Frozen Honey Cheesecake with Praline Crust

Hello to everyone who has been faithful enough to keep up with my blog! I know it's been awhile since I've posted a recipe on here and I am simply hoping that someone is still possibly visiting my website occasionally. I could go into the details as to why it's been so long since I've posted anything, but I highly doubt that anyone out there cares about the happenings of my personal life.

Needless to say, there will be a slight change in the recipes posted on here. As of recently, I have been tampering and falling in love with new and more evolved flavors other than my typical favorite--chocolate. Because of this, many of my upcoming recipes are going to be a little more advanced in their taste as opposed to more mundane brownie recipes. I hope this is ok with everyone--I hope that these new flavors will excite you as they did me as I was working away in the kitchen with my Itunes on shuffle. :) I also have the wonderful and new addition of my roommate and her awesome camera and photography skills, so the pictures posted on here should be elevating from what they used to be.

Crust:

3 1/2 oz. flaked almonds

6 oz. (3/4 cup) sugar

7 oz. plain sweet biscuits (I bought regular biscuit dough and added some white and brown sugar on top when I baked them).

3 1/2 oz. unsalted butter, melted

Filling:

8 oz. mascarpone cheese

8 oz. cream cheese, softened to room temperature

1 13-oz. can condensed milk

2 oz. (1/4 cup) honey

10 oz. (1 1/4 cups) cream

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. To make the praline, spread the almonds on a foil-lined, greased baking tray. Put the sugar in a pan with 1/2 cup water and stir over low heat until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to a boil, then simmer without stirring until the toffee is golden brown. Pour over the almonds (don't touch it!), then set aside to cool and harden before breaking into pieces.

2. Lightly grease a 23 cm. (9 inch) diameter springform tin and line the base with baking paper. Reserve about half the praline and finely chop the rest with the biscuits in a food processor. Stir in the butter, spoon int the base and press firmly on the side of the tin (I "skipped"/didn't see this step, so I just put all the mixture on the bottom for a thicker crust). Bake for 15 min. and then leave to cool.

3. To make the filling, process the mascarpone and cream cheese together until soft and creamy. Add the condensed milk and honey. Whip the cream until soft peaks form and then fold in slowly. Pour into the tin, sprinkle with cinnamon and swirl gently with a skewer or knife. Do not overmix. Freeze for several hours, or until firm, and decorate with the remaining praline.

Crust:

3 1/2 oz. flaked almonds

6 oz. (3/4 cup) sugar

7 oz. plain sweet biscuits (I bought regular biscuit dough and added some white and brown sugar on top when I baked them).

3 1/2 oz. unsalted butter, melted

Filling:

8 oz. mascarpone cheese

8 oz. cream cheese, softened to room temperature

1 13-oz. can condensed milk

2 oz. (1/4 cup) honey

10 oz. (1 1/4 cups) cream

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. To make the praline, spread the almonds on a foil-lined, greased baking tray. Put the sugar in a pan with 1/2 cup water and stir over low heat until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to a boil, then simmer without stirring until the toffee is golden brown. Pour over the almonds (don't touch it!), then set aside to cool and harden before breaking into pieces.

2. Lightly grease a 23 cm. (9 inch) diameter springform tin and line the base with baking paper. Reserve about half the praline and finely chop the rest with the biscuits in a food processor. Stir in the butter, spoon int the base and press firmly on the side of the tin (I "skipped"/didn't see this step, so I just put all the mixture on the bottom for a thicker crust). Bake for 15 min. and then leave to cool.

3. To make the filling, process the mascarpone and cream cheese together until soft and creamy. Add the condensed milk and honey. Whip the cream until soft peaks form and then fold in slowly. Pour into the tin, sprinkle with cinnamon and swirl gently with a skewer or knife. Do not overmix. Freeze for several hours, or until firm, and decorate with the remaining praline.

Hersheys Quick'N'Easy Chocolate Cupcakes

I have not made cupcakes in SO long and oh my goodness it was a blast. Since the last time I made them, my decorating skills have slightly evolved, hence the more elaborate icing design than just slapping it on with a knife (which is just as good too!). I added some chocolate chips to the batter because I need multi-textured food; it really is bad I know. I also doubled the icing recipe, but shh...don't tell anyone. :)

Seriously, these were probably the best cupcakes I've ever made, thanks to Hersheys of course.

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

2/3 cup Hershey's Cocoa

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

2/3 cup shortening, softened (usually I HATE using shortening, but don't substitute here. This really did make a lot of difference in the texture).

2 eggs

2/3 cup milk

1/2 cup hot water

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

3/4 cup chocolate chips (semisweet or milk)

Creamy Fudge Frosting-recipe below

Directions.

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin cups with paper baking cups.

