Sweetheart Cheesecake

I can’t believe that another month has already flown by. It’s June in a few days! All the days have really been blending together and now with the kitchen being worked on, it seems like it has been a very long time since I last baked anything or had a kitchen to use.

A little while back, I think it was for Easter, I made my chocolate cheesecake, or Sweetheart cheesecake. I hadn’t made it in ages but I had a craving and I thought it might be a yummy dessert for an isolating Easter dinner and it definitely was. It was so good, yet another cake that I could eat for breakfast, haha. So take a look below and see how I made Sweetheart cheesecake and try one out while you isolate and to ring in the month of June!  

Sweetheart Cheesecake Recipe

Crust:

1 cup of graham wafers

3-3  ½ tsp. of cocoa powder

2 tbsp. of sugar

3-3 ½ tsp. of melted butter

Filling:

3 pkgs. (250g) of cream cheese

1 cup of sugar

3eggs

½ cup of cocoa powder

Whipping cream for the top

Combine the crumbs along with the sugar, butter, and cocoa. 

Mix well and press into 1.5 l spring form pan. I suggest lining the bottom with parchment paper first.

Now in your mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Then beat in the sugar gradually.

Now add in the eggs one at a time at a low speed.

Add in cocoa and beat until smooth.

Pour into the prepared pan and bake at 325 degrees for about 40 minutes. It usually take a few minutes longer. You want it to be moist-ish but not dry and cracked. Mine does always tend to crack but I hide it with whipped cream and it’s fine.

Allow it to cool. I like to make this the day before. This cake is best served nice and cold. You can top it with whipped cream and berries (strawberries and raspberries are the best). I also added on some white chocolate shavings for an extra added touch.

Thanksgiving Dessert - Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake Bars

Thanksgiving dinner is right around the corner and if you have a big dinner to attend and need a dessert to bring along, then we have something so yummy for you to try.

Pumpkin is a typical ingredient to have in Thanksgiving dinner dessert. Whether you make a pie of some sort, cookies, or even a cake that flavour, it is usually present. We found a really delicious sounding pumpkin pie cheese cake bar recipe. There’s a little more time that goes into this so you want to make it when you have time to spare and to properly focus on making the different layers. We made the bars into cake size as they were quite thick and more like a piece of cake. We know this one was a hit as people who aren’t huge pumpkin fans even enjoyed it and asked for more.

Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake Bars

You will need...

Crust:

1 ½ cups of graham wafer crumbs

3 Tbsp. of sugar

5 Tbsp. of melted butter

For the crust mix the graham wafer crumbs with the sugar and the butter and coat evenly. Press into an 8x8 inch foil lined pan. Set aside.

Cheesecake Layer:

1 brick of cream cheese (8 oz.)

¼ cup of sour cream

1/3 cup of sugar

½ tsp. of vanilla

2 eggs

For this layer you will need to pull out your mixer.

Beat the softened cream cheese, sour cream, sugar, and the vanilla until smooth.

Add in the eggs one at a time until mixed.

Pour this layer over the crust and bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. We kept it in for the full amount of time and then some because the cream cheese layer wasn’t setting as it should.

After it’s all set and cooked, allow it to cool and then you can either refrigerate overnight or you can make your next layer right away. We opted to allow it to cool in the fridge overnight and then when we had more time the next day, we made out next layer and completed the dessert.

Pumpkin Layer:

3 egg yolks

15 oz. (just under 2 cups) of pureed pumpkin

½ cup of packed brown sugar

½ cup of milk

½ tsp. of salt

2 tsp. of cinnamon

½ tsp. of vanilla

1 envelope of unflavoured gelatin

¼ cup of cold water

¼ cup of sugar

3 egg whites

Pinch of cream of tartar

This layer requires a bit more time.

First of all, separate the 3 eggs. Combine the yolks, pumpkin, brown sugar, milk, salt, and cinnamon in a medium saucepan. Cook on medium heat, whisking every few minutes. Do this for 10 minutes or if you have a thermometer, until it reaches 160 degrees. Remove from the heat and whisk in the vanilla.

In a microwave safe bowl or measuring cup, sprinkle the packet of gelatin over the cold water. Allow it to stand for a minute and then put in the microwave for 30 seconds or until the gelatin has dissolved. I had to put ours in for an extra 30 seconds. Stir it into the pumpkin mixture and set aside.

Now for the next step. Prepare a double boiler. Bring a medium sized pot to a boil. In the metal mixing bowl of your mixer, combine the sugar, egg whites, and cream of tartar. Beat it for 30 seconds. Now take the bowl and place it on the top of the pot of boiling water to make your double boiler. Make sure the bowl doesn’t touch the water. Whisk constantly (you can use an electric hand mixer if you have one) for 7-9 minutes or until it’s stiff and glossy. Remove it from the heat and continue to beat for another 1-2 minutes.

