Madeleines au chocolat

Today I was in the mood for something chocolatey, easy and of course, French! I searched my Pintrest board and checked to see what ingredients I had before I finally settled on Chocolate Madeleines. I found an English recipe so I had to do some converting of measurements so after a little research, here is what I got:

Ingredients:
1 3/4 sticks of butter, melted
1 1/2 c of flour (possibly a bit more)
~1 c sugar (slightly less)
4 eggs
2 T cocoa powder
2 t baking powder

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350ºF

In an electric mixer, mix together the eggs and the sugar.

Add in flour, cocoa powder and baking powder. Mis together.

Lastly, mix in the melted butter.

In a greased Madeleine tray, spoon in the batter. The batter should be thick. Fill the molds 3/4 of the way full, they will expand and rise.

Bake for about 8-10 minutes, or until the middle is baked through.

They are best eaten the day of. They will save for up to 2-3 days but must be stored in an air-tight container.

Chocolate, Coconut, Pecan Braid

I've recently gotten into this French pastry show called Le Meilleur Patissier (The Best Baker) and I have been wanting to try some of the French classics that they contestants are challenged to make on the show. Through watching this show, I have learned how precise French baking is (nothing I already knew) and the history of some of the classics. Unfortunately, I don't have most of the fancy baking products that are needed for this classic pastries, so I settled for something from my Pintrest Board that I have been wanting to make for awhile: a Chocolate, Coconut, Pecan Braid.

I can't take credit for this recipe, so I am including the link to the full recipe here.

I will note some of the challenges I faced and my slight alternations for the future.

*The blogger says to roll the dough between 2 pieces of parchment paper; however, I found that parts of the dough stuck to the paper and when I went to transfer the dough, I had to re-roll it out. Next time, I will just roll out the dough on a floured surface.

*Once the dough has been rolled out into the appropriate size, you are to divide it into three equal parts lengthwise. I found the I was unable to fill the braid because the sections were too small. Next time, am going to roll it out longer widthwise so that I can fill the inside more. I also found that the braid was too doughy. Hopefully, by making it larger widthwise, this will fix this problem too.

*Despite these challenges, it was still a great dessert and I will definitely make it again in the future!

Coconut Cream Pie

For my 24th birthday, my middle sister, Brittany, got me one of the most creative and thoughtful gifts I've ever gotten, a cooking class! It was something that I have always wanted to do, but have never actually done it. Whole Foods offers several classes a week. They have everything from demos to hand-on which include baking 101, sushi rolling and of course my favorite, French cuisine. My sister got me the baking 101 which was right up my alley. The chef was so knowledgable and we made some dynamite recipes, including this coconut cream pie.

Ingredients:

Pie Crust

1/2 c sugar

1/2 c cornstarch

2 c half-and-half

4 egg yolks

3 T butter

1 c flaked coconut

2 1/2 t vanilla (divided)

2 c whipping cream

1/3 c sugar

Garnish with toasted coconut

Directions:

Combine 1/2 c sugar and cornstarch in a heavy sauce pan. Whisk together the half-and-half and the egg yolks. Gradually whisk the egg mixture into the sauce pan. Cook over medium heat and bring to a boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat.

Stir in butter, 1 cup coconut and 1 teaspoon of vanilla. Cover the mixture with plastic wrap and let it stand for 30 minutes. Pour the custard filling into the pie crust and chill (I prefer to chill mine overnight.)

Topping - beat together the whipping cream at high speed with an electric mixer. Beat until foamy - you will see bubbles around the edges. Add remaining sugar and vanilla and beat until soft peaks form. This might take a few minutes so be patient! Spread over the pie filling and garnish with toasted coconut.

Enjoy!

Easy as pie Pie Crust

I was always afraid to make my own pie crust and I always took the easy route of using a store-bought crust. Then, my eyes were opened! When I lived in France, we often made apple tarts and quiches and my roommate, Leslie, taught me that making crust is super easy.