2. Stir together flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Add shortening, eggs, milk, water, and vanilla; beat on low speed of mixture for 1 min. (try doing this without a mixer...your arm will get a good workout I promise). Beat on medium speed for an additional 3 min or until mixture is smooth. Fill cups 1/2 full with bater.

3. Bake 15-20 min. or until the center of each cupcake springs back when touched lightly in the center. Remove cupcakes from pan to wire rack. Cool completely. 

4. Prepare frosting and frost the cupcakes however you desire. 

CREAMY FUDGE FROSTING:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine

1/2 cup cocoa

3 2/3 cups (1 pound) powdered sugar

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

dash of salt

1/3 cup of water (you may not use all of this. If you add too much, just add more sugar).

Melt butter in medium saucepan over low heat. Add cocoa; stir until smooth and well blended. Remove from heat. Add powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt alternately with water; beat with a spoon or whisk until smooth and creamy.

Hersheys Mixed Nut Crunch

So yes, there are going to be 3 new posts today...and no I did not make them all today. I made the pie this weekend and this recipe and the next ones were made today. This recipe is from my Hershey Best-loved Recipes cookbook. I've been using various recipes from online so much recently that I've really missed using an actual cookbook. Originally the recipe is called "Cashew Macadamia Crunch" because it uses only cashews and macadamias, but I had a big tub of mixed nuts and I thought it was discriminatory only to use those 2 nuts. :) 

This is a salty and sweet pleasure for anyone! Unless you hate nuts, I can't imagine anybody not liking this candy. The nuts are held together by a gooey, sugary, and buttery mixture. The recipe also originally called for only milk chocolate chips, but after years of experience, I found that using half milk and half semisweet chocolate usually yields the best results. Hope you guys enjoy and tell me if you try it! :)

INGREDIENTS:

 2 cups (11.5 ounce package) Hershey's Milk Chocolate chips (or 1 cup Milk chocolate, 1 cup semisweet)

   *of course they tell you to use EVERYTHING Hershey, but I won't tell anyone if you don't. :)

2 cups mixed nuts

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

2-3 tablespoons light corn syrup

DIRECTIONS:

1. Line a 9-inch square pan with foil, extending foil over edges of pan. Grease foil. Cover bottom of prepared pan with chocolate chips.

2. Combine nuts, butter, sugar, and corn syrup in large saucepan; cook over low heat, stirring constantly until butter is melted and sugar is dissolved. Increase heat to medium; cook, stirring constantly until mixture begins to cling together and turns a light golden brown.

3. Pour mixture over chocolate chips in pan, spreading evenly; cool. Refrigerate until chocolate is firm. Remove from pan and peel off foil. Break into pieces (you might need to use a knife). Store tightly covered in a cool, dry place (I kept mine in the refrigerator b/c to me it tastes better cold). 

Ingredients

Strawberry Margarita Pie

I was in the mood to make a pie, and I definitely don't have a lot of money to spend on ingredients so I went for this yummy sounding pie recipe I found off the pillsbury website. The picture they have makes the pie look a whole lot bigger, but in reality it's slightly smaller. I also added about 1 cup of crushed graham crackers to my crust to make it a little thicker. Pay attention to the fact that the whipping cream, whipped, is used IN the pie. I, having a dumb moment, thought it was just for a whipped topping and I skipped on buying it at the store. Then I realized, one: there is no whipped cream on the top of the pie in the picture, and two: that it actually goes IN the pie. Oh well, I used the small amount of Cool Whip I had in addition to a touch of milk. There were, consequently, a few little white dots from the Cool Whip, but it still tasted really refreshing and light! This is a perfect summer dessert. 

INGREDIENTS

Crust
1 1/4	cups crushed pretzels
1/4	cup sugar
1/2	cup margarine or butter, melted
Filling
1	(14-oz.) can sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated)
1/2	cup frozen concentrated margarita mix, thawed
1	(10-oz.) pkg. frozen strawberries in syrup, thawed
1	cup whipping cream, whipped Directions: In small bowl, combine all crust ingredients; mix well. Press firmly in bottom of ungreased 8 or 9-inch springform pan. Refrigerate while preparing filling. n large bowl, combine condensed milk and margarita mix; beat until smooth. Add strawberries; beat at low speed until well blended. Fold in whipped cream. Pour into crust-lined pan. Freeze at least 3 hours or until firm. To serve, let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Garnish as desired. Store in freezer.

Butterfinger Mounds and Chocolate Clodhoppers

Two candies in one post today! The Butterfinger mounds are from cookiemadness.com and the clodhoppers are from bakingchambers.com The butterfingers really do taste a lot like the actual candy. You could dip them in chocolate or just drizzle it on top if you want, but I was lazy and didn't feel like it today. The clodhoppers, also called chocolate brittle...AWESOME. Definitely use Hershey milk chocolate bars with this one.

