Carrot Cake Cheesecake

I feel like I've been consumed by school all. day. And it's still not over. Actually, it won't be over until next Thursday.

That is so sad to think about.

I think professors get together and make a pact to give us as much school work as possible right before spring break. Midterms, tests, papers, etc. College overload!

BUT, I will be rewarded with a lovely trip to the beach next Friday. The countdown is on...8 days!

Anyway, I did all that complaining to say this-- I needed a short break from school work, so I thought I'd update the trusty blog.

I have a great recipe for all you carrot cake lovers. I also have a great recipe for all you cheesecake lovers. Oh, wait...it's the same recipe!

Before I get to that, I thought I'd share a verse that's been on my heart this week.

"Be JOYFUL in hope, PATIENT in affliction, FAITHFUL in prayer." 

Romans 12:12

Carrot Cake Cheesecake 

Carrot Cake Cheesecake 

Ingredients

For the cheesecake:

16 oz. cream cheese, room temperature

¾ cup sugar

2 ½ tsp. vanilla

1 tbsp. flour

3 eggs

For the carrot cake:

¾ cup vegetable oil

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 ½ tsp. vanilla

1 cup flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 ½ tsp. cinnamon

8 oz. pureed carrot baby food 

8 ½ oz. pineapple tidbits, drained

½ cup sweetened coconut

1 cup toasted pecans, divided

For the cream cheese frosting:

3 oz. cream cheese, softened

½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 cups confectioner’s sugar

1-2 tbsp. milk, as needed

1 tsp. vanilla

Directions

For the cheesecake:

Beat cream cheese, vanilla, and sugar until smooth. Beat in flour and eggs (one at a time). Mix thoroughly. Set aside.

For the carrot cake:

Mix together dry ingredients- flour, baking soda, and cinnamon. Set aside. In another bowl, combine oil and sugar. Mix in eggs until blended. Add carrot baby food and vanilla, stirring until well combined. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. Mix in pineapple, coconut, and ½ cup pecans.

To assemble:

In a 9 or 91/2 inch springform pan, spread 1 ½ cups carrot cake batter over bottom. Drop dollops of cream cheese mixture over carrot cake batter. Top with more dollops of carrot cake batter, do not swirl. Repeat if necessary to use up batters. You will need to finish with a layer of cream cheese mixture spread over the top (about a cup of the mixture). Again, do not marble.

Bake in a preheated 350° oven for 50 - 60 minutes until edges of cheesecake are slightly puffy and the center (about an inch-and-a-half in) slightly jiggles. Cheesecake will finish setting up as it cools. Cool to room temperature and then refrigerate. When cheesecake has chilled completely, finish with frosting.

For the frosting:

Beat softened cream cheese and butter until well combined & smooth. Lower beater speed and add confectioner’s sugar, adding milk a tablespoon at a time until spreadable. Mix in vanilla.

Spread cream cheese frosting over chilled cheesecake and top with toasted pecans.

Red Velvet Cheesecake

Hello from Gatlinburg, Tennessee! 

I'm sitting in a room FILLED with my best friends right now...eating food...watching Pride and Prejudice. What could be better? We got to Gatlinburg yesterday afternoon, walked around town some, and then drove a couple more miles to our 15 person mountain cabin. This place is BEAUTIFUL. We've just been relaxing and spending time together, which I really love since I don't get to see these people too often! And, of course, I miss them dearly. 

Anyway, I'm a little behind on my blogging. Instead of seeing pictures of the food I made for this trip (Oreo Balls, Peanut Butter Chocolate Sqaures, and Yellow Cake Mix Cookies), this blog post will be about a dessert I made a few days ago...Red Velvet Cheesecake. I'm not gonna lie...it's good. Really good. I feel like I say that a lot, but it's so true this time. It does take a pretty good while to put it together, but it's totally worth it. If you find yourself in a baking mood, I would recommend trying this! 

Red Velvet Cheesecake 

Red Velvet Cheesecake 

Red Velvet Cake

2 1/2 cups cake flour, sifted

2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 1/2 cups vegetable oil

2 large eggs, room temperature

1/2 tsp red gel-paste food color

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 cup buttermilk

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp distilled white vinegar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Whisk together cake flour, cocoa, and salt.

With an electric mixer on med-high speed, whisk together sugar and oil until combined. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl. Mix in food color and vanilla.

Reduce speed to low. add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of buttermilk, and whisk well after each. Stir together the baking soda and vinegar in a small bowl (it will foam), add mixture to the batter and mix on medium speed for 10 seconds.

