Cheesecakes have become staples in our household, not a week goes by and my husband begins to ask when I’m making cheesecake again.  The funny thing is I haven’t made one single pan of cheesecake since this past summer. Rather I have been making desserts that either use cream cheese in the fillings and or frosting. (He has been wanting tiny cupcakes! I’ve not gotten around to it.)

I took advantage of Christmas weekend to make his wish come true.  I also made him wait a  day and half to sink his teeth into the cheesecake.  I sort of over baked mine by about 10 minutes and this caused the cheese cake to crack.  Towards the end of the cooking time watch the cheese cake carefully to avoid this, if it happens that is okay it is still all good.  I can assure you mine was.  

I was to post this recipe before we left for vacation to Brazil, I put everything together unable to post due work load towards year end.  We are still in Brazil as I type this recipe and I can not wait to get back to NY to make another batch. I hope that you all had a wonderful New Year and I hope that 2011 will be even better one.  I myself have big hopes and dreams about this blog in this New Year, I hope that you will come back and visit me often.

LOW & LUSH CHOCOLATE CHEESECAKE
                   Adapted from Baking From My Home to Yours, by Dorie Greenspan

Ingredients:

FOR THE CRUST
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

FOR THE FILLING
1 1/2 pounds (three 8-ounce packages) cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
3 large eggs, preferably at room temperature
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Pinch of salt
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted and slightly cooled

GETTING READY:Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter an 8 1/2- or 9-inch springform pan and put the pan on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat.

TO MAKE THE CRUST: Stir the crumbs, sugar and cinnamon together in a medium bowl. Pour over the melted butter and stir until all of the dry ingredients are uniformly moist. (I do this with my fingers.) Turn the crumbs into the pan and, with your fingers, press the crumbs evenly over the bottom of the pan and as far up the sides as they’ll go. Freeze the crust for about 10 minutes.

Bake for 10 minutes, only until the crust is lightly set and just tinged with color. Cool on a rack or refrigerate while you make the filling. Keep the oven at 350 degrees F.

TO MAKE THE FILLING: Cut each bar of cream cheese into quarters and toss the pieces into a food processor**, along with the sugar. Process, scraping down the bowl 2 or 3 times, for a full 2 minutes. You’ll see how dramatically the cream cheese changes; it will look like white velvet at the end of its beating. Add the eggs, vanilla and salt and give the batter 4 longish pulses, the scrape down the bowl and pulse 2 more times. Pour in the chocolate and pulse and scrape a few times to blend the batter well.

Remove the bowl from the processor and rap it hard on the counter a couple of times to de-bubble the batter. Scrape the batter into the cooled crust.

Bake the cheesecake for 35 to 40 minutes if you are using a 9-inch pan or 45 to 50 minutes if you are using an 8 1/2-inch pan. The top should be puffed and set, but if you tap the pan gently, the center of the cake will still be a little shaky–that’s just fine. Transfer the pan to a cooling rack and allow the cheesecake to cool to room temperature, then refrigerate for at least 8 hours or for up to 3 days.

Run a blunt knife between the crust and sides of the pan, then open and remove the sides of the spring form.

STORING: Wrapped well, the cheesecake will keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. It can be frozen for up to 2 months; defrost, still wrapped, overnight in the refrigerator.
**Instead of a food processor I worked with a handle hald mixer and this worked just as well.

Similiar Postings:
Cheesecake with Minted Blackberries
Pumpkin Cheesecake
Plain Cheesecake

Oh boy more like oh girl!! I am the first to admit thing have changed for me, especially time wise!  Now I cook around Aleyna’s schedule, you know my little angle I gave birth to almost two months ago.  Ohhh where does the time fly, I really don’t know! All I know is that the time I have is not spend sleeping at all, ohh how I miss those long night sleeps.  At times I feel like a junkie, loning for a good night sleep! It is quite hilarious actually, never the less we mothers manage right.

This past weeks and months have been incredibly busy, we are in the mist of moving and because of that I am sort of over the place.  I normally don’t get much time to cook during the day, but yesterday with my cousin watching Aleyna I took the advantage to make what I have been dreaming about finally. 