This recipe comes from a cooking class that I took the other night at Whole Foods.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 T sugar
1/2 t salt
6 T unsalted butter, chilled, cut into small pieces
3 T solid vegetable shortening, chilled, cut into small pieces
4 T ice water

Directions:
Blend the flour, sugar and salt in a food processor using a plastic blade. Add the butter and shortening; pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal. *This is where the professional chef told us that "less is more". It is better to underblend than overblend.* Drizzle water over the mixture and process just until moist clumps form. Add more water if the dough it still dry. Gather the dough into a ball and flatten it into a disk. Wrap it and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Roll out the dough into a 14-inch round. Transfer into a pie dish. Fold the edges as desired. Poke the bottom of the crust with a fork and chill for another 15 minutes.

Pre-heat the over to 375ºF and bake for about 15-20 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown. Cool completely.

Cherry Almond Shortbread Cookies

Already in 2014, a second "snowpocalypse" has hit the south! This time, it's the real deal and it seems that the only logical thing to do is to bake. With Valentine's Day right around the corner, I've decided to try a recipe from a blog that my mom found on Pinterest. It's a simple shortbread cookie with dried cherries to give it that little hint of red for the most romantic day of the year.

Ingredients:
-3 sticks of butter, room temp (the original recipe called for 3/4 lb and I discovered that each stick is a 1/4 lb)
-1 cup sugar
-1 t vanilla extract
-1 t almond extract
-3 1/4 cup flour (the original recipe called for 3 1/2 cups, but I found that the dough was too floury and didn't hold together very well)
-1/4 t salt
-1 1/2 cup dried cherries, diced

Directions:
Mix together the butter and sugar for about three minutes until the mixture is a creamy texture. Add the vanilla and almond extracts. Slowly add in the flour and salt and mix until the dough forms a ball. Add in the dried cherries.

*Optional: Remove the dough and form into a disk and refrigerate for about 20 minutes.

Roll the dough to 1/4 inch (I found that they were better a bit thicker) and cut into shapes. Unfortunately, I didn't have a heart-shaped cutter, so I made round cookies.

Bake at 350ºF for about 15-20 minutes, or until the edges are slightly brown.

Millefeuille

A few weeks ago at Amelie's French Bakery in NoDa, I had a Millefeuille, sometimes called a Napoleon, and ever since then, I've been craving another! Due to the "snow storm", school was cancelled, so I figured that the best way to spend my day off was to attempt this classic French pastry.

I looked up several recipes and took different components from each. I cheated on the puff pastry and used store-bought puff pastry, but I am including a homemade recipe from my favorite cookbook, Lunch in Provence. I followed this recipe for the cream filling. One of the reasons this is my favorite cookbook is because it features stories and pictures of the Provence region of France, my favorite of course. However, one thing that I am not crazy about is the explanation (or lack there of) for the recipes. The authors assume that you are a classically-trained French chef and do not need specific instructions on how to prepare or cook these recipes. After hounding my mother for some insight and searching the internet, I was able to give it a try.

***This recipe yields 6 pastries. If you are using store-bought puff pastry, I found that each "sheet" made 2 pastries.

Puff Pastry Ingredients
2 1/2 cups flour
1 generous t salt
1 T butter, softened
scant 1/2 cup cold water
1 3/4 sticks butter
confectioners' sugar for dusting

Cream Filling Ingredients
1 cup milk
1 T butter
1 vanilla pod (you can also substitute vanilla extract, 1 t = 1 pod)
3/4 cup sugar
2-3 egg yolks
1/4 cup flour
3/4 cup whipping cream

Directions - Puff Pastry
Mix the flour, salt and butter. Add the cold water then mix with your hands until the dough is firm. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours.

Roll the dough out into a rectangle and place the butter (1 3/4 stick) in the center. Fold the corners so the butter is wrapped in the dough, then roll it out again until 1 1/4 inch thick. Fold in thirds and refrigerate for another 2 hours.

