The Rantings of a Deranged Mind

I am exhausted. This has been a busy week. And it's not over yet. I just got home an hour ago from a wedding for which I made and served the cheesecakes. And even though we made the cheesecakes a month ago and froze them, I still spent most of today and yesterday making sauces, ganaches, lemon curd, etc. to garnish said cheesecakes. My sis got some great photos, so I'll bug her to post them. She did a fabulous job dressing up one of the cheesecakes with some buttery-yellow fondant and chocolate brown ribbons as the wedding cake. If it weren't so much dadgum work, we'd go into business together. But I like what little free time I have and am not anxious to surrender it.

Anyhow, I'm obviously addicted to blogging because when I got home I just wanted to go to bed, but I sat down at the computer "just to check my email" and here I sit an hour later, starting a post. After reading a dozen of my favorite blogs. Crazy, foolish girl.

In the next two days I need to get caught up on housework and laundry, take my kids to the library before we rack up fines, get ready to take the kids on a four day roadtrip to Nana's, attend a charity event, meet my girlfriends for Park Day, take the two oldest boys to Mother/Son Sports Night, . . . oh, and haggle a car dealer down to a price that we're willing to spend before the lease is up on our van--this weekend. Because it would be pretty hard to take a roadtrip to my mom's (or even just get everyone to church) if we don't have a van. The whole car thing has been giving me fits this week. As in realizing-in-the-middle-of-the-night-that-I've-been-clenching-my- teeth-and-now-have-a-most-heinous-headache kind of fits. I'm tired of having all of my conversations with my husband focus on which van, how much we can really afford, do we really need the 8th seat that I love having, can we find one without a DVD player, do we WANT one without a DVD player, have I looked at xyz website yet or called abc dealer? I'm tired of smooth-talking sales guys and even more tired of the sales guys that don't seem to be listening to me and ask me the same questions over and over. I've now decided that the worst thing about a lease is that when it ends you are forced to make a decision whether you want to or not. I'd be thrilled to just keep my van and keep paying the same payments, but they aren't offering to extend our lease and our buyout is more than the van is worth. Anyway, why am I rambling on and boring all of you? I'll just be glad when it's Sunday night and we are at my mom's (assuming that we actually bought a van) and this will all be behind us.

And I don't want to look at cheesecake again for a long time. Blech.

Wow, what an uplifting post! I guess I needed to vent.

On the bright side, my wonderful husband took the four kids to pack meeting tonight without me (I was at a wedding reception, remember?) and didn't even complain about it. When I came home tired and obviously cranky, based on the rantings above, they were all sleeping peacefully. Sigh. What would I do without him?

This recipe is not unlike the Chocolate Raspberry Truffle cheesecake, but it is not quite as sweet.

Chocolate Mint Truffle Cheesecake

• 3 packages (8 oz ea) Philadelphia cream cheese or light cream cheese
• 1 can sweetened condensed milk
• 2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 2 1/3 cups Ghiradelli double dark chocolate chips
• 1 11 oz bag mint baking chips (green is ok)

• 2 cups ground chocolate graham ers or cookie crumbs
• 6 T. melted butter
• 1/4 c. sugar
  
• Optional: whipped cream, for garnish

Let ingredients come to room temperature, about 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

In medium bowl, combine er crumbs, sugar, and melted butter. Press into bottom and up the sides of 9” springform pan, or into 8 4” mini springform pans. Bake 8 minutes. Set aside. Keep oven at 325 degrees.

In large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and sweetened condensed milk on medium speed until creamy. Add vanilla, then eggs one at a time, beating well at each addition.

Melt 2 c. chocolate chips in double boiler. Pour ½ of the melted chocolate into the cheese mixture and beat well.

Add ½ bag of mint chips to melted chocolate and stir until melted. Add mint/chocolate mixture, along with all remaining chips, to cheese mixture and stir to incorporate chips.

Pour into prepared pan or pans, and wrap the bottom of the pan in aluminum foil. Place pan on jelly roll pan and add about 1/2 inch of water to the bottom of jelly roll pan. For 9” springform, bake about 60 minutes, until cheesecake is firm at the edges and not set in the middle, or until internal temperature reaches 160 degrees. For mini springform pans, bake 15-20 minutes.

Remove pan from oven and allow to cool completely on wire rack. Chill cake in springform pan for at least 4 hours. Run a wet knife around the edge of the pan and release sides. If desired, garnish each piece with whipped cream or dark chocolate ganache.

