Caramel Cheesecake Recipe

I think I have already established my love for cheesecake.

I was thinking of other flavors that reminds me of Valentines aside from red velvet. I think I have way too many red velvet posts for now, so let me add other flavors to my blog.

Chocolate came to my mind - but then again, it's a classic flavor. It can be a special cake like my moist cake, but I'm thinking of something more related to Valentines.

Then I remembered Caramel! I've always loved caramel-filled chocolates, so why not dedicate a whole cake to caramel?

But I don't want to it be super sweet. As much as I love chocolate + buttercream + caramel separately, putting them all together in one cake sounds like a toothache. So the sour taste of cheesecake contrasting to the sweet flavor of caramel sounds perfect.

I admit - this isn't the prettiest cake I've ever made. I used as little graham crust as I can get away with, and I didn't bake it in a water bath (which resulted to a cracked top). But taste wise? It's amazing!

Another confession: I (secretly) call this "poor-man's cheesecake". I didn't use sour cream or heavy whipping cream for this recipe, used as little graham crackers as I can, and used Kraft caramel candies. But in the end, it doesn't taste short on flavor! It's a perfect go-to cheesecake recipe.

Ingredients
For cheesecake and garnish:

• 12 oz cream cheese
• 1 1/2 cups light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup Kraft caramel candies, diced into 4 parts/cube
• 2 pcs eggs
• approx. 1/4 cup melted caramel*

For crust:

• 1/2 cup crushed graham crackers
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup butter

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 190C
2. Prepare crust. Mix in crushed graham crackers, sugar, and butter. Press into the bottom of an 8" springform pan.
3. Beat cream cheese until soft. Mix in sugar, and add eggs one at a time. Mixture should be runny.
4. Pour mixture into crust. 
5. Bake for 35 minutes, or until the top of the cake is golden and showing deep cracks. Cool for 2 hours.
6. Refrigerate cake for 1 hour to overnight.
7. Top with melted caramel. If you want to use candy caramels, simply melt 12 pcs of Kraft caramel candies in a double broiler, together with approximately 6 tsps of milk or water. You may add more liquid if you prefer it to be more runny.

Recipe adapted from WikiHow. 

Just like in my Peanut Butter Cheesecake, my brother had a comment about this cake. He said it's "too sweet". But when I tried it myself, the sweetness was just okay. I think there's something wrong with his taste buds!

Tell me what you think if you'll try this cake! ;)

Red Velvet & Cheesecake Thumbprint Cookies

It’s the season of love! So what better way to celebrate it than red velvet desserts??

Okay, fine; I make red velvet any time of the year. (Actually, I have an addiction to Red Velvet. So I’m using Valentine’s season as an excuse to make more Red Velvet desserts. #RealTalk) But why limit this amazing dessert to Valentines or Christmas only? Let’s celebrate red velvet all year round!

But seriously, I think there’s something wrong with me: I tend to celebrate the most mondane days vs special occassions. Like Christmas. Here in the Philippines, the festive spirit starts as early as September. But all -ber months long, I wasn’t prepared for Christmas! I only felt the season kick in the day after Christmas. It sucks – getting to feel Christmas when it’s almost over. 

So this year, I made a silent vow to myself to get into the season early. And I’m not just talking about Christmas – it includes Valentines and Summer! Thus, it explains this early Valentines post. ;)

Why cookies? Because it’s easy! I’ve been busy lately with work. Who knew that the retail industry is a busy work place to be in after Christmas season? They should’ve warned me. Nevertheless, I still want to bake. I missed it after (unintentionally) being on hiatus over the season.

I love how these cookies are a bit more special than the classic cookies. I like how the cheesecake  “thumbprint” adds a contrast to the red velvet cookie which looks like a pretty crinkle covered in sanding sugar instead of the classic powdered sugar. Honestly, the cookie itself is a bit dry. I guess it’s because you’ll bake it for a total of 22 minutes (though in lower temp). But I actually like it because it almost resembles the texture of graham cracker crust on a cheesecake. So these technically tastes like bite-size cheesecake in red velvet cookie crust! H-E-A-V-E-N!