When the pastry is ready, roll it out again - about 1/5 inch thick. Bake at 360ºF for about 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with powder sugar, bake again until the sugar caramelizes.

Cut the pastry into rectangles.

Directions - Cream Filling
In a saucepan bring the milk, butter and vanilla pod to a boil.

Beat together the sugar, egg yolks, and flour. When the milk comes to a boil, add the egg mixture, mix well and return to the saucepan. Bring this mixture back to a boil. Remove from heat and let cool.

Whip the cream and add it to the cooled mixture, and refrigerate.

***This recipe does not specify when to remove the vanilla pod. I decided to remove it right before I assembled the pastry. I cut it up the middle and scraped out the seeds and mixed them in.

Directions - Assembling
Layer the puff pastry with the cream filling. Normally, there are three layers of pastry and two layers of cream.

I made a simple icing (powder sugar and milk) for the op layer. I then melted bitter-sweet chocolate to drizzle on top of the icing. I need to work on my "drizzling" skills, I'm not fully satisfied with the look of the pastries but they sure do taste yummy!

Speculoos Madeleines

For Christmas, two of the many French-inspired gifts that I got were Speculoos powder and a Madeleine tray. If you do not know what speculoos is, I highly suggest that you figure it out, and quickly! It can best be described as a spice flavor with hints of ginger and cinnamon. Trader Joe's sells "Cookie Butter" which is essentially speculoos in a peanut butter-like form. You can also buy speculoos cookies and speculoos spread at World Market.

Today, I used both of these gifts and made Speculoos Madeleines. The original recipe that I used was from a French blog, but I have translated it into English. I had fun following a recipe in French and I learned some good cooking vocabulary. For example, beurre in French means butter and the verb beurrer means to butter or to grease. I have added the link to the original recipe at the bottom.

Ingredients
1 cup of all-purpose flour
1/2 cup of sugar
1 stick of butter (melted)
2 eggs
pinch of salt
2-3 T of speculoos powder (A friend who recently traveled to Belgium bought me the powder there. You can buy the cookies at World Market and crunch them up.)

Directions
Pre-heat the over to 375ºF

Melt the butter. Mix together the eggs and sugar. Add in the salt. Mix until the mixture starts to lighten in color - this allows the dough to rise without the use of baking powder.

Add the flour, melted butter and speculoos powder in little-by-little. Mix well. The mixture will be thick, not runny.

Grease the tray and fill the molds 2/3 full. Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until the middle starts to bulge and the edges turn brown. Remove from tray and place on cooling rack.

Let them cool and enjoy :)

la recette originale - merci !

Country Mouse Travels to the Big Apple

After traveling throughout western Europe and catching the "travel bug", I decided that it was time to discover more of my own country. Whenever a European found out that I was American, yet not from NYC or LA, they were baffled, but when I told them that I had never been to NYC, they were even more baffled! So I figured that it was time to cross the Mason Dixon line and head up to the Big Apple. Traveling requires my travel buddy, Leslie, which was perfect since she lives in Connecticut and is only a short train ride away from NYC. I spent the first few days with her and her family. They live in a quaint, picturesque New England town in northwest Connecticut.

After a few days there, we took the train (our preferred method of traveling) into the city. I thought Chicago and Paris were big cities, oh man was I wrong...New York City is HUGE!!!! I was so glad to be with Leslie and her brother (who lives in Brooklyn) who know the city like the back of their hands. Since it was my first time there, I had to do all of the typical tourist things:

Grand Central Station

Wall Street

Statue of Liberty

China Town

Rockefeller Center

Rockefeller Center

Fendi - 5th Avenue

FAO Schwarz

FAO Schwarz

Time Square

Time Square

It was slightly overwhelming but I can officially say that I have been to NYC. I hope to go back soon to see more of the city. I got more of a local's feel by celebrating New Year's Eve with some of Leslie's high school friends at their apartments. We got all dressed up (masks included) and spent the night going from apartment to apartment. It was a great way to ring in the new year!

