I know, that's what they're called. But seriously, they are! So soft and smooth... so chocolaty....

From Mel's Kitchen Cafe

They are delish. That's all I have to say.

Recipe:


Chocolate Truffle Cookies
from Mel's Kitchen Cafe

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cup Butter, room temperature
2 cups Powdered Sugar
1/3 cup Cocoa
1/4 tsp. Salt
1/4 cup Sour Cream
1 tsp. Vanilla
2 1/4 cups Flour
2 cups Chocolate Chips
1/3 cup Cocoa for rolling
1/3 cup Powdered Sugar for Sprinkling

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325. Line pans with parchment paper.
2. Cream the butter and sugar. Strain in the cocoa and salt into the butter mixture.
3. Beat in sour cream and vanilla. Blend in flour and add chocolate chips.
4. Shape into 1 inch balls (may need to refrigerate first) and roll in cocoa before placing on the pan. Do not flatten.
5. Bake for 10 minutes - DO NOT OVER BAKE. Cool on the baking sheet 3-5 minutes. Once completely cooled, sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Cheesecake Challenge #11: Japanese Cheesecake

Yum! This is a weird kind of cheesecake. It's super light and fluffy. But it's really yummy! Here was the inspiration--see how beautiful it is?

From Green Cilantro

My picture is definitely not a beautiful. I have to confess, actually, the cake was really not attractive. But I made a partial recipe and it's with European measurements, so I had to convert... it was all very experimental. I think it could be beautiful... if I did it better.

It's not chocolate, but it's unique. And the husband says it's the best cheesecake I've made yet. So it's getting 5 stars.

Again, the recipe is converted from European measurements, so it's a little funky.

Japanese Cheesecake
from Green Cilantro

Ingredients:
10.5 oz. Cream Cheese, room temperature
3 Tbsp. Unsalted Butter
3 Large Eggs, separated
1 1/2 Tbsp. Sugar
2 1/2 Tbsp. Cornstarch
2/3 cup Milk
1/4 cup Sugar

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350. Line the bottom and sides of a fixed bottom pan with parchment. Put egg whites in freezer until just freezing around the edges. Sift the cornstarch.
2. Melt butter over double boiler. Add cream cheese and whisk.
3. In separate bowl, combine egg yolks and 1 1/2 Tbsp sugar. Add cornstarch.
4. Heat milk to a boil and add egg yolk mixture. Whisk until thickened over a double boiler. Add cream cheese and mix well.
5. Slowly add 1/4 cup sugar to egg whites and beat into a soft meringue. Add 1/4 cup of the meringue to the batter and then fold the rest in.
6. Place cake in water bath and bake 15 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 300 and bake another 25. Let sit in oven (off) for 40 minutes to an hour. Cool before chilling, overnight.

Cheesecake Challenge #10: Triple Chocolate Cheesecake

This one I do have a picture of, although I confess that I didn't remember to take a picture until we were in the car on the way to the family event I was taking it to! So I also included a picture from the source, not taken with an iPhone in the car.

From What the Fruitcake?!

This one was a lot of fun to make, and I really like the garnish as well. Something to remember for the future, no matter what's beneath it.

This one was yummy. Very good. But not quite the exceptional-ness that was the Cafe de Leche Cheesecake, so I gave it 4.5 stars.

Here is the recipe, no variations made. It is, unfortunately, a worldly recipe and thus I had to convert from grams, etc, so a lot of ounce measurements:


Triple Chocolate Cheesecake
from What the Fruitcake?!