I must warn you: these are addictive! I rarely snack on the desserts I bake, but I was already snacking on these even before the 3rd batch were out of the oven! I already stored half away to prevent myself from eating everything. We’re talking about red velvet and cheesecake here, guys. #shameless

Ingredients:
Red Velvet Cookies

• 1 cup butter (softened)
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups flour
• 4 tsp red food coloring
• 2 tsp cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar (for rolling)

Cheesecake Filling

• 1/2 cup (4 oz) cream cheese (softened)
• 1 egg yolk
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp vanilla

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 150C. 
2. Beat together butter, brown sugar, egg yolk, and vanilla until light and fluffy. Mix in flour, food coloring, and cocoa powder until well blended. Soft dough will form.
3. Pour sugar in a flat plate. Scoop a teaspoon of the mixture and roll into sugar until well coated. Place in baking pan topped with silicon mat or parchment paper.Using a rounded 1 tsp measuring spoon, make a small well in the center. 
4. Bake for 10 minutes.
5. While baking, prepare the cheesecake filling by beating together cream cheese, egg yolk, sugar, salt, and vanilla until smooth. Transfer mixture in a piping bag snipped at the tip (or place a plain, round piping tip)
6. Once cookies are done, redo the well to ensure it's still deep enough for the cheesecake filling. Pipe filling just until it's the same level with the cookie.
7. Bake for an additional 12 minutes, until filling is set.

Recipe from Something Swanky.

Notes for success:

In the original recipe, it says that you can use the extra egg whites to use as egg wash instead of rolling the cookies on sugar. I actually prefer the extra texture (and slight sweetness) the sanding sugar brings!

Chocolate Mousse Cake Recipe

I am finally back!

I know I haven't written in a while, especially through the time of the year where food bloggers go crazy over Christmas-themed recipes. Well, I failed on that point.

I recently started working in an office, and I didn't expect that it will consume a lot of my time. But I still bake almost every other night but it leaves me no time to take photos, to edit it, to make a write up, and to research more recipes. And seriously, I miss it! Not a week passed without me itching to make a post. But aside from time-constraints, my internet connection has been failing me miserably. :( #firstworldproblems

Anywoo, let's kick off the year with something easy to do, yet very sophisticated -- chocolate mousse cake! There's this dense, moist chocolate cake on the bottom layer (which is honestly delicious by itself), the amazingly soft, creamy, and rich chocolate mouse middle layer, and the unmistakable whipped cream layer on top! Layers of chocolate goodness wrapped in one cake!

What inspired me to do this cake is the famous chocolate mousse cake from a local bakeshop. Chocolate mousse quite popular here. It's even bundled as the Christmas cake for a KFC bucket meal! And I thought, I have made a red velvet mousse cake before, why not make the classic chocolate version?

When I was starting to learn how to bake, almost all my creations were "too" sweet. Well for me, the definition of "sweet" is subjective - like it may be just right for me, tooth-aching sweet for some, and a little bland for the others. I tend to cut down the sweetness anyway since my family ain't a big fan of it. But in this cake, I think my family and I finally agreed that this is the perfect level of sweetness!

This cake may seem time consuming, but it's actually just like building a regular cake - if not faster. Treat the chocolate mousse like frosting; make it while the chocolate cake is baking. This has been my go-to cake recently (not to mention our Christmas cake as well) because it cuts down the decorating time. All you have to do is prepare layers, pour chocolate mousse after cake is cooled, spread whipped cream after chocolate mousse has been refrigerated for a while, and sprinkle chocolate jimmies (or chips, whatever you prefer!).

Ingredients (for chocolate mousse layer)
1 tbsp cocoa powder
2 1/2 tbsp hot water
3.5 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped
3/4 cups cold heavy whipping cream
*1/2 tbsp granulated sugar*