Butterfinger Mounds

2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/4 cup corn syrup
1/2 cup butterscotch chips
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups corn flakes

Place butter, sugar and corn syrup in a medium sized microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high for about 1 minute or until bubbly. Stir to dissolve sugar. Quickly stir in butterscotch chips and stir until chips are melted. Stir in peanut butter and vanilla and stir until smooth. Stir in corn flakes.

Drop by rounded tablespoons onto a waxed paper lined cookie sheet. Let sit until firm or chill until firm.

Makes around 12

 Chocolate Brittle (Homeade Clodhoppers)

1/2 Cup butter
1/2 Cup sugar (either white granulated sugar or light brown sugar both work, but I prefer to use the white sugar for taste preference)
20-30 Graham crackers (amount depends on size of cookie sheet)
Approx. 400g of your favorite chocolate bar (I like to use either Cadbury's milk chocolate bar, Hershey's cookies and cream bar, or Lindt's dark chocolate bar)

1) Preheat oven to 350F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper
2) Melt butter and sugar over medium heat stirring occasionally and bring to a boil
3) Arrange graham crackers to fit evenly on cookie sheet
4) Pour butter mixture over graham crackers and spread to cover all graham crackers evenly
5) Place in oven for 8min then cool completely on a wire rack
6) Once cooled, break sugar coated graham crackers into bite size pieces
7) Melt chocolate in large pot over low heat stirring frequently
8) Once melted, add graham bits to melted chocolate and stir to cover each piece equally
9) Pour chocolate covered grahams back onto lined cookie sheet and spread evenly
10) Place in fridge to cool, once cooled break into pieces again and enjoy!

Chocolate Covered Cherry Cookies

Yet another cookie recipe from Anna's website cookiemadness.com 

Oh my goodness...these are AMAZING. I don't like cherries at all, but these cookies I can handle. It's like a warm chocolate/gooey chocolatey cookie with a cherry in the middle. The very best part of the cookie is the homeade chocolate frosting on top. Sweetened condensed milk + chocolate + cherry juice=the best frosting ever.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa

1/2 cup margarine, softened

1  cup sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. baking soda

1 large egg

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

1 jar maraschino cherries (10 ounce)

3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk

Directions:

In a large bowl, combine flour and cocoa. Set aside.

In another large mixing bowl, beat margarine with an electric mixer at a medium-high speed, about 30 seconds until softened. Add sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda, beating well until combine. Add egg and vanilla; beat well. Gradually beat in the flour mixture.

Shape dough into 1-inch balls; place on ungreased baking sheet. Press down center of each ball with thumb. Drain maraschino cherries, reserving juice. Place a cherry in the center of each cookie.

In a small saucepan, combine the chocolate and sweetened condensed milk. Heat until chocolate is melted. Stir in 5 tsp. of reserved cherry juice. Spoon about 1 tsp. of the frosting over each cherry on unbaked cookie; spreading over to cover cherry. (Frosting may be thinned w/ additional cherry juice if necessary).

Bake in preheated oven set on 350 degrees for about 10 min. or until done. Remove to wire rack and cool. Cover and store at room temperature up to two days.

White Russian Tiramisu

This came from the website www.myrecipes.com I had bought some ladyfingers at an Italian shop awhile ago and wanted to use them, hence the tiramisu recipe! I actually it a light recipe. Each serving is 134 calories and 4.5 fat grams. It calls for Kahlua, a coffee liquor, but I wasn't able to find it unfortunately. I think it would've added even more flavor to it, but w/o it it's still really amazing! Personally it tastes exactly like the kind you buy at the Italian restaurants. 

Ingredients:

1 cup ground coffee beans

2 1/2 cups water

1/4 cup Kahlua (coffee-flavored liquer), divided (I used a sugarfree vanilla syrup instead)

1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces) mascarpone cheese

1 (8 ounce) block fat-free cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

24 ladyfingers (2 3-ounce packages)

2 tsp. unsweetened cocoa, divided

Directions:

Assemble drip coffee maker according to manufacturer's directions. Place the ground coffee in the coffee filter or filter basket. Add cold water to coffee maker and brew. Combine the brewed coffee and 2 tbsp. Kahlua in a shallow dish, and cool.

Combine cheeses in a large bowl. Beat at a high speed of a mixer until smooth. Add sugars and 2 tbsp. Kahlua, and beat until well blended.

Split ladyfingers in half lengthwise.

Quickly dip 24 ladyfinger halves, flat sides down, into coffee mixture; place, dipped sides down, in the bottom of an 8-inch square baking dish, slightly overlapping landyfinger halves. Spread half of cheese mixture over ladyfingers; sprinkle with 1 tsp. cocoa. Repeat procedure with remaining ladyfinger halves, coffee mixture, cheese mixture, and 1 tsp. cocoa.

Place 1 toothpick in each corner and 1 in the center of tiramisu (to prevent plastic wrap from sticking to cheese mixture); cover with plastic wrap. Chill for 2 hours.