Ingredients:

Crust:
7 oz. Graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup Brown Sugar
4 oz. Melted, unsalted Butter
2 Tbsp. Cocoa

Cheesecake:
32 oz. Cream Cheese, room temperature
4 Eggs, room temperature
1 1/4 cup Sugar
1 cup Heavy Cream, room temperature
1 Tbsp. Lemon Juice
1 tsp. Vanilla
3.5 oz. 70% Dark Chocolate
3.5 oz. Milk Chocolate
3.5 oz. White Chocolate
1/2 tsp. Salt
Dark, Milk and White Chocolate for Garnish

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350. Mix together crust ingredients and press into a 9" spring-form pan.
2. Combine cream cheese and sugar, beating until blended. Add eggs, one at a time. Add cream, lemon juice, vanilla, and salt.
3. Divide equally into 3 bowls. Melt the 3 types of chocolate separately and mix one each into each of the 3 cheesecake batters.
4. Pour about 1 cup of the dark chocolate mixture into the pan, followed by 1 cup of the milk chocolate and 1 cup of the white chocolate. Repeat the pattern until all the batter is in the pan.
5. Place in water bath and bake 75-90 minutes or until almost done. Turn off the oven and leave resting for an hour. Cool completely on counter and refrigerate overnight before serving.
6. Garnish by using a potato peeler to make flakes of the three types of chocolate and sprinkling over the cake.

Cheesecake Challenge #9: Turtle Cheesecake

For a nice family event this summer, I made this Turtle Cheesecake. It was a fairly straightforward recipe. I have to say, I thought it was pretty good, but nothing stellar. The reviews from my tasters, though (family), was that it was excellent. So even if it's not my favorite recipe, it's a hit. And don't get me wrong, it was yummy!

I didn't take a picture, of course. I need to work on that. So I'm just going to reference the original, which it strongly resembled:

From The Girl Who Ate Everything

I'd probably rate this a 4-star, but with all the rave reviews I got with it, I'm bumping it up half a star.

I made a few changes; I used my personal fudge sauce recipe instead of cheap Hershey's syrup (yuck!) and I didn't have lime juice so I went with lemon. And here is the recipe:


Turtle Cheesecake
from The Girl Who Ate Everything

Ingredients:
1 3/4 cups Chocolate graham cracker crumbs
1/3 cup Melted, unsalted Butter
24 oz. Cream Cheese, room temperature
14 oz. Sweetened Condensed Milk
1/2 cup Sugar
3 large Eggs
3 Tbsp. Lime Juice
1 Tbsp. Vanilla
3/4 cup Chocolate Chips
2 Tbsp. Chocolate Syrup or Fudge Sauce
2 Tbsp. Caramel Syrup or Ice Cream Topping
1/2 cup Chopped Pecans
1/4 cup Mini Chocolate Chips

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 300. Mix together crumbs and butter and press into a 9" spring-form pan.
2. Combine cream cheese and sweetened condensed milk, beating until blended. Add sugar, eggs, lime juice, and vanilla. Beat until combined.
3. Set 1 cup of filling aside. Melt chocolate chips and mix into 1 cup of reserved filling.
4. Pour half of the white filling into the crust, then the chocolate, then the last half of the white. Take a knife and gently swirl.
5. Bake 70-75 minutes or until almost done. Turn off the oven and leave resting. When cooled completely, drizzle with chocolate and caramel, then sprinkle with pecans and mini-chocolate chips. Refrigerate overnight before serving.

Cheesecake Challenge #8: Cafe de Leche Cheesecake

Yesterday's experiment was Cafe de Leche cheesecake from The Spiced Life, which looks so pretty in the picture I didn't bother taking one of my own (it wasn't holding it's shape well when cut and it was disappearing into the belly quickly, so I figured this picture would do):

From The Spiced Life

Jackpot!

Here's the story: we went to Olive Garden for dinner. Olive Garden does happen to have a very good Tiramisu. And often my mom gets it. But this time, she didn't, because we had this cheesecake at home waiting for us. And the best part? It's almost kind of like a creamy, cheesecaky version of Tiramisu. Slightly different, but similar flavors. Super creamy. Espresso. Caramel. Chocolate.

I love this cheesecake. It's DELISH.