Serves 16.

Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Cheesecake

I will admit that this isn't my favorite flavor combination--I think it's too sweet. However, if you like chocolate raspberry, this is a great and easy cheesecake to make. Verrrrrrry rich.

Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Cheesecake

• 3 packages (8 oz ea) Philadelphia cream cheese or Light cream cheese
• 1 can sweetened condensed milk
• 2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 1 tsp. raspberry extract
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 2 bags Ghiradelli double dark chocolate chips
• 1 pint fresh raspberries or 1 cup frozen
  
• 2 cups ground chocolate graham ers or teddy grahams
• ¼ c. sugar
• 6 T. melted butter
• Optional: whipped cream, for garnish

Let ingredients come to room temperature, about 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
In medium bowl, combine cookie crumbs, sugar, and melted butter. Press into bottom and up the sides of 9” springform pan, or into 8 4” mini springform pans. Bake 8 minutes. Set aside. Keep oven at 325 degrees.

In large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and sweetened condensed milk on medium speed until creamy. Add vanilla and raspberry extracts, then eggs one at a time, beating well at each addition.

Melt 2 1/2 c. chocolate chips in double boiler. Pour the melted chocolate into the cheese mixture and beat well. Fold in remaining 1 ½ c. chocolate chips to batter.

Pour into prepared pan or pans, press raspberries into mixture. Wrap pan bottom in aluminum foil and place on jelly roll pan. Put about 1/2 inch of water in bottom of jelly roll pan. For 9” springform, bake about 60 minutes, until cheesecake is firm at the edges and not set in the middle or until an internal temperature probe measures 160 degrees. For mini springform pans, bake 15-20 minutes.

Remove cake from oven and allow to cool completely, then chill for at least 4 hours. Carefully release sides of springform pan. If desired, garnish each piece with whipped cream or drizzle with dark chocolate ganache.

Serves 16. Save up your calories so you can afford this!

Twelve Cheesecakes and a Wedding

I mentioned last month that I was working on some cheesecakes for an upcoming wedding. Well, the blessed event was last weekend and the cheesecakes turned out wonderfully. The bride and her mother and I worked together one day to out twelve cheesecakes in four varieties: Lemon Raspberry, Peach Gingersnap, Chocolate Mint Truffle, and Chocolate Raspberry Truffle. We froze the cheesecakes that night and didn't defrost them until the evening of the wedding reception. In the couple of days before the wedding, I made Raspberry Sauce, Lemon Curd, Peach Glaze, and Dark Chocolate Ganache for garnishing our creations. I also discovered, while making a double batch of lemon curd at 11pm, that it is possible to scorch lemon curd. I've made it countless times before without a problem, but had to scrap the entire batch, get new ingredients, and start over in the morning.
Anyway, the garden reception was just lovely. The colors were black and white and they had even invited the guests to wear black and white, so it was gorgeous. They had a live jazz band performing twinkle lights everywhere, lots of yummy finger foods at the buffet and a "chick salad" (as they're called at my house) that was to die for, plus our cheesecakes. I got there before the reception started and managed to snap a couple of photos of the bride with her four sisters (aren't they gorgeous?)
When I checked in with the bride at one point and asked her how her day was going and she said, "I just can't stop smiling!" and I remembered feeling that exact same way on my wedding day. Her dress was lovely. She designed it herself and had it made. Living proof that you can have a gorgeous, stylish wedding gown that is still modest.
My sister came with me to help me plate the cheesecakes (why didn't I get a picture of any of them plated??) and it was so nice to have her there with me--I think working together with my sister and Mom in those situations helps me not to stress out, something that I can do when working alone or even with other people who don't know how to read my mind. Aren't sisters wonderful?
I am going to start posting recipes in separate posts so that they are easier to find later, so I'll post those truffle cheesecake recipes soon. Right now I need to go pick up kids at school.

