Picnic Friendly Cheesecake Cupcakes

By Bea Tarthur
Posted on Wednesday, July 6th, 2016


Do you struggle with ways to include cheesecake in your life? Do you struggle with full sized cheesecakes that are difficult to transport and share? This recipe is for you. I’m not saying you have to share but this makes a dozen cheesecake beasts, so it’s only a little bit of a sacrifice.

Finished product first so you can know you’re making the correct decision for a cheesecake filled future.

Ingredients

Cookie base:
12 cup muffin tin
12 cupcake liners
12 sandwich cookies (Whaaaaat? You may say. Just go with it.)

Cheesecake filling:
1 lb room temperature cream cheese softened (I left it on the counter for an hour)
½ cup of sugar (you could reduce this to ⅓ of a cup if you want a less sweet version)
2 eggs
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Sour cream topping:
½ cup of sour cream
¼ teaspoon of vanilla extract
2 tablespoons of sugar

Bonus supplies needed:
Whisk or mixer
1 large mixing bowl for the cheesecake filling
1 small bowl for the sour cream topping

Oven temperature:
325 degrees F

Cooking Times:
5 minutes for the cookie base
20 minutes for the assembled cheesecake cupcakes

Quantity:
1 dozen


Directions

Preheat your lovely oven to 325 degrees F.

Take your muffin and line each spot with a cupcake liner. I strongly suggest using liners for this recipe. The cheesecake filling is too delicate to try to spray the sides and pop the cheesecake cupcakes out unscathed. Place one sandwich cookie into each liner. I used vanilla sandwich cookies but you can use any flavor that you wish. Place the assembled cookie base tin into your heated oven for 5 minutes. Why? The cheesecake mixture is quite wet and this helps to dry out the bases a little so they don’t get immensely soggy.

After 5 minutes, take the tin out of the oven and set aside. Leave the cookie bases in the tin.

These cookies want you to join them on a wonderful adventure.

In your large mixing bowl, it’s time to assemble the ambrosia of man, the cheesecake filling.

First, scrape your softened pound of cream cheese into the bowl. Using either a whisk or an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese until it is uniformly soft and whippy. If you’re using an electric mixer, start on the lowest setting for about 30 seconds until the cream cheese is easy to mix. Increase the speed to medium and this should take about another minute. Create a well in the middle of the cream cheese.

Pour your teaspoon of vanilla extract, 2 cracked eggs, and ½ cup of sugar into the well. If using an electric mixer, start it on the lowest setting unless you want to clean wet cream cheese from your ceiling. This should take about 30 seconds until it is lumpy but a cohesive mix. Increase the speed to medium and beat for another 90 seconds until a whipped mix. Set aside.

In your small bowl, combine your ½ cup of sour cream, ¼ teaspoon of vanilla extract, and 2 tablespoons of sugar. Mix with a spoon until combined. Protip: the sugar will likely not integrate well at first. Allow it to sit for 5-10 minutes, stir again and the sugar should have dissolved into the sour cream mixture.

Now that your cookie bases are cooled, spoon 1 ¾ tablespoons of the cheesecake filling into cookie base liners. I used an ice cream scoop, but you could easily use a large spoon. You may have extra mix but I urge you not to overfill the liners because you still have the sour cream topping to add. Smooth the cheesecake filling so that it is mostly even on top.

On top of the cheesecake filling, add 2 teaspoons of sour cream filling. You do not need to worry about overly smoothing it as it will even out while cooking.

Look at how lazily these were assembled.

Bake the fully assembled cheesecake cupcakes for about 20 minutes. They will not seem fully set but they should be fully cooked.

Allow to cool on a cooling rack for 15-20 minutes and then cool in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours.

These are best served the first day. They will still be good the next day but the cookie bases will have substantially softened.

About the Author:
After a long career as a fetus, I was pushed out into this world kicking & screaming about the lack of internet, reality tv, and 30 minutes or less pizza delivery. It would take far too long for me to receive these simple requests.  When I'm not wishing for the future, I'm running around my home pantsless, blasting PJ Harvey, and shakin' my buns.

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The Importance of Being Cordial

By A Tart of Ice and Fire

Posted Thursday, June 23rd, 2016

Cordial is a middle English word meaning 'belonging to the heart' and stemming from the latin cor-, cord- 'heart'.

I find this rather apt as the drink is, indeed, very close to my heart for reasons of both taste and nostalgia. In the UK (and indeed in Norway where it is called 'saft') cordial is freely available in shops to be bought from mass producing factories. It often goes by the name 'squash', which I imagine can be rather confusing for those of you used to a squash being a vegetable, or simply 'dilute'.