(Whipped cream layer)
1 cup heavy whipping cream
*1/4 cup granulated sugar*

Instructions

1. Bake chocolate cake in an 8" springform pan. Use only 1/3 of the quantity of the ingredients, or use the remaining batter for cupcakes or another cake. Set aside and let it cool.
2. Dissolve cocoa powder with hot water in a small bowl, set aside.
3. Whip the heavy whipping cream using a mixer in medium speed until it begins to thicken, approximately half a minute. Then, increase the speed to medium-high to high and whip until soft peaks form. This will take another 15-60 seconds.
4. Using a microwave safe bowl, melt the finely chopped chocolate for 20 seconds. Stir the chocolate until it becomes creamy. If it isn't completely melted yet, return to microwave and heat in 10 second intervals until it is completely creamy when stirred. Let cool for around 2-5 minutes. 
5. Whisk cocoa powder mixture into melted chocolate. Fold in the chocolate mixture to whipped cream, being gentle enough not to deflate the cream.
6. Pour the chocolate mousse over the cooled chocolate cake base layer (still in the pan), then refrigerate for 30 minutes-1 hour. 
7. Whip the cold heavy whipping cream in medium-high for 1 minute, until the cream doubles in volume. 
8. Simply pour the whipped cream over the cake (still in the pan), or take out the chocolate cake-chocolate mousse layers out of the springform pan first before piping the cream in tall curled dollops (like what I did in the photo). Or pour out a thin layer of the whipping cream before piping all the cream. 

Makes one 8" cake. 

Recipe adapted from Brown Eyed Baker.

Notes for success

• The amount of sugar you'll use for the chocolate mousse and whipping cream depends on the sweetness of your chosen brand, so play around with sugar by adding little by little until you get your desired taste. The brand I use is already sweet by itself, so I omit the sugar.
• To get a cleaner cut between layers (unlike mine), level your cake first. Then, make sure to level the choco mousse layer as well. When pulling it out the pan, blow dry the sides of the pan two to three times just to let the outer layer pull away from the pan. Slowly pull out the springform pan.

Reese Peanut Butter Cheesecake Recipe

If you're a Peanut Butter junkie, this cheesecake is perfect for you!

For the past month(s), I have been inactive for 3 reason: (1) because my cousin from Canada came to the Philippines to visit, (2) because I started driving lessons, and (3) because I started working in an office! I'd like to share more about #2 and #3 on a different post, so let me tell you more about my cousin: she stayed in my house for the whole month and we were busy catching up for the 7 years we were apart. I discovered something that we couldn't discuss over the phone -- that she loves peanut butter!

I was able to make a peanut butter chocolate cake for her, but there were some left over Reese peanut butter cups after she left. Also, some cream cheese because of the cream cheese frosting that I made for the that cake. Then I remembered how I made that Oreo Cheesecake and never actually got a chance to taste it myself... So why not make a Reese Peanut Butter Cheesecake for myself??

And when I said "for myself", I actually meant it! I have some 6-inch aluminum cheesecake pan with a removable bottom. I tried using it on sponge cakes before when I'm making a 3-tier cake, but other than that, I don't use this pan. So why not make the most out of it?

This size is just perfect for one person, or giving it as a gift. But being generous as I am, I still shared some to my family. ;) But let me tell you - it barely lasted 24 hours! Not just of the serving size, but because it actually tastes good!
Ingredients For Crust 80g (1 cup) Peanut Butter cookie sandwiches (If these aren't available in your area, use Oreos instead) 1 tbsp butter (melted) 1 tbsp sugar For Cheesecake 8oz (1 package) cream cheese 1/4 cup Sugar 1/2 tsp Vanilla 1pc egg 5pcs Reese Peanut Butter Cups For Peanut Butter Ganache and Garnishing* 1/3 cup Reese peanut butter chips 1/6 cup heavy whipping cream 1pc Reese Peanut Butter Cups (chopped)
Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 175C.

Making the Crust:

1. Place Peanut Butter flavored cookie sandwiches in a food processor. Pulse until the cookies are in fine crumbs. If you don't have a food processor, place the cookies in a resealable bag and use a rolling pin or glass bottle to crush the cookies into fine crumbs.
2. Mix melted butter into cookie crumbs. Once it's mixed thoroughly, pack the crumbs on the bottom of a 6" springform pan.  

Making the Cheesecake:

1. Beat cream cheese until smooth. Add in sugar and vanilla. When the mixture is well blended, beat in eggs one at a time.
2. Place Reese Peanut Butter Cups on top of the prepared crust. Line this the way you wish - you may create a circle inside the pan to make sure that it is distributed evenly on every slice, or stack it all in the center to put the "surprise" in the middle part of the cake.
3. Pour batter carefully into the crust, making sure not to move the previously arranged Peanut Butter cups.
4. Bake for 45 minutes. After baking, open the oven door by a little bit and let the cake cool inside for around 30 minutes. Afterwards, refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight.