I must admit being home around the holiday times is not a good thing, especially when I have the Food Network on 24/7 literally.  All these holiday cooking make me hungry and wanted to create these incredible dishes.

I love anything with pumpkin, lets put it this way I love pumpkin period! A while back I had made a plain cheesecake,with Doris Greenspans help, for this recipe all I did is add some PUMPKIN!   

I apparently did not wrap my spring form very well, a little bit of water was seeked in.  I just had a bit difficult time slicing, I had to make sure to cut into the crust.

Wishing you and your families a delightfully delicious Thanksgiving. Enjoy!

PUMPKIN CHEESECAKE 
                Adapted from Baking From My Home to Yours, by Dorie Greenspan

Ingredients:

For the crust:
1. 1 cup +  3/4  cup –  graham cracker crumbs
2. 3 tablespoons sugar
3. Pinch of salt
4. 1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted

For the cheesecake:
1. 3 - 8-ounce boxes of cream cheese, at room temperature
2. 1 – (15 oz) can of pumpkin puree
3. 2 tablespoons of flour
4. 1 + 1/3 cups sugar
5. 1/2 teaspoon salt
6. 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
7. 4 large eggs, at room temperature
8. 1 cup + 1/3 cup sour cream or heavy cream, or a combination of the two
9. 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
10. 1/8 teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg

Preparation:

To make the crust:

1. Butter a 9-inch spring form pan—choose one that has sides that are 2 3/4 inches high (if the sides are lower, you will have cheesecake batter leftover)—and wrap the bottom of the pan in a double layer of aluminum foil; put the pan on a baking sheet.

2. Stir the crumbs, sugar and salt together in a medium bowl. Pour over the melted butter and stir until all of the dry ingredients are uniformly moist. (I do this with my fingers.) Turn the ingredients into the buttered spring form pan and use your fingers to pat an even layer of crumbs along the bottom of the pan and about halfway up the sides. Don’t worry if the sides are not perfectly even or if the crumbs reach above or below the midway mark on the sides—this doesn’t have to be a precision job. Put the pan in the freezer while you preheat the oven.

3. Center a rack in the oven, preheat the oven to 350°F and place the spring form on a baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes. Set the crust aside to cool on a rack while you make the cheesecake.

4. Reduce the oven temperature to 325°F.

To make the cheesecake:

1. Put a kettle of water on to boil.

2. Working in a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, add in and beat the cream cheese and pumpkin puree at medium speed until it is soft and lives up to the creamy part of its name, about 4 minutes. With the mixer running, add the flour, sugar and salt and continue to beat another 4 minutes or so, until the cream cheese is light. Beat in the vanilla. Add the eggs one by one, beating for a full minute after each addition—you want a well-aerated batter. Reduce the mixer speed to low and stir in the sour cream and/or heavy cream.

3. Put the foil-wrapped spring form pan in the roaster pan.

4. Give the batter a few stirs with a rubber spatula, just to make sure that nothing has been left unmixed at the bottom of the bowl, and scrape the batter into the spring form pan. The batter will reach the brim of the pan. (If you have a pan with lower sides and have leftover batter, you can bake the batter in a buttered ramekin or small soufflé mold.) Put the roasting pan in the oven and pour enough boiling water into the roaster to come halfway up the sides of the spring form pan.

5. Bake the cheesecake for 1 hour and 30 minutes, at which point the top will be browned (and perhaps cracked) and may have risen just a little above the rim of the pan. Turn off the oven’s heat and prop the oven door open with a wooden spoon. Allow the cheesecake to luxuriate in its water bath for another hour.

6. After 1 hour, carefully pull the setup out of the oven, lift the spring form pan out of the roaster—be careful, there may be some hot water in the aluminum foil—remove the foil. Let the cheesecake come to room temperature on a cooling rack.

7. When the cake is cool, cover the top lightly and chill the cake for at least 4 hours, although overnight would be better.

Serving:Remove the sides of the spring form pan—I use a hairdryer to do this (use the dryer to warm the sides of the pan and ever so slightly melt the edges of the cake)—and set the cake, still on the pan’s base, on a serving platter. The easiest way to cut cheesecake is to use a long, thin knife that has been run under hot water and lightly wiped. Keep warming the knife as you cut slices of the cake.