New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve

Happy 2014 y'all!

White Cheddar Cheese Grits

For years my mom has been attempting to recreate The Flying Biscuits' "Creamy Dreamy Grits". They are some of the best grits that I have ever had! They are creamy (as the name suggests) and oozing with white cheddar cheese. This Christmas she decided to pass the baton off to me and let me give them a try. Since The Flying Biscuit has set such high standards, I was a little nervous about how my grits would compare. I am a tough critic and wasn't completely satisfied, but everyone else who ate them, loved them! Here is the recipe for The Flying Biscuits' white cheddar cheese grits (alterations are noted with asterisks).

Ingredients
- 6 cups of water *
- 2 cups of half-and-half
- 3 t salt
- 1/4 t white pepper
- 2 cups quick cooking grits
- 1 cup white cheddar cheese (grated)**              
- 4 T butter (half a stick) ***                                                                              

*Next time, I am going to change the liquids to 5 cups of water and 3 cups of half-and-half for a creamier taste.
**I used 2 cups of cheese because 1 cup was not cheesy enough for my liking!
***I used 1 whole stick of butter, you can never have too much butter, right?!

Directions

1. In a pot, combine water, half-and-half, salt and white pepper. Bring to a boil. Slowly pour the grits into the liquid while whisking the whole time. Reduce to low heat while whisking often until the mixture is thick and smooth (should take about 10 minutes).
*Be careful when you add in the grits - the water and half-and-half started overflowing which caused me to panic! Once I reduced the heat, the mixture settled back down.

2. Add the cheese and whisk again until it has melted. Turn off the heat and allow the grits to settle for about 5 minutes. Add in the butter and stir until completely smooth.
*I found that it was best to put the top on the pot and let the grits settle longer than 5 minutes which causes them to thicken more (no one wants runny grits!!). Here is where I added more butter, cheese and salt according to taste.

Enjoy y'all!

Cranberry Pistachio Bars

Another holiday treat that I tried for the first time this Christmas season was Cranberry Pistachio Bars and this recipe comes from Christmas Cottage Magazine. My oh-so-classy mother describes them as having "a refined taste". They are a good combination of sweet and salty and the red from the cranberries and the green from the pistachios make them the perfect treat for Christmas!

Ingredients:

- 3 cups graham cracker crumbs (about 26 graham crackers crushed up)
- 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
- 1 cup unsalted butter, melted
- 1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
- 1 cup white chocolate morsels
- 1 cup milk chocolate morsels  ***Next time, I am going to try 1/2 cup milk and 1/2 cup dark chocolate
- 1 cup dried cranberries
- 1 cup chopped pistachios
- 1 cup dried cherries      ***I didn't have cherries, so instead, I doubled the amount of cranberries
- 1/4 package (16 oz package) of vanilla-flavored candy coating, melted (for the drizzle)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF and grease a 13x9 baking pan
2. Combine the graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar and melted butter in a large bowl. Press the mixture to the bottom of the pan.
3. Pour the sweetened condensed milk over the crust. Sprinkle the white and milk chocolate morsels, dried cranberries, pistachios and dried cherries over the sweetened condensed milk.
4. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the edges are brown. Melt the vanilla flavored candy coating and drizzle over the top. Let cool for 20 minutes on a wire rack.

Cut into bars and serve!

Quiche Lorraine

To show my state pride, this recipe comes from the magazine Our State: North Carolina, which is obviously the best state! Mixing my southern pride with my love for France, my mother (who is obviously a classy, southern woman) has made this classic French quiche several times and she loves this recipe. I mean, who doesn't love bacon??? We have eaten it on various types of occasions: baby showers, Sunday brunch and Christmas breakfast. 

Ingredients

- 1 (9-inch) pie crust (if you prefer the easier route of getting a store-bought crust. If you would like to make your own pie crust, which is super easy, check out this simple pie crust recipe.)