Garnishing the Cake:

1. Prepare the Peanut Butter Ganache (or whipped cream, if desired). To do so, heat heavy whipping cream. Add it to the peanut butter chips and mix thoroughly until no more lumps are present. Let it cool to room temperature.
2. Remove the cheesecake from the fridge and pour the peanut butter ganache on it.
3. Chop each remaining Reese Peanut Butter Cups into quarters. Sprinkle on top of the cheesecake.

Makes one 6" cheesecake.

Now I am proud of this recipe because it is the first time I played around and made my own! If there are any similarities to other recipes online, then it is just a coincidence. When I was making this, I was only using my Oreo Cheesecake recipe as basis.

*My brother commented that the peanut butter taste is a bit overwhelming. If you wish, you may opt to switch the peanut butter ganache to whipped cream instead.

Red Velvet Crinkles Sandwich with Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe

Well, that title was a mouthful.

And so are these crinkle sandwiches!

Back in college, I discovered these sweet treats when my org started selling these as one of our fund raising activities. Although I want to support my org, it's really against my will to buy myself a tub of crinkles when I can make one myself. :(

I have attempted making these for lots of occasions. Okay, fine - just one. The rest are just because I want to eat 'em. I made these during my friend Shin's 13th birthday (yes, I have friends that young!) and they loved it! But the filling I used then was my regular cream cheese frosting recipe. Although this frosting is good on cakes and cupcakes, I find it too creamy for the sandwich filling. So I decided to modify it a bit to make it maintain its shape, but is still not uber sweet :)

What I like about this recipe is that the crinkles itself is puffy and cakey, but not dry. I have tried making these crinkles before making a classic chocolate crinkle, and every attempt I made on the latter is flat. :( I'm still on my journey on finding the perfect chocolate crinkle recipe, but these red velvet crinkles are my go-to!

You know, these crinkles can do perfectly well on it's own. It already tastes delicious as it is!

But you know how frosting makes everything better, right?


Red Velvet Crinkle Cream Cheese Sandwich
Ingredients
2 1/4 cups flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
2oz (or 1/4 cup) cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
2pcs eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 tsp red food coloring
1/2 cup powdered sugar

Instructions

• Place flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt into a medium mixing bowl.
• Mix butter, and cream cheese in a large mixing bowl. Add sugar and cream for about 1 to 2 minutes. Add eggs, red food coloring, and vanilla. Mix well.
• Add dry mixture in two batches and mix well.
• Refrigerate cookie dough for 4 hours.
• Heat oven to 175C.
• Scoop about 1 tsp of mixture and roll into balls. Roll it in powdered sugar, making sure to cover everything.
• Bake for around 9 to 10 minutes.

Makes approx. 30 cookies

Recipe adapted from thelittlekitchen.

Cream Cheese frosting

Ingredients
4 oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 cup powdered sugar

Instructions

• Cream together room temperature cream cheese and butter.
• Add in vanilla. Stir until no more streaks of vanilla are seen.
• Add powdered sugar one cup at a time, making sure to mix it in completely before adding the next cup.

You know about my red velvet addiction, right? Well, if not, check out my other red velvet recipes:

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Red Velvet Cake 

Red Velvet Mousse Cake

Funfetti Cupcakes | Vanilla Buttercream Recipe

It all started with a boxed cake mix.

WAIT! Before you close this window after reading the seemingly-banned-words ("boxed cake mix") in food/baking blogs, let me explain myself: yes, it did start with that, but it was because I saw them on sale! I rarely see cake mixes on sale - especially for more than half the price - so I took a box without even thinking of what to make.

Going back... I have been wanting to make a post about Vanilla Buttercream (or simple buttercream) for quite some time now. Since Vanilla Buttercream is very versatile, it was pretty hard to choose just one dessert to use it on. It could be used on any flavor of cakes and cupcakes - even on cookies! But I recently saw this tutorial by Zoella, and it reminded me of how much I want to make Funfetti cupcakes! Although she shared her own recipe, I already had my favorite vanilla buttercream so I didn't try her version. Sorry, Zoe. :( But I still love you <3

Recalling that I have a recently purchased boxed cake mix, I focused on the buttercream. Not having an electric mixer makes me feel lazy to make one... Let's just say my arm muscles get mad at me after whipping up just one batch of this. But I can't help it - buttercream still rules! So I end up whipping this while watching TV to distract myself from the soreness. LOL. Not having a mixer means making an extra effort to incorporate that sugar with butter. But I am a living proof that it could be done! :)

I have this thing for quick and easy - and these cupcakes are exactly that even without a boxed cake mix. Simply make a vanilla cupcake*, mix in sprinkles before baking, whip up vanilla buttercream, then add more sprinkles! But since sprinkles make anything better, I added a half cup of it into the batter even if it already had sprinkles pre-mixed in it. Or maybe I added another cup more... :>

I love how easy it is to pipe, and that it holds its shape very well. I was able to serve 80 vanilla frosted cupcakes in a party, and it all retained its shape after 5 hours!