Cafe de Leche Cheesecake
from The Spiced Life

Ingredients:

Crust:
2 cups Chocolate graham cracker crumbs
1 tsp. Cocoa Powder
8 Tbsp. Melted, unsalted Butter
2 Tbsp. Sugar
1 tsp. Vanilla

Coffee Cheesecake:
16 oz. Cream Cheese, room temperature
8 oz. Mascarpone cheese, room temperature
1 cup Sugar
3 large Eggs
1 cup Heavy Cream
1 Tbsp. Lemon Juice
1 1/2 Tbsp. Vanilla
2 1/2 tsp. Instant Espresso

Caramel and Ganache Layer:
1 can Dulce de Leche (made with milk)
3/4 cup Heavy Cream
6-8 oz. semi-sweet chocolate

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350. Mix together crust ingredients and press into a 9" spring-form pan. Cover pan in 4 layers of foil.
2. Combine cream cheese and mascarpone, beating until blended. Add sugar, then eggs, one at a time.
3. Microwave 1/4 cup of cream in small bowl until hot and whisk in espresso powder. Let cool to tepid.
4. Add espresso mixture, cream, vanilla, and lemon juice to cream cheese mixture and blend until smooth and creamy.
5. Pour batter into crust and place in water bath. Bake 45-55 minutes or until almost done. Turn off the oven and leave resting for 1 hour when done. Allow to finish cooling on counter, then chill overnight.
6. Heat up the dulce de leche so it is pourable, and let cool to tepid. Pour over the cake and chill an hour.
7. Make the ganache by simmering the heavy cream and then adding the chocolate. Let cool to tepid and pour over the dulce de leche layer. Return to chill for 3 hours or until chocolate is set.

Double Chocolate Mousse Torte

Time out from the Cheesecake Challenge: I tried out another new recipe called the double chocolate mousse torte. I was looking for something chocolaty that didn't take quite as long as cheesecake. And something different and new, too. This is what I went for:

From Mel's Kitchen Cafe

This cake was YUMMY! I loved how rich is was and also the creaminess of the mousse. But mostly I loved the flourless chocolate/torte like cake on the bottom. Super yum!

Anyway, without further adieu, here is the delicious recipe:

Double Chocolate Mousse Torte
from Mel's Kitchen Cafe

Ingredients:

Cake:
8 oz. chopped semi-sweet chocolate
1 cup Butter
1 cup Sugar
5 large Eggs
1 Tbsp. Vanilla
1/4 tsp. Salt
1/4 cup Flour

Mousse:
1/2 cup Butter
4 large Eggs, separated
1/4 cup Whipping Cream
1 Tbsp. Vanilla
8 oz. chopped Semi-Sweet chocolate
1/2 cup Sugar

Topping: 
3/4 cup Whipping Cream
2 Tbsp. Powdered Sugar

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 325. Prepare 10" spring-form pan.
2. Melt cake chocolate and butter and cool to lukewarm. Whisk in sugar and then eggs one at a time. Add vanilla, salt and flour.
3. Pour into pan and bake until just rises at center (tester inserted will NOT come out clean), about 30-35 minutes. Cool completely and let chill while preparing mousse.
4. Melt mousse butter in bowl set over saucepan of simmering water. In separate bowl, whisk yolks, 1/4 cup cream, and vanilla and gradually add to melted butter. Whisk constantly for about 6 minutes.
5. Remove mixture from heat and add chocolate. Stir to melt.
6. In separate bowl, beat egg whites and 1/2 cup sugar with a pinch of cornstarch until medium-stiff peaks form. Whisk 1/4 of mixture into chocolate mixture to lighten, then fold in the remaining egg white mixture.
7. Pour mousse over cooled cake and chill until set, about 6 hours.
8. Run sharp knife around edge to loosen and release torte. Beat 3/4 cup cream and powdered sugar in bowl until peaks form. Spread over the torte, garnish, and serve.