- 8 slices of bacon cooked crisp and crumbled 

- 1 cup Swiss cheese, shredded

- 1 cup yellow onion, finely chopped

- 4 large eggs

- 2 cups heavy whipping cream

- 1/4 t salt

- 1/4 t pepper

- 1/8 t cayenne pepper

Directions

1. Pre-heat oven to 425ºF

2. Mold the pie crust to a tart dish and sprinkle the cheese, bacon and onion on the bottom of the crust. 

3. Beat the eggs slightly and mix together the remaining ingredients. Pour the mixture into the dish over the cheese, bacon and onion. 

4. Bake for 15 minutes then reduce the temperature to 300ºF and bake for another 30 minutes or until an inserted knife comes out clean. Let stand for another 10 minutes before cutting.

Bon appétit!

Gingerbread Bûche de Noël

Being the francophile that I am, my baking goal for this Christmas was to make a Bûche de Noël. It is a traditional French dessert that is eaten during the Christmas season. A typical Bûche de Noël is either chocolate or vanilla sponge cake and filled with chocolate buttercream frosting or ganache. "Bûche" in French means "log" which is why most Americans call this dessert a "yule log". Traditionally, the cake is decorated to resemble a log. Most of the time, the end is cut off and attached to the side to make it look like a real log. Bakers will also create candies that look like mushrooms to make the dessert look even more log-like. Here are some images.

Of course, Americans have given this French dessert their own twist and there are multiple variations including pumpkin and gingerbread. For my first attempt, I went with a gingerbread bûche. I made a few alterations to the recipe that I used and I have included both the original and my suggestion.

Gingerbread Cake Ingredients
- 3 eggs - separate the yolks from the egg whites
- 1/4 cup molasses        ***I decided not to use honey and I used 1/2 cup of molasses instead for a
- 1/4 cup honey                  stronger molasses taste
- 1 T butter (melted)
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1/4 t baking soda
- 1/2 t cinnamon
- 1/2 t ground ginger
- pinch of salt
- powder sugar (for dusting)

Frosting Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
- 1/3 cup powder sugar
- 1 t cinnamon

Directions
1. Line a 15x10 jelly roll pan with parchment paper. Grease both the pan and the paper.
***Next time, I am going to use a bigger pan (16x12in) because I found that the cake was too thick and difficult to roll
2. Pre-heat the over to 375ºF
3. Beat the egg yolks in a mixer until thickened. Add the molasses, honey and melted butter. Mix well.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form. Slowly add the sugar and continue to whisk until firm peaks form.
5. Carefully fold the egg whites into the egg-yolk and molasses mixture.
6. Sift the flour, spices and salt over the egg mixture, slowly fold the mixtures together.
7. Spread the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 10 minutes,
8. Let the cake cool in the pan for about 3 minutes.
9. Heavily sprinkle powder sugar on a damp tea towel (you will use this towel to roll the cake).
10. Carefully flip the cake face-down on the tea towel, remove the parchment paper.
11. Roll the cake with the towel starting for the short side. Let the rolled-up cake cool completely.
12. While the cake is cooling, prepare the frosting. Whisk together the heavy cream, powder sugar and cinnamon until firm peaks form.
13. Unfold the cake and spread about 1/2 of the frosting over the cake. Keep in mind, the most frosting you put on the inside, the harder it will be to roll the cake. I also found that you should not put too much on the side where you will start to roll from. If you want a tighter spiral, I suggest putting less frosting on the side. I had to re-roll the cake about three times until I was satisfied.
14. Spread the remaining frosting on top and on the edges of the cake. Sprinkle with cinnamon.

*It's best to let the cake sit for several hours before serving.

Enjoy!