I might as well face it,

I'm addicted to blog! I confess, I am having so much fun with my new little project that I wake up wondering what I'm going to write about. There are so many options and heavens knows that I never run out of things to say! I just deleted a post that was much too long all about whether or not to cut my hair. I decided not to bore you with such a self-centered topic (but if you have an opinion on short vs. long hair, please send me a comment. I'm seriously considering mine off again at my next appointment on Monday. And by the way, I made it so that anyone can comment without registering. We'll try that out and see how it works.)
This photo (by Maggie Rassmussen) was taken on our family reunion trip to Newport Beach in May, which was positively fabulous. We stayed in an amazing beach house half a block from the beach that actually had enough rooms for all 22 of us to be comfortable and not make each other too crazy. I love that Maggie caught Ian's run, because I just love watching him move--and his run is hysterical. He s himself back like he's a superhero about to take off at light speed and then dashes away and we are left grinning. Too cute. It's hard to imagine right now that he'll ever have a gawky stage when he just is so adorable.
Today I made a lemon raspberry cheesecake for my friend, Laura, who wants to do cheesecake for her wedding cake instead of the standard. After shopping around and discovering the amounts that a professionally decorated wedding cheesecake can fetch, I offered to make the cheesecake portion and recommended someone who can do the fondant and piping portion. However, that was weeks ago and I still hadn't gotten around to making a test run cheesecake (we'd like to try it out with the fondant and then put it outside an a summer's evening and see what happens.) This morning I determined to do it. Jared questioned my sanity when he came home at 1:00pm and found me in the kitchen with the oven on--since it was 105 today in our town, you do have to wonder what I was thinking.
Anyhow, this recipe is one that I created a few years ago when I was trying to win the Philidelphia Cream Cheese Taste The Riches recipe contest. I spent that fall busily coming up with cheesecakes that I thought would wow the judges and planned my trip to NYC to have lunch with the editor of Gourmet magazine, not to mention how I would spend the $100k cash prize--and then they never contacted me to tell me that I had won!
So, I'm giving it to you. One day it may go in the cookbook that I want to publish, but for now it will go to my loyal readers!:) Try it out--it's fab. Sorry for the lack of picture--it's still chilling in the pan.

Lemon Raspberry Cheesecake

• 5 8oz packages cream cheese at room temperature (the light will work if you're cutting calories and not making this for a wedding! DO NOT use the fat free. If you can't afford the calories from the light cream cheese, just have some carrots and move on!)
• 1 1/4 c. sugar
• 1 c. sour cream or light sour cream but not fat free
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1/4 c. fresh lemon juice (yes, fresh does make a difference)
• zest of two lemons
• 1 pint fresh raspberries (or 1 1/2 c. frozen, not thawed)
• 1 c. prepared lemon curd (Trader Joe's sells it if you don't want to make it, but it's better homemade and you'll have a little leftover to eat with a spoon!)

Preheat the oven to 350.
For the Crust: I prefer to make a shortbread crust for this, but a graham er one will work. You can make a batch of shortbread for the crust or you can buy some good shortbread cookies at Trader Joes, stick them in your food processor, and then bind them with a little melted butter and press into the bottom of your 9 or 10 inch springform pan. With either crust, I recommend baking it for about 20 minutes for it to set--if you make a shortbread recipe, cook it until the shortbread is almost done (about 45 minutes for most recipes.)

Once the crust is ready, let it cool and get started on the filling. Mix the cream cheese for about 2 minutes in your stand mixer until it's nice and creamy. Add the sugar and mix again until smooth. (If you didn't wait for the cream cheese to come to room temp you are now dealing with lumps, so just wait the extra hour for it to soften up.) Add the sour cream, vanilla, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Mix until combined, then add the eggs and mix until combined, about 1 minute on medium speed.
Pour the cheese mixture into your springform pan with the crust that's been cooling. Scatter the raspberries across the top of the pan and gently submerge them into the batter.
Put foil around the bottom of the pan and up the sides, then place the springform on a jelly roll pan (that's a cookie sheet with sides, folks). Place it in the oven and put about 4 cups of hot water in the jellyroll pan to give this baby a water bath.
Bake for about 90 minutes, but check it regularly after an hour. When it's done, it will be a bit jiggly but a knife will come out clean (or your digital instant read thermometer will say 160 F.) Turn off the oven and let it sit for an hour in there. Remove from oven but leave it in the pan. Bring to room temperature, then cover and chill overnight.
When completely chilled, remove sides of pan. Spread lemon curd over the top of the cheesecake and chill for at least one more hour. Serve with a drizzle of raspberry sauce on the plate. You should get about 16 servings from this recipe.
(Since this one is going to have fondant over it, I put the layer of lemon curd in the middle, after putting in half of the cheese mixture, and then covered it with the remaining cheese and went from there.)
Hopefully this turns out to work great and some of you will get to sample it at Laura's wedding on August 18th. I'll post a picture later.
Now I'm off to kiss my sleeping children goodnight.