Cheesecake Challenge #7: Decadent Chocolate Cheesecake

This time I tried the Decadent Chocolate Cheesecake from Mel's Kitchen Cafe:

From Source

Wow. Yum. Delish. This one was a total hit and success. It is extremely rich, but that's how I like my chocolate. It turned out beautifully, too, but we'll get to that. This one is a 5 start, creamy, rich, chocolaty concoction:

And you know what else was wonderful about this cheesecake? Mine was actually quite pretty! We took it to dinner at a friend's house and they thought the cake was bought! That's always a compliment when it looks store-made pretty.

So here is the recipe for this awesomely chocolate cake:

Decadent Chocolate Cheesecake:
(from Mel's Kitchen Cafe)

Ingredients:

Crust:
9 oz. chocolate cookie crumbs (like grahams)
1 Tbsp. sugar
6 Tbsp. melted butter

Cheesecake:
10 oz. chopped semi-sweet chocolate
32 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
1 1/4 cups + 2 Tbsp sugar
1/4 cup Cocoa powder
4 Large Eggs

Topping:
3/4 cup whipping cream
6 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
1 Tbsp. sugar

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 and prepare a 9" Springform pan. mix the crust ingredients and press into bottom of pan only. Bake until set, about 5 minutes, and keep oven on.
2.  Melt the cheesecake chocolate and cool until lukewarm. In separate bowl, blend cream cheese, sugar, and cocoa powder. Add eggs one at a time and then add chocolate.
3. Pour cheesecake filling over crust and bake until just set, about 1 hour. Once cooled, chill overnight.
4. At least one hour before serving, heat topping ingredients in saucepan over medium heat until smooth. Cool slightly and pour over cheesecake, spreading to within 1/2 inch of the edge. Chill until set.
5. Allow cheesecake to stand 1-2 hours at room temperature before serving.

Cheesecake Challenge #6: Cappuccino-Fudge Cheesecake

This one was a success! Here is the source material:

From Handle the Heat

My husband loved it. He devoured it. I even took pictures, although it's not quite as lovely as the one above. My motivation is much more taste than appearance, though.

The taste was great--definitely had the coffee flavor--and the texture was jackpot. I finally got the texture down! I've decided it's very important to overly whip/beat the cream cheese in order to achieve that super creamy texture. Here is my cheesecake, in my new mini-springform:

Here's the recipe:

Cappuccino-Fudge Cheesecake


Crust:
9 oz. chocolate wafer cookies
1/2 cup melted butter

Ganache:
1 1/2 cup whipping cream
1 1/4 lb. semisweet chocolate
1/4 cup Kahlua

Filling:
32 oz. softened cream cheese
1 1/3 cup sugar
2 T flour
3 T instant espresso powder
1 T vanilla
2 tsp. molasses
4 large eggs

1. Preheat oven to 350 and spray a 9" springform pan.
2. Grind chocolate cookies in food processor and mix with melted butter. Press into the bottom of the pan and bake 7 minutes
3. Simmer whipping cream and then remove from heat; add chocolate and Kahlua and stir until thick and smooth. Pour ganache over prepared crust and freeze until firm, about 30 minutes. Reserve some ganache for the top, if desired.
4. Beat cream cheese and sugar, then add flour, espresso powder, vanilla, and molasses. Beat in eggs one at a time.
5. Pour over cold ganache. Bake at 350 for about 1 hour. Allow to cool 3 hours and then chill overnight. As desired, use remaining chilled ganach as a garnish.

Cheesecake Challenge #5: Chocolate Espresso Cheesecake

This time I tried out the Chocolate Espresso variety, from UseRealButter.com:

It turned out pretty good! I want to compare it to my mom's chocolate cheesecake recipe, which could possibly just use the espresso (she uses Amaretto), but it was tasty. Just needed more kick.

I didn't take a picture. It wasn't very pretty. I need to work on that....