This simple buttercream is fluffy, easy to whip (well, if you have a mixer!), and can be paired with almost anything! It can be served on any occasion as well.

And speaking of occasion ~ after I made these cupcakes, I remembered that my goddaughter's birthday was coming up. These then became the perfect celebration cupcakes/gift! Does this make me a good godparent despite my forgetfulness? I think it does. BUTTERCREAM RULES.
*As for my version of vanilla cupcakes, I'm still experimenting on getting that perfect cupcake, so please stay tuned for that! ;)

Vanilla Buttercream

Yield: Frosts around 30 cupcakes, or crumb coats an 8"-9" cake with two layers
Ingredients

• 1 cup Butter (softened)
• 7 cups Powdered Sugar
• 1 tbsp Vanilla
• 6 tbsp Milk (approximate)
• pinch of salt

Directions

1. Cream room temperature butter in a large bowl.
2. Mix in vanilla and salt.
3. Add in powdered sugar one cup at a time. Keep on mixing until sugar is dissolved. Add a tbsp of milk (or water) whenever mixture becomes hard to mix.
4. Mix to desired consistency.

Recipe adapted from iambaker.

Just a warning: this is sweet. Very sweet. You could decrease the powdered sugar by a cup or two, but make sure to taste it because the butter might become dominant. Also, it might become too soft that it won't hold its shape. 

Sunflower Cupcakes | Chocolate Cupcake Recipe

I finished college!

 

So I know that that is a weird intro for a tutorial about Sunflower Cupcakes. What would have been better was "It's still summer!" or "Here's something to brighten up your mornings - ". Well, I could have said that but I really made these as my graduation cupcakes :)

If you have read the "about me" page of this blog, you know that I am studying at the University of the Philippines. UP has this tradition of planting sunflowers during summer season (which is March-May for the Philippines), which symbolizes our graduation (I think it's a very pretty tradition, but don't ask me why because I can't answer that). This year is different, because they started planting around May, since we had our academic calendar shift. What used to be an April graduation moved to June.

Since March, I was already thinking of how to make these cupcakes. My biggest dilemma was the flavor of the base cupcakes. Then I thought, why not make simple, flavorful chocolate cupcakes? Yeahhh, that sounds nice. It would be a nice contrast to the bright yellow frosting!

Chocolate Cupcake

Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 20 mins
Total time: 30 mins
Yield: Approx. 15 cupcakes
Ingredients:

• 1 1/3 cups Flour
• 1/4 tsp Baking Soda
• 2 tsps Baking Powder
• 3/4 cup Cocoa Powder
• 1/8 tsp Salt
• 1/4 cup Butter (softened)
• 1 1/2 cups Sugar
• 2 Eggs
• 3/4 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1 cup Milk

Cooking Directions

1. Preheat oven to 175C. Line cupcake pan.
2. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa, and salt. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time. Stir in vanilla.
4. Add the flour mixture alternatively with milk.
5. Spoon 1.5 tbsps of the mixture into each cupcake liner. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven.

Recipe adapted from WikiHow - sorry can't find the link anymore :(

For the Sunflower effect, I used the Wilton tip #70 which is a grass tip.
Simply pipe the petals as you would on a normal leaf. Start from the outside circle at a 160 angle (slightly angled), working your way to the inside. Make sure not to pipe it too long that it'll drop at the sides, and don't apply too much pressure. Once you've almost covered the whole thing (the center should still be a little bare), sprinkle some chocolate chips on it. Make sure the chips are on the inner circle only.

Even though my graduation was 2 months ago, I'm still posting this because it's still summer in other parts of the world! Take Canada, for example, where my cousin (Hi Colleen!) lives. Luckily, she was able to come home here during my graduation because it was her summer vacation! She also helped me in designing these cupcakes ;)

I hope these cupcakes will brighten your day no matter what the weather or the occasion is! <3