Showing posts with label cream cheese. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cream cheese. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Cherry Blueberry Cheesecake Bundt for #BundtaMonth



While I was in Houston for a week visiting family, I decided that it would be a good time to bake my Bundt for April’s BundtaMonth because 1. Time would be short when I got back to Dubai and 2. I had been invited over for dinner and 3.  I found this lovely Bundt pan in my cupboard.


As I might possibly have said to my BundtaMonth friends, you know you have too many baking pans when you forget you own something as pretty as that!   (Disclaimer:  I will completely deny even possibly saying that if anyone brings this to my husband’s attention.  Because: One can never have too many baking pans.  Am I right?)

Our BundtaMonth hosts, Lora and Anuradha decided that our theme this month is cherries!  Since they are frankly hard to find fresh at this time of the year in Houston, I decided to go with dried cherries and add in some fresh blueberries to join them.  This Bundt has three layers:  Cream cheese pound cake batter, followed by a cream cheese filling based on the cream cheese layer in this great recipe from fellow BundtaMonth member, Anita from Hungry Couple,  and then another layer of the pound cake batter.  Then, to top it all off, a drizzled cream cheese glaze.  I took it over to my little sister’s house for dinner and her youngest son fawned over it lovingly until it was time for supper.  Then they all had healthy (not healthy!) slices for dessert.  I tell you true:  Like baking pans, there is no such thing as too much cream cheese.  

Yes, it was already cut!  Because I had to take photos.  I gave the cut slices to my elderly neighbor
who was sick with bronchitis and needed love and sugar. 

Ingredients
Cake batter:
2 cups or 250g flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup or 225g unsalted butter (at room temperature)
6 ounce or 170g cream cheese (at room temperature)
2 cups or 450g sugar
4 large eggs, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla
Zest of a lemon

Cheesecake filling:
8 oz or 226g cream cheese (room temperature)
1 egg
1/4 cup or 55g sugar
1/4 cup or 30g flour
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup or 100g dried cherries plus a few extra for decoration
1/2 cup or 75g fresh blueberries plus a few extra for decoration

Glaze:
2 oz cream cheese
1/4 cup or 30g icing sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
3-4 teaspoons milk

Method
Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare your Bundt pan by spraying liberally with non-stick spray and then coating with a little flour.

The filling is very easy.  Add all the ingredients, except the cherries and blueberries, to your mixing bowl and beat until smooth and lump free.



Fold in your cherries and blueberries.  Cover with cling film and refrigerate until needed.



For the cake batter, in a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and set aside.


In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter and cream cheese until smooth.


Add the sugar, either a third at a time, beating well after each addition, or in a slow continuous stream as you are beating.


Continue beating on medium-high speed until light and fluffy (about 3 - 5 minutes). Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.



Add the vanilla and lemon zest and beat until incorporated.


Add in half the flour mixture and beat again.


Add the rest of the flour mixture and beat just until incorporated.


Pour half the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.


Spoon on the cherry blueberry cream cheese filling and spread it around the pan.


Top with the remaining cream cheese batter.


Bake for about 55-65 minutes in your preheated oven or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.


Allow the cake to cool in the pan for at least 15- 20 minutes before trying to remove it.  It should start to pull away from the sides of the pan as it cools.

To remove it, place a wire rack upside down on the cake and invert the cake pan to release the cake.  Allow to cool completely before adding the glaze.


While your cake is cooling, chop your extra decoration cherries and set aside.


In a small bowl, combine your first three glaze ingredients and then add the milk, starting with just 1 teaspoon.




Continue mixing well and adding milk one teaspoon at a time until you reach drizzling thickness.  I ended up adding only 3 teaspoons to mine.


When your cake is completely cool, add the cream cheese glaze to a small baggie and cut the corner off.  Squeeze out the glaze slowly and drizzle it all over the cake.



Stud it with bits of cherry and whole blueberries to decorate.



Enjoy!



BundtaMonth


And check out my fellow bloggers beautiful cakes:

If you'd like to add your cherry Bundt for April, here are the rules:

- Simple rule: Use any cherries (or any part of the cherry) – and bake us a Bundt for April
- Post it before April 30, 2013.
- Use the #BundtAMonth hashtag in your title. (For ex: title should read #BundtAMonth: Chocolate Cinnamon Bundt)
- Add your entry to the Linky tool below
- Link back to our announcement posts.

Follow Bundt-a-Month on Facebook where we feature all our gorgeous bundt cakes. Or head over to our Pinterest board for inspiration and choose from over 350 Bundt cake recipes.