Chocolate Espresso Cheesecake


24 oz. Cream Cheese, softened
1 cup Sugar
3 large Eggs
1 cup Heavy Cream
4.5 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, melted
1 T. Espresso Powder
1 T boiling Water
1 T Vanilla
1 T Kahlua

1. Preheat oven to 350. Cream cream cheese and sugar, and then add eggs one at a time until mixed.
2. Mix espresso and water. Continue to whisk/cream, and add cream, melted chocolate, espresso, vanilla, and Kahlua.
3. Pour into a prepared pan (with appropriate crust). Place in oven in water bath and bake for 45-55 minutes. Allow to cool in oven with oven off and then refrigerate overnight.

Cheesecake Challenge #4: Thin Mint Cheesecake Parfait

This week's experiment was the Thin Mint Cheesecake Parfait:

From 2Stews

I kind of had to make this one, since we now have Girl Scout Cookies and they don't last very long in our house. In fact, my husband bought them at work, promised me my own box, and then came home with a single sleeve for me. So I hid it until I had time to make the parfaits.

The end result? About par for the course-pretty good!

This will probably make the cookbook. It was different and good. I did have two critiques, though. The first, and it's first because my husband made the same critique, was that some mint extract or something to make the cheesecake bit a little more minty would have been good. There just wasn't quite enough mint from the cookies. So that would have been a nice touch.

The other thought? I thought it was a little grainy, and I'm pretty sure it happened when I put the gelatin in. Maybe I needed to let it cool a little more before putting it in cool cream cheese mixture, because it lumped up a bit and I just couldn't quite smooth it out.

Overall? Fairly successful! Here's the recipe:

Thin Mint Cheesecake Parfait


18 Thin Mint cookies
16 oz. Cream Cheese, room temperature
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp. Vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. lemon juice
1/4 oz Plain Powdered Gelatin (1 packet)
2 T. Hot water
1 cup Heavy Cream

1. Whip cream cheese, then add powdered sugar, vanilla, and lemon juice.
2. Mix gelatin and hot water until gelatin is mixed without lumps. Add to cream cheese mixture.
3. Add heavy cream and whip until light and fluffy.
4. Break a cookie into the bottom of each cup (4-6). Spoon the cheesecake mixture halfway, then break 2 more cookies. Spoon the remaining mixture over the top.
5. Refrigerate about 2 hours. Sprinkle one more cookie on the top before serving.

Cheesecake Challenge #3: Grandma's Pecan Tasties

I made these ones last night:

From Source

Yum! I liked these a lot. And I'd provide a photo of my own, but they weren't pretty. Yummy, but not pretty. They didn't pull out of the cupcake liners well (paper, not foil), and I would double the cheesecake batter part next time because mine were buried in topping (again, yummy, but not pretty). It is good enough for the book!

Okay! Here is the recipe, which I found at Your Cup of Cake:

Grandma's Pecan Tasties


Dough:
1 stick butter, softened
3 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup sugar
1 cup flour
1 tsp. almond extract

Filling:
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 T. melted butter, cooled
1 tsp. Vanilla
1 1/2 cup pecans


1. Preheat oven to 350. Mix dough ingredients--I recommend doubling the recipe--until smooth and creamy. Refrigerate up to 10 minutes as needed to make easier to handle (firmer).
2. Press into cupcake liners, preferably foil.
3. Mix filling ingredients. Spoon over dough and bake for about 15 minutes.

Enjoy!

Cheesecake Research

An important part of any cooking challenge should include research, right? So, of course, I'm always doing my own research. Here are two recent discoveries:

Surprisingly, the Chick-Fil-A cheesecake is REALLY good. Just don't get anything on it. I got chocolate sauce on it, and it's just Hershey's syrup--so declasse.

And, on a less surprising note, I had the most amazing cheesecake this weekend while in Vegas. We went to the Factory and I tried the Kahlua Coffee Cocoa Cheesecake and it is AWESOME. Delish.

Might have to try this recipe!