Line two 9 inch spring form pans with parchment paper. Divide the batter equally between the two pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a knife comes out clean. Transfer pans to a wire rack. Allow to cool before removing the cake from the pan. Allow to cool completely before assembling with the cheesecake.

White Chocolate Cheesecake

2 oz white chocolate, chopped

16 oz cream cheese, at room temperature ( 2 packages)

1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp sugar

1 tbsp flour

2 eggs at room temperature

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tbsp heavy cream

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Melt the white chocolate and set aside to cool slightly.

In a large bowl, using an electronic mixer, mix the cream cheese on low speed until creamy. add the sugar and mix slowly until smooth. on low speed, mix in the flour. turn off the mixer and scrape down the bowl and beater with a rubber spatula. Add one egg at a time and mix until smooth. scrape down again. mix in the vanilla and cream until the mixture is smooth. Using a large spoon, stir in the melted white chocolate until incorporated.

Pour the batter into a parchment paper lined 9 inch spring form pan. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until the center is set when you shake the pan slightly. Allow to cool before removing from the spring form pan. Allow to cool completely before assembling with the red velvet cake.

Cream Cheese Frosting

24 oz cream cheese (3 packages), at room temperature

3 sticks of butter, at room temperature

3 tsp vanilla

3 cups of powdered sugar, plus more to taste

Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl and beat with an electronic mixer until well combined. Add more powdered sugar to taste, if a more sweet frosting is preferred. Use immediately to frost the cake.

After assembling the cake, allow it to rest in the fridge over night, before serving. Serve immediately after taking it out of the fridge.

NOTES:

-If you have time, you can do a crumb coat on both round cakes. There's enough icing to do it, and it makes icing the final product WAY easier. It keeps little red pieces from being all over the cake. If you don't know what a crumb coat is, I'll explain...

Just put a thin layer of icing all over each cake. Then, cover them in plastic wrap and aluminum foil (or put them in an airtight container) and freeze them for a bit. Once the icing is hard, take them out of the freezer and assemble the final product (cheesecake included). 

-Remember to put a layer of icing between the cake and cheesecake. This keeps the three layers from falling apart when you cut a slice.

Reeses Galore

Well, here's my final post before I leave for Athens (I said it's great to be a Georgia Bulldog!). I'm leaving bright and early tomorrow morning. Because my dorm only has what they call a "kitchen" (meaning a stove and sink) on every other floor, it goes without saying that I won't be baking many cheesecakes, milky way cupcakes, or veggie pizzas for a while :) However, when I do come home, I'm sure I'll be baking like crazy. I'm going to have kitchen withdrawals! Anyway, here are a couple of Reeses projects I've worked on over the past couple of weeks.

First, this is a Reeses CAKE-- special chocolate cake with peanut butter buttercream and Reeses sprinkled on top.

Second, this is a Reeses CHEESECAKE. The batter even had crushed up Reeses in it. Mmm. If I had to pick one, the cheesecake would beat the cake. There's a sour cream and chocolate chip concoction on top of the cheesecake, so you can't exactly see its true colors. I'll just have to give you some insight. It was very pretty and peanut-buttery on the inside. Anyone who's as big of a peanut butter fan as I am knows what I mean!

Sadly, that's all I have for now. I'm really going to miss doing what I love for so long. Luckily the holidays will be an awesome opportunity for me to bake all the live long day. Ah, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Please get here faster. Until next month, happy baking!

Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook...for the win!

My brother gave me a Better Homes and Gardens cookbook for my birthday last year, and it has DEFINITELY come in handy over the past couple of days.

Tonight's dinner menu: Vegetable Pizzas (recipe courtesy of the BH&G Cookbook) and fresh watermelon (orange watermelon...who would've known!?). These "pizzas" were AMAZING and pretty easy to make. They're just tortillas topped with a mixture of grilled yellow squash, zucchini, red bell pepper, tomato, and a special mixture of spices, pesto, and mayo. After all of that was assembled, I topped it with shredded cheese and put it back on the grill for a couple more minutes. These were seriously good...and healthy. One of my new favorite recipes.

Tonight's dessert menu: Chocolate Marble Cheesecake Supreme (recipe courtesy of the BH&G Cookbook). Now...I know what you're thinking. Marble? I don't see any marble. Well, the swirl effect didn't exactly go as planned. Nevertheless, the cheesecake had both chocolate AND vanilla in it. And it tasted pretty good if I do say so myself :)