Thursday, March 21, 2013

Jalapeño Popper Grilled Cheese Sandwiches



Way back in February, I was minding my own business when a certain post from Katherine at Eggton arrived in my inbox.  It was witty and fun, much like Katherine herself, and the recipe was for a tasty grilled cheese sandwich made with cheddar and cream cheese and ham.  It gave me a scathingly brilliant idea!  (Anybody else grow up watching Hayley Mills in the Trouble with Angels movies?)  How about a jalapeño popper grilled cheese sandwich, I immediately said to myself, using bacon instead of her ham and adding in jalapeños and garlic?  And, ooh, oooh, I could serve them with avocado halves filled with ranch dressing!  Yes, I could!  I had all the ingredients on hand so it didn’t take me long to answer that question.  I kid you not, jalapeño popper grilled cheese sandwiches are fabulous!  I hope you will agree.  I share this recipe along with many thanks to Katherine for the inspiration.

Ingredients
4 oz or 115g grated cheddar cheese
4 oz or 115g cream cheese (at room temperature)
1-2 tablespoons butter (at room temperature) for buttering bread
6-7 slices smoked bacon
1/2 - 1 fresh jalapeño (depending on how hot you like it)
1/2 large clove or 1 small clove garlic
6 slices sandwich bread

Optional for serving: ranch dressing and avocados

Method
Fry your bacon until crispy then drain it on a paper towel.  Using a sharp knife, chop the bacon into small pieces



Slice the jalapeño in half, removing the membranes and seeds, if you don’t like things too spicy, leaving them in if you do.  Mince your jalapeño and garlic very finely.

As you can see, I left the seeds in, but we are gluttons for spicy punishment.

Mix your cheeses together with the minced jalapeño and garlic.



Add in the chopped bacon and stir well.



Butter one side of each slice of bread. Lay out a piece of cling film on your work surface then place the bread so the buttered side is on the cling film.  (One piece of cling film per sandwich.)


Put a third of the jalapeño popper cheese filling on three of the slices of bread.  Close the sandwiches with the remaining slices, making sure to leave the buttered side out.


Fold the cling film over and gently press down on the sandwich.


Grill on your griddle pan, until the cheese is all melted and the bread is nicely toasted on both sides.




Serve each sandwich with some ranch dressing to dip.  Extra points if you serve the ranch dressing in a half avocado.



Enjoy!



If you are a fan of jalapeño poppers, you might also enjoy this jalapeño popper chicken chili. (Link in the caption.)

Jalapeño Popper Chicken Chili

Sunday, March 3, 2013

Savory Shrimp Cheesecake with Herbs and Garlic

Cream cheese, sheep's milk feta and garlicky herbed shrimp baked into a savory cheesecake is a beautiful appetizer served with bread or crackers.


Things were a little crazy here during the holiday season around Christmas and New Year, what with both daughters in residence, one birthday to celebrate, and our household shipment arriving from Cairo just a few days before Santa. I didn’t have much time for extraneous cooking and baking since birthdays, Christmas, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day have strictly enforced menu requirements but that didn’t stop me from bookmarking recipes I wanted to try when things calmed down. One of them was for a savory goat cheese cheesecake from the very talented +Jennifer Field , or her Super Hero alter ego, Pastry Chef Online .

When this week’s #SundaySupper theme (Cheese, Cake and Cheesecake!) was announced, I knew instantly what I would make. And to avoid the problem Jenni mentions of having to make mean faces at someone who wants to share your savory cheesecake, I decided to make two small cakes so dear husband and I could each have our own. A bit piggish, yes. But so GOOD! (With Jenni's permission, I have adapted her recipe to add shrimp with a few other tweaks so make sure to go check out the original as well.)

Scroll on down to the bottom of my post to see what other lovely cheese, cake and cheesecake recipes the #SundaySupper group has in store for you today. Our sweet host this week is Angie from Big Bear’s Wife . Did you see her Bacon and Shrimp Bisque last week when we did soups? My favorite!


Ingredients
(Make sure all your ingredients are at room temperature).
6 large shrimp, peeled and deveined (I left the tails on because they are prettier that way but if your shrimp are already completely peeled, it’s no big deal) With the tails on, these weighed 150g or about 5 1/4 oz.
Small bunch green onions
Small bunch flat-leafed parsley
2 cloves garlic
1 small red chili pepper
1 tablespoon butter
6 oz or 170g full fat cream cheese
3 1/2 oz or 100g goat or sheepmilk feta
3 tablespoons sour cream
1 large egg
1 tablespoon cornstarch or corn flour
Several grindings of black pepper

To serve: one fresh baguette sliced into rounds or crackers of your choice

Method
Preheat your oven to 325°F or 165°C and prepare your pans or ramekins by cutting out circles of parchment paper for the bottoms and spraying the insides with non-stick spray. (My two ramekins each held 3/4 cup or almost 180ml quite comfortably without danger of spillage. Test your volume with a measuring cup and water before preparing your ramekins.)


Smash your garlic cloves with the side of your knife and split the chili up the middle, then mince both. Chop your parsley and green onions.


Set aside just a tiny bit of the parsley, chili pepper and green onions for garnish later.


Put the rest of the parsley, chili pepper, green onion and all of the garlic in a saucepan with the butter and shrimp. Cook until the shrimp are completely done.