But, if you ask me - and I'm well aware that you didn't - nothing is better than home made cordial. My grandmother used to make my absolute favourite cordial when I was a child, elderflower, and I was thrilled to discover an elder tree in my very own garden which I had managed to not notice for an entire year!

I love the taste of elderflower cordial; I lost my grandmother when I was sixteen and, although we were not particularly close, she was my final remaining grandparent so I hold the memory dear. I started making elderflower cordial last summer when I finally noticed the tree and obviously it's made me immensely happy!

Unfortunately it isn't yet elderflower season here in Norway, that comes later in July, but I am in the midst of my other cordial obsession right now and that is rhubarb. So here I am, ready to share my recipes for both elderflower cordial, and the rhubarb and ginger variety in the hopes that perhaps my obsession can become yours in turn. The really good thing about home made cordial? You know exactly what's in it!

Rhubarb and Ginger Cordial

Ingredients:

rhubarb

root ginger

water

750 g Sugar

75 ml Lemon Juice

The first step is to locate some rhubarb, cut off as much as you can before the owner notices (just kidding! Please do ask first if you aren't getting it from your own garden or buying it at the store), and be sure to remove the leaves. You do not want to be eating the leaves!

Chop into smallish pieces and place in a large pan, then add as much chopped root ginger as you think you're going to like the taste of (for this is how I cook, I'm afraid we'll have to roll with it!) and add just enough water to almost cover the pile. Place it on a low heat until the juices start to come from the rhubarb (this can take a while), and then turn up the heat and continue cooking until it's all completely soft. At this stage it doesn't matter too much if the mixture boils but I'd avoid it anyway, just to be on the safe side.

I then strain the mixture through a sieve in batches, pressing the mix to get as much juice through as possible. Doing it this way will make your mix somewhat less clear than it could be as I like to go for more juice over clarity of the end product. So I then run the juice through a jelly bag and finish by placing the strained rhubarb in the jelly bag and hanging it overnight to get the final liquid through.

Then the next day is cordial day! For each litre of juice that you've managed to get, add 750g sugar (caster) and 75ml lemon juice. Heat gently while stirring to dissolve the sugar and do not under any circumstances let that shizzle boil! If it boils you'll be left with an interesting and delightfully useless syrup instead of glorious cordial.

When the sugar has dissolved, pour the cordial into sterilised bottles and leave to cool before placing the lids.

It keeps very nicely in the fridge for months at a time, although it might require a shake from now and then, and it freezes wonderfully. You will want to serve it at about 1 part cordial to 8 parts water, but obviously do experiment and adjust for taste. You can also use undiluted cordial to make your own homemade jelly (jello for you colonial types). Enjoy!

Elderflower Cordial

Ingredients:

25 elderflower heads

3 lemons

1 orange

1.5 litres of water

1 kg sugar

1 tsp citric acid

Makes 2 litres

Collect 25 elderflower heads in a plastic bag, be careful not to squash them, and then place them in a bowl with the finely grated zest of three lemons and 1 orange. Set aside the juice from the citrus fruits (about 150ml), you'll need it tomorrow!

Bring 1.5 litres of water to the boil and then pour over the elderflowers and zest, cover and leave overnight to infuse. Now, this stage of the cordial does not smell too wonderful. Be prepared, it's going to be wonderful in the end!

The next day, strain the liquid into a saucepan and then add 1kg of sugar and the citrus juice from the day before. If you want you can also add a heaped teaspoon of citric acid as this can help preserve your cordial for longer.

Heat gently to dissolve the sugar, and make sure it doesn't boil!

The pour into sterilised bottles and enjoy with the same 1 part to 8 parts (or whatever suits you best) ratio and keep the cordial refrigerated.

About the Author:

British ex-pat living in the icy north with her own personal God of Thunder, two marauding cats, one marauding toddler and a baby on the way. I enjoy reading, knitting, RPG, computer games, board games, snowboarding, Aikido and ranting on the internet.

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From the Kitchen of Treacle Tart: Hot Smoked Salmon and Leek Tart

By Treacle Tart

Posted Sunday, June 19th, 2016

I thought it was appropriate to that the first recipe that I submitted should be a tart. This is a lovely summery dish that can be eaten hot or cold. Perfect for a summer celebration inside or out. You can also substitute the salmon for hot smoked or barbequed trout for a slightly cheaper version. It also works really well with other hard, strong flavoured cheeses like a mature cheddar.

I have included how to make your own pastry in the recipe, but you can also use bought shortcrust pastry for simplicity purposes.