Gingerbread Cookies

The Christmas season is by far my favorite time of year. Family gatherings, Christmas music and good food! It's also the time of year to enjoy my second favorite holiday flavor: gingerbread (if that considered a flavor)! Even though I enjoy everything gingerbread (bread, cookies, cupcakes, lattes), I have never made it before. Last week, I made gingerbread cookies and attempted to decorate them. I am not a pro at icing cookies, but that didn't change the way that they tasted - which was delish! I highly recommend eating them for breakfast with a cup of coffee (they remind me of speculoos cookies for those of you who are familiar with this european cookie). Here is the recipe to make gingerbread cookies:

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1.5 t baking soda

1/4 cup hot water

1 cup molasses

5.5 cups all-purpose flour

1.5 t ground ginger

1.5 t ground cinnamon

1/4 t salt

1/4 t ground allspice

Aluminum foil (if you are using cookie cutters to make fun shapes)

Parchment paper for baking

Preparation:

1. Beat butter and sugar at medium speed with a heavy-duty electric stand mixer until fluffy.

2. Stir together baking soda and 1/4 cup hot water until dissolved; stir in molasses.

*Once you stir in the molasses, the mixture will begin to turn into a foam-like consistency. 

3. Stir together flour and next 4 ingredients. 

4. Add flour mixture to butter mixture alternately with molasses mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Shape mixture into a ball; cover and chill 1 hour.

*I am a dough-taster (to ensure that it will taste good of course) and I was not overly fond of the dough (even though I kept eating it), it tasted too much like molasses. However, after I baked the cookies, the molasses taste mellowed down and the cookies tastes like traditional gingerbread cookies.

5. Preheat oven to 350°. Roll dough to 1/4-inch thickness on a lightly floured surface. Cut dough with a 4-inch gingerbread man-shaped cookie cutter. Place 2 inches apart on parchment paper-lined baking sheets.

6. Bake at 350° for 15 to 18 minutes. Let cool on baking sheets 2 minutes; transfer to wire racks. Cool completely (about 30 minutes).

Decorate as desired!

Pumpkin-Pecan Cheesecake

This Thanksgiving dessert recipe comes from Southern Living. I made this cheesecake two years ago for Thanksgiving and it was a big success! It is worth the long, timely process! I have made a few tweaks to the original recipe...

Ginger Snap Crust:

1.5 c ginger snap crumbs (took about 25 ginger snaps)

1/2 c graham cracker crumbs

1/3 c finely chopped pecans

5 T butter, melted

3 T light brown sugar

Pumpkin Cheesecake Filling:

4 (8 oz) packages cream cheese, softened

1 c granulated sugar

1 t vanilla extract

4 eggs

1.5 c canned pumpkin

Praline Topping:

1 c firmly packed brown sugar

1/3 c whipping cream

1/4 c butter

1 c powdered sugar, sifted

1 t vanilla extract

Glazed Pecan Garnish:

1/4 c dark corn syrup

2 T sugar

2 c pecans


Preparation Crust:

Preheat oven to 325°. Stir together ingredients in a bowl until well blended. Press mixture on bottom and 1 1/2 inches up sides of a 9-inch springform pan. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned.


Preparation Cheesecake Filling:

Beat cream cheese and next 2 ingredients at medium speed with a heavy-duty electric stand mixer until blended and smooth. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each addition. Add pumpkin, beating until blended. Pour batter into prepared crust. (Pan will be very full.)

Bake at 325° for 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes or until almost set. Turn oven off. Let cheesecake stand in oven, with door closed, 15 minutes. Remove cheesecake from oven, and gently run a knife around outer edge of cheesecake to loosen from sides of pan. (Do not remove sides of pan.) Cool completely on a wire rack (about 1 hour). Cover and chill 8 to 24 hours.

Remove the sides of the pan and transfer to a serving dish.

Preparation Praline Topping:

1. Bring first 3 ingredients to a boil in a 1-qt. saucepan over medium heat, stirring often. Boil, stirring occasionally, 1 minute; remove from heat. Gradually whisk in powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth. Let stand 5 minutes, whisking occasionally. Pour immediately on top of cheesecake.