Remove the shrimp from the pan and take the tails off of four of them. Chop the four shrimp with a large knife. Wrap the two remaining shrimp and refrigerate. These will be garnish later.


In a big mixing bowl, mix your cream cheese, feta and chopped shrimp, adding in the cooked herbs and garlic from the saucepan.




Scrape the sides of the bowl down and then add the sour cream, egg and cornstarch. Give the whole thing a few good grinds of fresh black pepper. Mix well.


Meanwhile, Polly, put the kettle on, because you are going to need some hot water here shortly.

Spoon the batter into your prepared baking dishes and smooth the tops. Place those baking dishes inside a larger baking pan.



Put the whole thing into your preheated oven on the middle rack. Quickly fill the bottom pan with hot water up to the middle of the ramekins.


Bake for about 25-35 minutes or until the cheesecake is set. Remove from the oven and allow to cool before covering in cling film and refrigerating for several hours or even overnight.


When you are ready to serve, warm a knife in hot water and run it around the inside of your ramekins. You can turn it over directly on to the serving plate or onto your hand covered by some cling film, then place it where you want it on the serving plate. Smooth the sides with your warm knife, if necessary.




Garnish each cheesecake with your reserved chopped parsley, red chili pepper and green onions. Top each with a cooked shrimp.


Serve with bread or crackers. Try not to hunch protectively over the plate. The honest truth is that they are both big enough to share.


Enjoy!






The #SundaySupper group have outdone themselves with this theme! Click on the links to see their fabulous recipes.

Cheese
Baked Mozzarella Sticks by Mama’s Blissful Bites
Basil Balsamic Strawberries & Whipped Feta Grilled Cheese by Cupcakes & Kale Chips
Buffalo Cream Cheese Stuffed Chicken by In The Kitchen With KP
Cheeseburger Soup by Dinners Dishes and Desserts
Cheesy Spinach and Artichoke Dip with Parmesan Crisps by BigBearsWife
Cherry Blossom Crescents by The Ninja Baker
Chevre Torte with Mango and Sweet Pepper Salsa by Noshing with the Nolands
Creamy Meyer Lemon Pasta with Homemade Ricotta and Broccoli by The Girl in the Little Red Kitchen
Crepes with Strawberry Mascarpone Cream Filling by Soni’s Food
Garlic and Goat by Supper for a Steal
Homemade Velveeta Cheese by Juanitas Cocina
Irish Cheese Soufflés by girlichef
Lox and Cream Cheese Mini Omelettes by Cindy’s Recipes and Writings
Pan-Fried Halloumi Cheese Salad by The Catholic Foodie
Paneer Indian Cottage Cheese Pancake by Masala Herb
Paneer Tikka Masala by Kimchi Mom
Quick and Easy Homemade Cottage Cheese by The Meltaways
Ricotta Croquettes by Basic N Delicious
Roasted Pears with Pecorino by Happy Baking Days
Saag Paneer! Golden Roasted Ricotta In Savory Spinach Sauce by Sue’s Nutrition Buzz
Sourdough Cheese Crackers by Curious Cuisiniere

Cakes
Almond Polenta Cake by Shockingly Delicious
Banana Split Bundt Cake with Chocolate Glaze by NeighborFood Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting by Hezzi D’s Books & Cooks Dairyfree Ice Cream Cake by Galactosemia in PDX Dense Chocolate Cherry Cake by What Smells So Good? Flourless Chocolate Bean Cake by Vintage Kitchen KitKat Chocolate Cake by The Urban Mrs. Old Fashioned Caramel Cake by There and Back Again Peanut Butter Banana Bundt Cake with Chocolate Chips by Gotta Get Baked Salmon Cakes by Family Foodie Sour Cream Chocolate Chip Cake by Gourmet Drizzles Tequila Lime Cupcakes by Mama Mommy Mom

& Cheesecakes
Cheesecake au Baileys by Baker Street
Chocolate Cheesecake Bites by Mom, What’s For Dinner?
Chocolate Covered Cherry Cheesecake by Magnolia Days
Grasshopper Cheesecake Bars by That Skinny Chick Can Bake
Individual Strawberry and White Chocolate Cheesecakes by Small Wallet Big Appetite
Kit Kat Cheesecake Brownies by Chocolate Moosey
Lime Cheesecake Bites by Peanut Butter and Peppers
Mini Raspberry Cheesecakes with White Chocolate Crusts by Cupcakes and Pearls
Mini Toddler Cherry Cheesecakes by In the Kitchen with Audrey and Maurene
Mocha Cheesecake by The Lovely Pantry
No-Bake Banana Sundae Cheesecake by The Messy Baker
Nutella Cheesecake Brownies by The Foodie Army Wife
Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip Mini Cheesecakes by Cookistry
Reese’s Chocolate Peanut Butter Bundt Cake by Daily Dish Recipes
Tiny Turtle Cheesecakes (No Bake) by Cravings of a Lunatic