Old School Butter Pound Cake

I am not really a dessert type of girl, BUT there are two cakes that I can eat all day. Yes, butter pound cake is one of them. This recipe will deliver a rich and moist cake. I am sure your taste buds will thank you. I am sure you will leave your approval stamp on this recipe!

Old School Butter Pound Cake

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 c cake flour
• 1 1/2 c all purpose flour
• 3 stick butter, unsalted (softened at room temp)
• 8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
• 3 1/4 c sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 tsp almond extract
• 1 tsp salt
• 6 large eggs

Directions:

1. Beat butter and cream cheese with a mixer on medium speed until mixture comes together.
2. Add sugar and extracts; beat until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low.
3. Add eggs, one at a time, alternating with flours 1/2 cup at a time until all eggs and flours are used.
4. Transfer to a buttered, oiled and floured, 10-cup shaped pan such as bundt pan.
5. Place in cold oven. Heat oven to 325 degrees. Bake until an inserted tester comes out clean about 1 1/2 hours.
6. Remove cake from pan. Let cool on wire rack.

Best Cheesecake

Not only is this our best cheesecake—a rich, creamy, cherry-topped showstopper—it's also one of the easiest to make!

Best Cheesecake

Ingredients:

• 1-3/4 cups  graham cracker crumbs
• 1/3 cup  butter, melted
• 1-1/4 cups  sugar, divided
• 3 pkg.  (8 oz. each) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
• 1 cup  BREAKSTONE'S or KNUDSEN Sour Cream
• 2 tsp.  vanilla
• 3 eggs
• 1 can  (21 oz.) cherry pie filling

Directions:

1. HEAT oven to 350°F.
2. MIX graham crumbs, butter and 1/4 cup sugar; press onto bottom of 9-inch springform pan.
3. BEAT cream cheese and remaining sugar in large bowl with mixer until blended. Add sour cream and vanilla; mix well. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating on low speed after each addition just until blended. Pour over crust.
4. BAKE 1 hour to 1 hour 10 min. or until center is almost set. Run knife around rim of pan to loosen cake; cool before removing rim. Refrigerate cheesecake 4 hours.
5. TOP with pie filling before serving.

White Chocolate Caramel Cheesecake

Boy, have I been waiting to make this cheesecake. It has featured on the top of my bookmarks bar for many months now- though I love it so, I don't often make cheesecake, but I thought that it would be appropriate to make for National Cheesecake Day

I find that the caramel isn't too difficult to make, but if you don't fancy it, you could top the cheesecake with shop-bought caramel, or one from another recipe. I considered using a different recipe, but the buttery richness of this one works so well. I also found that, despite my expectations of it firming up upon cooling, this caramel remained smooth and fluid and didn't really require reheating in the microwave oven.

White Chocolate Caramel Cheesecake

Ingredients:

For the Crust:

180g digestives

7tbsp unsalted butter

½ tsp salt

For the Filling:

225g white chocolate, chopped

120ml double cream

340g white chocolate, chopped into little chunks

3 x 225g packs of cream cheese

250g granulated sugar (1 1/4 cup)

5 eggs, beaten

1tsp vanilla extract

pinch salt

For the Caramel:

300g granulated sugar (1 1/2 cup)

570ml double cream

4tbsp unsalted butter

     

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/mark 5.

2. For the crust, crush the biscuits to fine crumbs and mix in the salt and butter. Press into a 10 inch spring form pan, covering the base and an inch and a half up the sides. Bake for 10 minutes and allow to cool. Lower the oven temperature to 170C/325F/mark 3.

3. For the filling, place the chocolate into a heat proof bowl and bring the double cream to a simmer in a small saucepan. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and leave for a minute before stirring until the ganache is smooth. Leave to cool.

4. Lightly beat the cream cheese in a large mixing bowl to soften. Add in the sugar and mix to combine. Gradually beat in the beaten eggs, roughly one egg at a time. Fold in the ganache (once cool), vanilla extract and salt.

5. Pour the filling into the pan with the crust. Cover the pan with two sheets of foil and place the pan into a fairly deep roasting pan. Pour boiling water into the roasting pan, about 1 inch deep (it must not exceed the height of the foil. Bake for 60 minutes, reduce the oven to 160C/300F/mark 2 and leave to bake for a further 60-90 minutes, until the centre has just set. Allow to cool completely before covering, refrigerating and leaving for at least 8 hours before serving with the caramel.

6. For the caramel, gently heat the sugar over a medium heat in a heavy based saucepan whilst stirring with a wooden spoon. Once the sugar has melted, gently shake the pan, continuing to cook the sugar until it turns light-medium amber in colour. Be careful not to overcook. Take the pan off the heat and carefully whisk in the cream. If any of the caramel solidifies, heat until it melts. Return to the heat and allow to boil for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and mix in the butter. Allow to cool and pour into a heatproof container/jar. Pour over the cheesecake.

