Monday, April 27, 2009

Daring Bakers April Challenge - Cheesecake

The April 2009 challenge is hosted by Jenny from Jenny Bakes. She has chosen Abbey's Infamous Cheesecake as the challenge.

I love cheesecake. I always have and always will. This love affair started many years ago. When I was younger we would shop at a grocery store now called Michael-Angelo's. The bakery was situated in the back of the store and sometimes my mom would let us choose something to take home. This is a big deal because it did not happen often. I repeatedly chose a slice of cheesecake. There were only three flavours and I regularly chose the chocolate swirl. I loved its cold creaminess and never tired of it.

Fast forward to this month's challenge. I was so happy to be making cheesecake! I decided to make mine with an Oreo crust and broken Oreos stirred into the filling. Simple but delicious. The cheesecake was luscious and infused with vanilla. It wasn't too sweet or firm and the mini versions I made were the perfect serving. Everyone loved them and the recipe is definitely a keeper. If you haven't made cheesecake before and would like to try, make muffin-sized ones. They're less daunting and if you have a big enough pan to fit your muffin tin into you can still do a water bath.

Thanks Jenny for a sublime challenge!

Wednesday, April 08, 2009

Ricotta Cookies

If you thought that ricotta cheese was only for lasagna and filling ravioli I have some news for you. Ricotta makes one great cookie! When I first saw the recipe I was won over - I love ricotta and cakey cookies. I was also intrigued. What would these cookies taste like?

After mixing up the batter (which came together beautifully) the dough was soft but droppable. The cookies came out fluffy and mild tasting. The ricotta was not discernible (to me anyways) but they were delicious. I suppose you could add a little lemon zest to give them some extra flavour but I liked them as they were. Once I added the colourful cream cheese icing they were even better. The sweet tang complemented the cookie beautifully.

So bake yourself a little happiness. Spring is here, albeit with some snow, the bulbs are popping up and a long weekend is around the corner. All good things in my book!

Recipe: Ricotta Cookies