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.

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 #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.