Storing: Wrapped well, the cake will keep for up to 1 week in the refrigerator or for up to 2 months in the freezer. It’s best to defrost the still-wrapped cheesecake overnight in the refrigerator.

This is actually the second time I made this cheesecake and honestly it really is fool proof.  Baking can be time consuming but in the end it is most definitely worth it.  Especially with various toppings, so far my favorites have been melted Nutella drizzled over the top and raspberry sauce.

My husband ate half of the cake that same day - mine was a minimal slice and the rest I brought to the store and it was gone within in the hour.  It stood no chance thanks to my dad and my brother.  If you are looking for a good solid recipe for cheesecake, I highly recommend Doris’ recipe.

CHEESECAKE 
                Adapted from Baking From My Home to Yours, by Dorie Greenspan

Ingredients:

For the crust:
1 3/4  cups graham cracker crumbs
3          tablespoons sugar
Pinch of salt
1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted

For the cheesecake:
2 pounds (four 8-ounce boxes) cream cheese, at room temperature
1 1/3 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 1/3 cups sour cream or heavy cream, or a combination of the two

Preparation:

To make the crust:

1. Butter a 9-inch springform pan—choose one that has sides that are 2 3/4 inches high (if the sides are lower, you will have cheesecake batter leftover)—and wrap the bottom of the pan in a double layer of aluminum foil; put the pan on a baking sheet.

2. Stir the crumbs, sugar and salt together in a medium bowl. Pour over the melted butter and stir until all of the dry ingredients are uniformly moist. (I do this with my fingers.) Turn the ingredients into the buttered springform pan and use your fingers to pat an even layer of crumbs along the bottom of the pan and about halfway up the sides. Don’t worry if the sides are not perfectly even or if the crumbs reach above or below the midway mark on the sides—this doesn’t have to be a precision job. Put the pan in the freezer while you preheat the oven.

3. Center a rack in the oven, preheat the oven to 350°F and place the springform on a baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes. Set the crust aside to cool on a rack while you make the cheesecake.

4. Reduce the oven temperature to 325°F.

To make the cheesecake:

1. Put a kettle of water on to boil.

2. Working in a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the cream cheese at medium speed until it is soft and lives up to the creamy part of its name, about 4 minutes. With the mixer running, add the sugar and salt and continue to beat another 4 minutes or so, until the cream cheese is light. Beat in the vanilla. Add the eggs one by one, beating for a full minute after each addition—you want a well-aerated batter. Reduce the mixer speed to low and stir in the sour cream and/or heavy cream.

3. Put the foil-wrapped springform pan in the roaster pan.

4. Give the batter a few stirs with a rubber spatula, just to make sure that nothing has been left unmixed at the bottom of the bowl, and scrape the batter into the springform pan. The batter will reach the brim of the pan. (If you have a pan with lower sides and have leftover batter, you can bake the batter in a buttered ramekin or small soufflé mold.) Put the roasting pan in the oven and pour enough boiling water into the roaster to come halfway up the sides of the springform pan.

5. Bake the cheesecake for 1 hour and 30 minutes, at which point the top will be browned (and perhaps cracked) and may have risen just a little above the rim of the pan. Turn off the oven’s heat and prop the oven door open with a wooden spoon. Allow the cheesecake to luxuriate in its water bath for another hour.

6. After 1 hour, carefully pull the setup out of the oven, lift the springform pan out of the roaster—be careful, there may be some hot water in the aluminum foil—remove the foil. Let the cheesecake come to room temperature on a cooling rack.

7. When the cake is cool, cover the top lightly and chill the cake for at least 4 hours, although overnight would be better.

Serving:Remove the sides of the springform pan—I use a hairdryer to do this (use the dryer to warm the sides of the pan and ever so slightly melt the edges of the cake)—and set the cake, still on the pan’s base, on a serving platter. The easiest way to cut cheesecake is to use a long, thin knife that has been run under hot water and lightly wiped. Keep warming the knife as you cut slices of the cake.

Storing: Wrapped well, the cake will keep for up to 1 week in the refrigerator or for up to 2 months in the freezer. It’s best to defrost the still-wrapped cheesecake overnight in the refrigerator.