Failure - Crock Pot Cheesecake

I'm an avid fan of Pinterest, and I found this recipe while browsing one day:

From Source, Crock Pot Ladies

It looks delicious, right? Creamy, fluffy, white, beautiful...

So even though it wasn't on my list of recipes for the Challenge, it was easy and I decided to whip it together one night. Here is mine, in the crock pot:

Eeek! Already doesn't look so good, right? It's so... yellow. And lumpy looking.

Well, I persevered. And then the next day, after it had cooked and cooled, I tried it. Again, I say, Eeek! Actually, it wasn't that it was so horrible tasting. In fact, it tasted okay. But it was still AWFUL! The texture... oh, the texture. It was, I repeat, AWFUL. I tried to eat it but I just kept seeing the calories I was forcing on myself. It was grainy and rough. It was terrible.

Now, I'm not saying this recipe sucks, because it sure LOOKS good. But it didn't work for me and I won't be trying it again. Ever.

Cheesecake Challenge #2: Praline Crumb Caramel Cheesecake Bars

About a week ago, I made these:

From Source

I made them as a treat for my visiting teaching, since I hadn't gotten around to doing it. So I only kept a few at home and took the rest out and about. My reaction to the treats? They were good, but a little too sweet for my liking (I prefer more rich). However, I did get glowing praise from the adult kids of one of the women on how much they loved them. So...

Ultimately, I have to give these a 3 star rating.

But apparently others would rate them a lot higher...

Here is the end product and the recipe:

Praline Crumb Caramel Cheesecake Bar


1 Pouch Sugar Cookie Mix
1/2 cup cold Butter
1/2 cup Chopped Pecans
1/2 cup Toffee Bits

16 oz. Cream Cheese
1/2 cup Sugar
2 T. Flour
1/2 cup Caramel Topping
1 tsp. Vanilla
1 egg

1. Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 13x9 inch pan.
2. Cut butter into cookie mix. Reserving 1.5 cups for later, press into the pan and bake 10 minutes.
3. Beat cream cheese, sugar, flour, 1/4 cup caramel, vanilla, and egg until smooth. Spread over the based crust.
4. Sprinkle with remaining cookie crumbs, pecans, and toffee bits. Bake 35-40 minutes or until golden brown.
5. Cool 30 minutes. Drizzle with remaining caramel and refrigerate.

Cheesecake Challenge #1: Cheesecake in a Mug

Since I came up with this challenge in the evening, well after I could possible make a cheesecake, I decided to start off simple... the Cheesecake in a Mug. I've previously tried the Brownie in a Mug, with varying degrees of success, but what a great idea--relatively instant cheesecake!

From recipe source, 2 Stews

Now, I started this one last night, and I'd already reached my calorie limit for the day and finished exercising, so I decided I could make this in the evening and let it refrigerate overnight, so I'd have a delightful treat for lunch. Therefore, I whipped this together in about 10 minutes last night, let it cool, and popped it into the fridge.

The verdict? It was pretty good, but I'm on the fence about including it in my recipe book, so I'm giving it a 4.5 stars.

It was pretty good--especially the parts I didn't over cook. Some of the edges were a little overdone, but the center was smooth and creamy. It definitely had a very sour-creamy flavor to it, though. Although that's not bad, it's just not traditional cheesecake to me, more like a sour-cream cheesecake. It was good.

In my not-so-elegant picture above, you can see how my edges were a little over-done (it was a learning process, okay!?). But the center was smooth and good.

I found this recipe on 2 Stews. Here it is:

Microwave Mug Cheesecake

2 ounces softened cream cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 tsp. vanilla
2 T. sugar
2 T. egg white
1/2 tsp. lemon juice (I skipped this)
1/2 tsp. cornstarch
1 T. mini chocolate chips to mix in

In a mug, beat the cream cheese until light and fluffy. Mix in sour cream, vanilla, sugar, egg, lemon juice, and cornstarch and whisk until light, about 2 minutes. Add mix in (chocolate chips).

