Cheesecake!!

So on a whim tonight I decided I wanted cheesecake. I do not own a spring form pan but I do have two round cake pans that worked out nicely. I was craving chocolate, apples and cream cheese so I made two plain cheesecakes and topped one with ganache and one with cinnamon apples.


Crust:
Graham crackers, about 2 1/2-3 cups ground
1 stick of salted butter
1 cup sugar

Mix well and press into two round cake pans, lined with foil. makes for an easier clean up. Refrigerate until batter is ready.

Filling:
2 pounds or 4-8oz packages of cream cheese room temperature
1 cup sugar
4 eggs
2 tablespoons vanilla

Mix cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until smooth. Add one egg at a time until completely incorporated. Pour batter into prepared round cake pans. Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes. They are done when they feel dense in the center to your palm.**If you are using a 9 inch spring form pan this recipe will make one cheesecake and you need to bake for 60 minutes.**

Cinnamon apple topping:

Since I made everything from scratch I kind of skimped on the apples and made them in the microwave. Terrible I know but such a time saver.

3 apples peeled and sliced thinly
2-3 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons brown sugar

Mix well in microwave safe dish. microwave for 3 minutes stopping every minute to stir. the last 30 seconds add the brown sugar and continue microwaving. Watch it because the sugar will bubble over and make a mess. After one cheesecake has cooled add the apple topping and enjoy! It would have been great if I had some whipped cream to give it that apple pie feeling.


Chocolate ganache topping:

1/4-1/2 cup of whole milk
1-1 1/2 cup chocolate chips
boiling water
a glass or metal boil to set on top of boiling water(essentially a double boiler
whisk

Set water to a rapid boil, and add chips to boil above water. As it begins to melt start to whisk out the chunks until smooth. Add a little bit of milk at a time and incorporate it until it is the consistency you want. Pour on to cooled cheesecake and refrigerate again.


These recipes were not nearly as time consuming as I thought they would be. And you can't beat made from scratch! So much better than a box or that no bake crap, bleh. Make sure to pin this and an other recipes on pinterest for safe keeping! Like my face book page too! All the fancy pants buttons are at the top of the page. Thanks so much for reading!!!

Skinny Brownies

So I stumbled upon this recipe while looking for something to do with my vanilla yogurt that was just starting to turn sour. I literally just opened it today and had to do something with it fast. I came across this "skinny" recipe from sallysbakingaddiction, and normally I am a little weary of anything "skinny". I try my best to avoid things that are labeled fat-free, low-fat, sugar-free, because typically they are full of other fake sugars and chemicals that are worse than just eating the sugar or fat by themselves. But this recipe had none of that so I said why not?


You will need:
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
6 oz. vanilla yogurt(can use Greek is recommended, I did not though)
1/4 cup milk(use skim for less cal)
1 large egg(or two egg whites)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup sugar
1/2 unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 old fashion rolled oats(She recommends to process the oats first but I already have a powdered oats mix that I add to smoothies so I used that)

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line an 8x8 baking dish foil and spray with oil.
2. Place all of the ingredients except for the peanut butter into food processor. Grind the oats first in the processor, then add wet ingredients and blend well. finally add dry ingredients and mix well.
3. Pour batter into prepared baking dish. Microwave peanut butter for about 30 seconds. Drop melted peanut butter by spoonfuls onto the batter, swirling gently with a knife to create a marbled effect.
4. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until brownies begin to pull away from the sides of the pan. Wait until COMPLETELY cooled before cutting into. Hard I know but it makes them much easier to cut into.

Super awesome chocolate cake and icing!

Dieters beware! if you are at all afraid of carbs sugar and all things delicious do not read this! I'm warning you. It'll cause you to lust after it and eventually cheat. On your diet. This cake is rich and moist and chock full of chocolaty goodness and so easy to make! I can't lay claim to this recipe although I wish I had. I heard the original recipe maker has a seat in heaven right next to Jesus, but that could be a rumor. 

Ingredients:

• 1¾ cups all purpose flour
• 2 cups granulated white sugar
• ¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1½ tsp baking soda
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup buttermilk (or substitute by putting 1 tbsp white vinegar in a cup then filling the rest up with milk; let stand 5 minutes until thickened)<----this is what I did ( second time making it I was out of vinegar so I just used regular milk and it was still good.)
• ½ cup butter, melted
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup hot coffee (or 2 tsp instant coffee in 1 cup boiling water)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 9-inch baking pans (or line with parchment paper circles) and set aside. I did not use the parchment paper. I wish I had because I had such a hard time removing my layers.(made the recipe again, this time lined with foil and it was so much easier!)
2. In the large bowl of a standing mixer, stir together flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. Add eggs, buttermilk, melted butter and vanilla extract and beat until smooth (about 3 minutes). Remove bowl from mixer and stir in hot coffee with a rubber spatula. Batter will be very runny. I was unsure about the runniness of it but I could not of made a better first try.
3. Pour batter evenly between the two pans and bake on middle rack of oven for about 35 minutes, until toothpick inserted in centre comes out clean with just a few moist crumbs attached.
4. Allow to cool 15 minutes in pans, then run a butter knife around the edges of each cake. Place a wire cooling rack over top of each pan. Wearing oven mitts, use both hands to hold the racks in place while flipping the cakes over onto the racks. Set the racks down and gently thump on the bottom of the pans until the cakes release. Cool completely before handling or frosting.

For the frosting I found this recipe below. It did not have an author so it shall remain anonymous.

Original recipe below! If you try any recipes I post it needs to be this one!

http://foodess.com/2011/03/moist-chocolate-cake/