Preparation Glazed Pecan Garnish:

Mix the corn syrup and sugar together, add in pecans. Mix until all the pecans are coated. Prepare cookie sheet with parchment paper and spray with non-stick cooking spray. Spread pecans evenly on cookie sheet. Bake at 350° for about 15 minutes or until the mixture starts to bubble and thicken. Remove from oven and allow pecans to cool completely. Place pecans around the edges of the cheesecake and on the sides for garnish. 

Happy Thanksgiving y'all!

Cinderella Cheesecake

Today's recipe comes from October's Southern Living. I didn't even have to read the ingredients in order to want to make this, the picture spoke for itself. I mean, what's better than the chocolate peanut butter combination??? This cheese cake has a brownie crust and a creamy peanut butter cheesecake filling, it's absolutely divine!

Ingredients:

• Brownie Crust
• 3 (1-oz.) unsweetened chocolate baking squares
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup sifted all-purpose flour 
• 1/8 teaspoon table salt
• 1/8 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 large eggs 
• 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract 
• 1/2 (1-oz.) bittersweet chocolate baking square, finely chopped
• Cheesecake Filling and Topping
• 1 1/2 (8-oz.) packages cream cheese, softened 
• 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 3 large eggs 
• 1/2 cup sour cream 
• 1 1/3 cups creamy peanut butter 
• 
  
• Sour Cream Topping
• 3/4 c sour cream
• 2 tsp granulated sugar
• 
  
• Chocolate curls for garnish

Preparation

1. 1. Prepare Brownie Crust: Preheat oven to 350°. Microwave first 2 ingredients in a small microwave-safe bowl at MEDIUM for 1 1/2 minutes or until melted, stirring at 30-second intervals. 
2. 2. Stir together flour, salt, and baking powder in a bowl.
3. 3. Beat 2 eggs and 1 cup brown sugar at medium-high speed with an electric mixer 3 to 4 minutes or until batter forms thin ribbons when beaters are lifted. Add vanilla, bittersweet chocolate, and melted chocolate mixture, and beat just until blended. Stir in flour mixture just until combined.
4. 4. Spread 1 cup brownie mixture on bottom of a greased and floured 9-inch springform pan. Bake at 350° on center oven rack 13 to 15 minutes or until set. Cool on a wire rack 10 minutes; freeze 15 minutes. Remove from freezer; spread remaining brownie batter up sides of pan to 1/4 inch from top, sealing batter to bottom crust.
5. 5. Prepare Filling: Beat cream cheese and 1 cup brown sugar at medium speed with a heavy-duty electric stand mixer until blended. Add 3 eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until yellow disappears after each addition. Beat in sour cream just until blended. Beat in peanut butter until blended.
6. 6. Pour filling into prepared crust. (Mixture will not completely fill crust.) Bake at 350° for 35 minutes or until center is almost set.
7. 7. Remove from oven. Spread Sour Cream Topping over center of cheesecake, leaving a 2-inch border around edge. Bake at 350° for 1 more minute. Remove from oven; gently run a knife around edge of cheesecake to loosen. Cool completely on a wire rack.
8. 8. Cover and chill 8 to 12 hours. Remove sides of pan. Top with chocolate curls.

***I am a JIF snob, so I used JIF creamy PB to make this recipe

Fall Gathering

Yesterday, we had our second annual "fall gathering". It's a time for friends and family to gather and make new memories. There was an assortment of soups which included, chili beans, south western black bean soup and chicken chili, cornbreads and desserts - pear cheesecake, apple dapple cake, pumpkin cake, pumpkin cookies, and pumpkin dip. We had a great day hanging out around the fire place and watching the little ones play in the backyard.

Fall Table Setting: the table was decorated with mini white and orange pumpkins, a burlap table runner and the center piece was a hollowed-out pumpkin filled with a beautiful flower arrangement and it was made by a family friend, we used golden table cloths and mis-matching chairs

Behind the fire place we set up our "photo booth" - we used two old wicker chairs and decorated the table with pumpkins and a flower arrangement, we had all of the families get pictures here