White Chocolate Cheesecake

Decadence, thy will be had.

I'm going to show you how I made a beautifully smooth and creamy white chocolate cheesecake. This will eventually become the middle layer of a birthday cake (which I'll post pics of tomorrow). However, if you so fancy, this would be fantastical drizzled with raspberry syrup.  I got this recipe from Williams-Sonoma but I changed it up a little by adding white chocolate because - well, why not? :) 

Continue? 10..9..8..7

Anitra's White Chocolate Cheesecakey Goodness

Ingredients

Wait, before that, I must mention something. I'm going to notate on a few things that they should be room temperature, not straight from the fridge. It helps mix better, I promise.

... also, please preheat your oven to 350°

Ahem, ingredients:

1 cup white chocolate chips

2 pkgs cream cheese (8oz each) - *room temp*

1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tbsp flour
2 eggs  - *room temp*

1 teaspoon clear vanilla extract
1 tablespoon heavy whipping cream

You'll need a very nice springform pan in which to bake this. I was lucky enough to find this at wallyworld in a set of 3 for $9 bucks. Score! 

Spray with non-stick stuff and line with wax paper, like this....

 

Next, melt the chocolate. It should be done first, because if you add *hot white chocolate* to a mix with eggs, you'll end up with scrambled eggs and while those are delicious, they're not meant to be in cheesecake - but, I digress...

To do this, I used two pots, one smaller than the other since I don't have an actual double boiler *ahem - gift idea* Just put some water in the bottom pot and the chips in the top one, crank up the heat and stir :)

Like I said, let that cool and move on to the creaming of the cream cheese. I know it sounds silly, but this is the basis for your cheesecake. It must be beaten severely-which is another reason it's best at room temperature. It is much easier to beat to Smithereens this way :)

Next, add the sugar a little at a time.

Please note: After each step and addition, mix super good to incorporate everything completely. Use a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl and the beaters. The idea here is to cream everything together, in order to get the whole shebang completely smooth and creamy. Creamy, creamy, creamy...

Please pardon the frankenthumb.



Alright, cool. At this point add the flour. Just sprinkle it over and mix super good. Then scrape the sides and the beaters again.

Oh eggs, I haven't forgotten about you. Probably ready to hatch by now, eh? Add the eggs, one at a time, ok? Make sure each egg is incorporated completely. Uno y dos.

Alright, it should be pretty loose by now, very smooth and creamy. For a little flavor, at this point add the vanilla and the heavy whipping cream. Don't worry about stiff peaks or anything that usually occurs when you beat whipping cream... the ingredients thus far are too heavy for peaks to be able to form. Boo-yah.



Ok, remember that luscious white chocolate we melted earlier? It's time to add that now. Go ahead and dump it in! You can mix this part with the rubber spatula. Fold it.

Yay! All mixed!

Now put it in the pan and shake it a bit so it spreads out evenly.

Bake for about 30 minutes at 350°. It should be slightly caramel colored around the edges and when given a shake, shouldn't jiggle too much...

Done!

 Let it sit out for a little and then refrigerate. Make sure you cover it pretty good with saran wrap or whatever.  Enjoy :)

This Week Anitra Loves... 8/31/2011

In other blogs I've read, I always enjoy lists that people make. Top 10s, Favorite vacation spots, favorite shoes or just pretty things in general.  I'd like to hereby gank that idea and make my own damn list.... I'll try to do it weekly, since I'm pretty much insatiable on stuff that I want... Looksie!

I'm not a fan of direct, overhead lighting. I LOVE christmas lights and little outdoor bulb lights strung throughout trees - it just gives this feeling of whimsy, you know? Aren't these cute? Seems like a huge mess making them, but I'm game. Let me know if you wanna :)

Hello pasta. This looks like it MIGHT taste similar to the dish I had at Cheesecake Factory last time I was there. Spaghetti with Vodka Cream sauce. Yes, please. Recipe: here

Oh, Benefit Cosmetics. You make me wish I was born in the 60s when being a bombshell was a dangerous kind of woman to be :)  Benetint is just something you can use for a little bit of color pretty much anywhere - um... on your face. Works great as blush and a lipstain, it's a must have. 