Turtle Cake

I love baking and eating cake, but I wanted to make something I had never made before.  I came across this Turtle Cake in  an old cookbook.  The ingredients sounded delicious--German chocolate cake, chocolate chips, caramels, nuts.  I had to try it and it was a winner!  I've already made it several times.
WARNING:  This cake can be addictive!

Turtle Cake

Ingredients:

• 1 cup chopped nuts (I used pecans)
• 1 (14 oz) package caramels
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 box German chocolate cake mix (I use Duncan Hines)
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup milk

Directions:

In a sauce pan, melt caramels with milk over low heat, stirring occasionally. Takes about 10 - 12 minutes.

In the meantime, mix cake according to directions, adding vanilla.

Pour 1/2 of cake mixture in a greased and floured 13 x 9 pan (I use Baker's Joy).  Bake about 10 - 12 minutes at 350 degrees.

When cake has baked for the 10 or more minutes and the sauce is ready, pour sauce over the cake.

Sprinkle with chocolate chips and nuts.  Pour remaining batter over sauce.  Bake about 20 - 30 minutes more, until done.

Icing:

• 1 box confectioners sugar
• 1 stick butter
• 3 1/2 Tablespoons cocoa
• 1/3 cup milk
• Dash of salt
• 1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Bring butter, milk, cocoa and salt to a boil over medium heat.  Add sifted confectioners sugar (I never sift mine).  Pour over cake while both are hot.  Sprinkle with nuts. (You can mix the nuts in when you add the confectioners sugar if you'd like.)

**This cake is so moist and delicious.  You can't eat just one piece!

Aunt Pat’s Famous Cream Puff

Tried the recipe and they are the fluffiest cream puffs I have made and i have made quite a few. I tried one batch in the cupcake tins and would do that again except my puffs stuck to the pan. Next time I will spray the tins. I like how tall they were. Lots of room for more cream!..

Recipe >> Aunt Pat’s Famous Cream Puff @ gooddinnermom.com

The Ugliest Cheesecake Ever

For the longest time I have avoided making cheesecake. Don't get me wrong, I love it. So much. That's why I didn't wanna mess it up. That and the fact that an 8 oz block of cream cheese costs well over PhP 100 (that's just a local brand, not even Philadelphia!). So the thought of fudging it up and wasting money at the same time was enough to make me step away from all the delicious cheesecake recipes online.

Recently, I stumbled upon a recipe that really tempted me. It didn't have a lot of ingredients and instead of using a springform pan (which I've never seen in real life) made use of a muffin pan. I figured making cheesecake muffins would be a far lesser task. The recipe was a success. I made it a few more times, dressing it up with strawberries and whipped cream, eating it plain. It was just that good.

This is NOT low carb

When I decided to go low carb, I looked at that recipe and just by simply removing the crust turned it into something I could enjoy - albeit in small portions - and still stay on plan. Even better news is it's allowed on Induction! Magic words, right?

Now you can definitely make this prettier but unless you want other people to steal it, DON'T. Who cares about those wrinkles anyway? Or the fact that sometimes the middle part sinks? It might not be pretty but damnit it's good! AND LEGAL! Again, the magic word!

The Ugliest Cheesecake Ever

*Adapted from various cheesecake recipes and inspired by Chocolate Kiss' Sour Cream Cheesecake

serves 12

Ingredients

16 oz cream cheese

1 C Splenda (NOT sugar blend but granular)

2 t vanilla

4 T lemon juice

3 T sour cream

2 eggs

1. Preheat oven at 325. Prepare 12 cup muffin pan.

2. With a mixer, beat the cream cheese until there are no more lumps. Slowly add the Splenda, incorporating both ingredients well.

Beat the cr*p out of that cheese!

3. Add vanilla, lemon juice and sour cream. Blend but make sure not to over mix.

4. Add eggs one at a time, gently mixing after each one.

5. Divide the batter evenly between the 12 muffin cups. I used an ice cream scooper to divide them equally.

Invest on an icecream scooper. It's convenient and not that messy to use.

6. Bake at 325 for 12 to 15 minutes depending on your oven. Check at 12 minutes and the tops should be set but not hard. I actually like to underbake this because the center has that ooey gooey cream cheesy filling that I love.

7. Let cool for at least 30 minutes. Put in the fridge for at least 2 hours. This is best eaten cold.

Carb count 3.7 per serving

Notes

If you want to make prettier cheesecakes, check this out.

If you're past Induction (woohoo!) you may add fresh strawberries on top or even do a nut crust.