Finally fold the egg white mixture into the pumpkin mixture and spread evenly over the cooled/cold cheesecake layer. Put in the fridge uncovered for 1 hour and then cover for another 3 hours after that or until you see that it’s firm.

Slice and garnish with whipped cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon if you like and enjoy the yummy pumpkin cheesecake goodness!

Dessert Muffins

Sadly our muffin theme is coming to an end, but we saved the best recipes for last. Our focus today is on dessert muffins. Dessert muffins might make you think of cupcakes, but they are not cupcakes. There’s no icing or sprinkles or fancy piping. These muffins are just a little sweeter and have richer ingredients than most muffins. They also aren’t probably something that you would have for breakfast every day; they may be more of a treat so that’s why we think of them as dessert muffins.

The first one is a recipe that I have tried many times before. It’s a very chocolatey and delicious muffin. They are quite sweet and rich so we have made them mini.

Chocolate Buttermilk Muffin

1/3 cup of vegetable oil

1 cup of buttermilk

2 eggs

1 tsp. of vanilla

½ tsp. of salt

1 tsp. of baking soda

2 tsp. of baking powder

½ cup of sugar

¼ cup of brown sugar

½ cup of cocoa powder

2 cups of flour

1 cup of chocolate chips

Mix all of the dry ingredients together in a bowl and then whisk all of the wet ingredients in a separate bowl.

Add the dry to the wet and stir well making sure to incorporate all of the ingredients.

Stir in the chocolate chips.

Fill the muffin pans ¾ full and bake in a 350 degree oven for 18-20 minutes.

Allow them to cool slightly. Some people like to let them cool lots, but I like to eat them with the chocolate all melty.

Another dessert muffin recipe that you can try is this Chai-Spiced Cheesecake Muffins. Nicole’s tried it once and says they are quite yummy. She made a few changes to the recipe when she made them; I’ve made some notes about that in the recipe below.

Chai-Spiced Cheesecake Muffin

For the muffin you will need...

1 ¾ cups of flour

2 tsp. cinnamon

½ tsp. of ground ginger

½ tsp. of ground cardamom

½ tsp. of ground nutmeg

1 tsp. of baking soda

½ tsp. of salt

2 cups of applesauce (Nicole used 1 cup applesauce and 1 cup pumpkin)

1 ¼ cups of brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. of vanilla

½ cup of vegetable oil

For the filling you will need...

8 oz. brick of cream cheese

¼ cup of granulated sugar

1 tsp. of vanilla

Non-stick cooking spray for greasing

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

First of all you’re going to make the batter.

Whisk the flour, spices, and salt with a fork in one bowl.

In a separate bowl, mix the applesauce, pumpkin, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla, and oil.

Mix it all up with a fork and then add the dry ingredients to the bowl of wet ones and stir with a fork until the batter is thick and smooth.

Now to make the filling.

In a bowl, use a fork to mix the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla. Mix until fluffy and smooth.

Grease your muffin tin with non-stick spray.

Scoop about ¼ cup of the batter into each of the muffin cups. Add a teaspoon of the cream cheese filling to the centre of each muffin and use a toothpick to swirl the filling into the batter.

Bake for 18 minutes.

Cool for about 5 minutes and serve warm.

Strawberry Cheescake

In keeping with the mini cheese cake theme, we are sharing with you a light and fluffy strawberry cheese cake. This is seriously yummy; it’s like that lemon one, addictive and something that you’ll want to eat for breakfast!

We doubled the recipe because we fed more people and I also wanted to have some leftovers. You can make this in two pie plates or in a larger dish like a Pyrex glass dish. We used a 9x13 Pyrex dish.

This cake takes a bit more work/time to make so you want to make sure you start it earlier on in the day if you are making it for dessert.

Start by pouring 2 packages (85g each) of strawberry Jell-O to a glass bowl. Then add 2 cups of cold water and 2 cups of boiling hot water to the bowl and mix well. Put it in the fridge but be sure to watch it as you only want it half way set not fully set.

Now for the crust. This crust again is similar to your typical cheese cake crust. We crushed Graham wafers to make 4 cups of crumbs then added 1 cup of icing sugar along with 1 cup of melted butter.

Press into the dish and bake for 5-8 minutes at 350 degrees. We baked it for the longer time. Cool until you’re ready to make the filling.  

While the Jell-O is setting, whip up 500 ml of whipping cream until stiff. Set aside.

When the Jell-O looks half set, mix 2 packages (250g each) of cream cheese together and then add 2 cups of icing sugar and 2 tsp. of vanilla. Mix until the lumps are gone.

Now slowly add the half set Jell-O to the cream cheese mix.

Once the Jell-O is mixed into the cream cheese mix, then fold in the whipped cream until fully incorporated.

Pour over the crust and put in the fridge for at least 3 hours.

Now enjoy!