I have put all the measurements for the recipe in metric, because I am a stinking European and Americans need to buy a set of weighing scales and get with the metric programme like the rest of the world.

Ingredients:

Pastry:

Plain flour 170g

Butter 85g

Water 3 tbsp

Filling:

Leeks 2 large/3 small

Hot smoked salmon 100g

Aged Gouda 125g

Cream 300ml

Eggs 3

Butter/Oil For frying

Thyme (optional) 2 sprigs

Salt/Pepper To season

Other requirements:

Mixing bowl, frying pan, rolling pin, measuring jug, baking parchment, clay baking beans/rice for blind baking, 20 cm tart or quiche dish

Method:

Pastry:

Measure out the flour and put into the bowl. It's best to sieve it, but I'm not going to lie, I am very bad for not doing that, however, the pastry still comes out okay, but not as good as when I sieve it. Next, put in your very cold butter (or marg or lard – whatever you fancy) cut into lumps.

Now comes the tricky part, making sure that your hands are cold before handling the mixture. I'm lucky in that I have bad circulation in my hands which tends to make them cold most of the time. However, if you have warm hands it's a good idea to run them under the cold tap. When your hands are nice and cold, rub the butter into the flour using your finger tips until it has the consistency of breadcrumbs.

Next, add the (very cold) water slowly mixing it into the dry ingredients. Two tips here: I measure the water into a jug for easier pouring and I use a knife to start off the mixing of the wet and dry ingredients together, once it's gotten going I use my hands to pull the mixture together. Make sure you take off rings and watches before start otherwise it gets very messy, and it isn't the most hygenic either.

If there is too little water, pieces will be flaking off and the pastry will be very crumbly and you should add a little more water. If there is too much water then the mixture will be sticky and you need to add a little more flour.

The perfect pastry will be slightly tacky to the touch but otherwise smooth. Wrap the finished pastry in clingfilm or a sandwich bag and put in the fridge where it can cool before you roll it out. It's good for the pastry to have at least an hour in the fridge but don't worry if you have to use it sooner than that.

Tart:

Preheat the oven to 170°C.

While the pastry is chilling in the fridge, clean the leeks and cut up into 1cm pieces. Melt a little butter in the frying pan and add the leeks. Cook over a low heat until they have become soft and silky. Leave the leeks to one side to cool, while you prepare the pastry case.

Grease the tart tin well and remove the pastry from the fridge, and place on a well floured board or worktop. Roll out the pastry so that it will cover the whole tart dish with a bit of overhang. Carefully roll the pastry up onto a well floured rolling pin and carefully unroll over the dish. Gently push the pastry down into the dish and ensure that all parts are covered. Prick the base and sides all over with a fork. This will ensure that any trapped air will escape during the baking.

Cut out a sheet of baking parchment, large enough to cover the tart dish. Place over the pastry and fill the centre of the dish with clay baking beans, or you can use dried rice, lentils or marrowfat peas. These help to keep the pastry case from bubbling up while you blind bake it. Blind baking will prevent the pastry from becoming soggy when we add the filling, and because the filling has a shorter cooking time than that of the pastry. Put the pastry case into the oven and bake for 15 - 20 minutes.

While the pastry case is baking, prepare the rest of the ingredients for the filling. Grate the cheese and put to one side. Break the salmon into pieces, I found this easier to do by hand rather than with a knife.

Break the eggs into a bowl, add the cream and beat well. Season with salt and pepper. Add thyme (leaves only) and beat again.

At this point the pastry case should be about ready to come out of the oven. It should be a very pale golden colour. Remove the parchment paper and baking beans. Add the leeks to the pastry case and spread evenly over the base.

Now it's time to start layering in the other ingredients. Spread half the hot smoked salmon over the leeks then sprinkle over half the gouda. Next, layer on the remaining salmon. Reserve a handful of the cheese, then spread the remainder over the top of the other fillings.

Carefully pour in the egg and cream mixture. Pat down any floating filling ingredients so that they become coated with the egg mixture.

Sprinkle your reserved handful of cheese over the top of the tart. Next, carefully cut off the excess pastry from the edge of the tart. Try not to take too much off, or you might spring a leak!

Take a moment to admire your handiwork, before transferring the tart into the oven for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes the filling of the tart should be firm to the touch and have turned a golden brown colour. If it still seems either a little runny or pale, return to the oven and check at 5 min intervals. Allow the tart to cool a little. Enjoy a slice on it's own or served with a salad.

About the Author:

Irish mother of one and stepmother to four. Married to a Wiccan. Pro-choice, extended breastfeeding feminist. Enjoys cooking, reading, watching films. Needs to learn how to write more entertaining bios.

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