Microwave. This depends on your microwave, but I did mine for about 1.5 minutes, watching it. You're supposed to do it until the center starts to bubble. Mine was rising a lot, so I really had to keep an eye on it.

Cool to room temperature and then refrigerate 1.5-2 hours (for me, overnight and until lunch). If any liquid has pooled, pour it out before eating.

The Cheesecake Challenge

Time to lay out the challenge. Below I've provided a picture (and link to recipe/source) of each cheesecake I plan on making, in no particular order. These are the challenges:

1. Chocolate Espresso Cheesecake

2. Grandma's Pecan Tasties

3. Praline Crumb Caramel Cheesecake Bars

4. Japanese Cheesecake

5. Cappuccino Fudge Cheesecake

6. Mini Chocolate Mousse Cheesecakes

7. Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Dip

8. Turtle Cheesecake

9. Raspberry Cheesecake

10. Zebra Cheesecake

11. Cheesecake in a Mug

12. Deep Fried Cheesecake

13. Oreo Cheesecake

14. No Bake Cheesecake

15. Chocolate Cheesecake

16. Snickers Caramel Cheesecake Cookies

17. Vanilla and Chocolate Truffle Cheesecake

18. White Chocolate Caramel Cheesecake

19. Cafe de Leche Cheesecake

20. Triple Chocolate Cheesecake

21. Thin Mint Cheesecake Parfait

22. Pumpkin Cognac Cheesecake

23. Mocha and Vanilla Bean Cheesecake

24. Carrot Cake Cheesecake (my own recipe)

25. Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cheesecake (my own recipe)

As for the order, it will depend entirely on my mood and the availability of ingredients in my kitchen. There will be a standard rating system for the cheesecakes as well:

5 Stars: So good I'm putting it in my permanent cookbook. I'm inhaling it.
4 Stars: Really good, but not making the permanent cookbook. Still, I'll be keeping this one in house.
3 Stars: Good. Maybe a piece or two, but the rest aren't worth the calories. Better take it into work.
2 Stars: Not great. One piece was enough and I was kind of disappointed.
1 Star: Terrible--either tastes bad or is some sort of disaster in the kitchen.

Let the games begin...

The Inspiration, The Challenge

I don't know why I'm starting a new blog, because I'm already terrible with the one (and a half) I already have. But here's how and why it's happened:

I have become newly obsessed with both Pinterest and a variety of baking/cooking blogs I've found on the internet. Therefore, I've been filling my recipes/sweets/cheesecakes/cupcakes boards up on Pinterest with all sorts of fantastic treats. While working on this yesterday, I had the inspiration to make a new cheesecake every week, in an attempt to try out many of the recipes I've pinned. Kind of sounds like Julie and Julia, right? Yeah, kind of does.

Except, here's the thing... I'd also like to drop about 15 pounds. Ha! Cheesecake and weight loss!

So, I've decided to amend my challenge a little bit. I still want to bake my cheesecakes, but between trying to eat better, working two jobs, settling into our home, and raising a two year old, there just isn't the opportunity to make a cheesecake a week. I'm just being realistic here. Therefore, I've decided, instead, to start "The Cheesecake Challenge," which works like this:

-I'm going to select 25 cheesecake recipes from my Pinterest. I will make these 25 recipes this year (hopefully, although I'm not holding myself to any hard and fast deadline--25 just seemed like a reasonable number).

-I will blog on the results of my 25 Cheesecake Challenge. I don't actually expect anyone to read or care about my cheesecaking experiences, but I'd like to keep track for myself--which is why I've made myself a separate blog for the baking fun.

-I may also make things other than cheesecake and catalog them in my blog, here, because I just love baking and sometimes I want something other than cheesecake.

-There are no promises on regularity. Life happens.

So we begin the challenge! In fact, I've already started, last night, after the inspiration. I picked the easiest one to start. More on that later, though.