White Chocolate Mousse Cheesecake

do you see that cheesecake? it was delicious. i was lucky that i had an actual social event to attend to give me an excuse a valid reason to make it and not consume it myself. small blessings you know.

White Chocolate Mousse Cheesecake
Crust:

1 1/3 cups vanilla wafer crumbs

3 tbsp sugar

1/3 cup melted butter (or veg oil)

Press into the bottom of a lightly greased 9” springform pan.

Batter:

3 8 oz packages cream cheese

½ cup sugar

3 eggs

3 tsp vanilla extract

1/3 cup whipping cream

1 cup good quality white chocolate chips

1 cup whipping cream

Heat the 1/3 cup whipping cream till scalding, pour over the white chocolate chips and mix well. Set aside. In a mixer, cream the cream cheese and ½ cup of sugar, being sure to scrape down the sides. Throw in an egg, one by one, again scraping down the sides. Add in the vanilla extract. Slowly pour in the melted white chocolate mixture, being sure to scrape down and mix well. Finally, add in the final cup of whipping cream.

Pour over the prepared base and bake at 325F for about 45 minutes. Turn off the oven and leave it in there until it cools down completely. Remove the cake from the oven and run a sharp knife around edge of pan. Allow to cool to room temp before putting it in the fridge over night.

White Chocolate Mousse

½ cup whipping cream

8 oz white chocolate chips

1 ½ cups whipping cream

1 tsp vanilla extract

½ cup icing sugar

Heat the whipping cream to scalding but not boiling. In a bowl, pour the hot cream over the white chocolate chips.

Set aside for 5 minutes, then stir until smooth.

Whip the 1 ½ cup whipping cream till firm peaks. Add in the vanilla extract and icing sugar.

Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the chocolate into the whipped cream. Chill for a couple of hours or until firm before piping it on top of the cheesecake. Top with raspberries.

Cheesecake Throwdown

big k and i have discussed it. we've neglected this blog for too long. we blame pat. him and his chicken/biscuit challenge...

this month's challenge is Cheesecake.

deadline: August 15th.

Packing Fudge

i used this recipe but added a bit of melted white chocolate on top to make it all marble-y. you know, cus it's kinda fancy looking etc.

this chocolate goodness tho, was not was for me to consume. all this chocolate-y goodness was sent to a friend for his birthday.

grow that ass.

Blueberry peach tart (not pie!)

Ok - so I was wrestling with a few different possibilities this month and my intentions were to make a pulled pork coleslaw pie, but I thought that was a bit over the top, so I decided on using fruits of the summer. Blueberries and peaches are in season, why not make a tart out of it. And yes, I didn't make a pie, pies and tarts are essentially the same to me, except I'm not a huge fan of too much crust, a tart was the next logical choice. I've made apple tarts, pear tarts, even peach tarts in the past, except this time I decided to twist it up a bit in the prep of the peaches and blueberries instead of just throwing them into a crust and baking w/sugar.

Here's what you'll need:

Crust:
3/4 cup all-purpose flour, sifted
pinch of salt
3 oz cold cold butter cubed
cold water

Combine flour, salt into a food processor, add in cold (cold!) butter until you get breadcrumb consistency. Add in cold water a bit at a time until the dough comes together, roll out on floured surface and gently lay into your tart pan. Trim off the edges. I opted to try out a new silicon tart pan this time instead of using a generic metal one. I like it a lot, non-stick!

Filling:
5 semi-ripe yellow (or white but I prefer yellow) peaches
1 container blueberries
1 cup light brown sugar
2 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon (split into 2)
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 tablespoon water
2 tablespoon butter

Bring a quart of water to boil and add in 1 tablespoon of the granulated sugar. Place peaches into the pot once it starts to boil and let simmer for 5-7 mins depending on how firm your peaches are. Remove and run under cold water immediately. Halve peaches to remove pit and the skins should come right off. Set aside on a plate. Preheat oven to 425.

Take the other 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar, combine with 1/2 tablespoon cinnamon, ginger mix thoroughly, add to the bottom of your pie tart covering the bottom of the pan.

In a sauce pan, add 1 tablespoon of water with 1 cup light brown sugar set to medium high until the brown sugar begins to dissolve and lightly bubble and add in 1/2 tablespoon remaining cinnamon. Once sugar begins to bubble, place halved peaches into the pan being careful not to splash hot sugar. Let simmer, flip cut site down occasionally for 5-8 mins, until peaches become tender.



Remove the peaches from the syrup placing them cut side down into the dough. Add into the syrup the package of blueberries and let simmer for 2 mins. Turn off heat, and add blueberries into tart pan covering gaps. Drizzle some of the syrup onto the top of the tart before placing into oven. Bake for 20-25 mins.



Remove from oven, let set for 30-40 mins. Serve warm plain or with a bit of vanilla ice cream!