Brash Boots from Payless. Cute, right? As my dear friend Dan might say, "86 that shit and get in the pit!", if you so desire, darlings.

My favorite secret this week from postsecret.  If you don't know what that is, it's a website to which people mail their deepest, darkest, seediest, sillest, saddest, most earth shattering, funniest secrets to a guy who lives in Maryland. Every Sunday, he posts new secrets. Apparently it's saved some lives or some shiz like that. (kidding, really) 

A zen moment... ahhhh

 

I dream in purple sometimes. I saw this room and it reminds me of a modern recreation of something found in a Jane Austen novel. Elizabeth Bennet style.

I'm going to ragroll my hair sometime. I love the way this one turned out.

Those of you who have found love - not that I've not had love or been loved - but it seems fleeting at times. Here's to finding someone who makes you feel this way.

Boston Creme cakepops. Let's :)

Past Goodies

I like to make cupcakes, cakes, cookies and various other yummies. If I love you, you've had one of my cupcakes or you will at some point.  At Christmas, you're beloved if you receive a batch of my evil black and whites - or if it makes you feel better you can call them breakfast bars :)  Nothing brings me more joy (except being Mom, of course) than to spend an afternoon slathering freshly baked somethings with chocolate or other frosting.

I present to you, my portfolio thus far:

Ahhh yes, the alien cake. I was lucky enough to make this beauty for a baby shower for a good friend, Christina. Yes, a baby shower cake. He's made of devils food cake and cream cheese frosting. The alien is a couple cupcakes pinned together and wrapped in fondant. Apparently he's still lurking in Christina's freezer :)

Breakfast bars :) Ritz crackers with creamy peanut butter in between, dipped in white chocolate. Yes.

An experiment shortly after I learned of the beauty and wonder of frosting tips.  These are lemon cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.

Classic yellow cake with milk chocolate frosting. Always a crowd pleaser.

Just wanted to post some pics of past goodies that I've made - out of love <3

Peach Cobbler

For the past few weeks I've been jonesing for peach cobbler.

A few years ago, for Thanksgiving, I made a pretty good version out of canned peach pie filling - gimme a spoon and a can opener and I'm happy! -  and a mix that I found at Publix. After going to Publix AND Wallyworld, I was unable to find said peach cobbler mix. I was able to find it online though, here. It comes out delicious but *sigh* I'm impatient.

That being said, have you ever heard of dump cake? Sounds appetizing, no?! Mom and I used to make dump cake out of pretty simple ingredients with any kind of fruit cocktail or canned type fruit we had on hand.

I decided to give it a go - and well, here it goes :)

Like I said, pretty simple ingredients:

Peach Cobbler - Preheat to 350°
1 can of peach pie filling - you could use apple or cherry, too!
1 box cake mix - I used butter golden, but white cake or any kind of yellow cake works too
1 stick of butta
1 cup light brown sugar (mmmm)

First:
Get a pan. I used a glass 9x12.

Add those delicious peaches - for a less rich version, use cling peaches in light syrup and cut the peaches up a bit :) PS, it was really hard for me to not just eat these out of the can! hehe

While the cake mix is still in the bag, break it up a little. Then open the bag and dump ;) the whole bag right on top of the peachy goodness.

Chop up the entire stick of butter into 9 or 10 pieces and evenly place them right on top of the cake.

Now for the cream... shake the entire cup of brown sugar right on top of everything. Try and cover it evenly.

Ok - now, be patient. Bake at 350° for about 35 minutes - you know your oven, so whenever it's bubbly and golden on top it's done!

Very rich and best served hot - or cold - or a la mode! Enjoy, kittens :)
PS - pictures taken with my iPhone via the instagram app.