baked/

Brownies and Blondies Extraordinaire

1.Toffee Coffee Brownies: Rich dark chocolate brownie, caramel chocolate spread, and coffee flavored whipped cream
2.Totally Coco Crispy Ricotta and Brownies Torte
3.Peanut Butter Cup Brownie Bottom Cheesecake
4.Magic Blondies filled with chocolate chips, coconut, walnuts, and cranberries.

You can't eat these...but aren't they sweet?

Peanut Butter-Fudge Cheesecake

Peanut Butter-Fudge Cheesecake

Yield: 12 to 16 servings (depending on how generous you are with your cuts)

Prep Time: 1 hour 15 minutes | Bake Time: 1 hour | Cooling/Chill Time: 5 hours

For the Crust:
32 Oreo cookies, finely crushed or ground in a food processor
5½ Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Pinch of salt

For the Fudge:
8 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
½ cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
20 miniature peanut butter cup candies, unwrapped and roughly chopped

For the Cheesecake:
24 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 eggs

For the Ganache Topping:
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
½ cup heavy cream

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (300 degrees F if you are using a dark or non-stick pan). Butter a 9″ springform pan and set aside.

2. To make the crust, stir the Oreo crumbs, melted butter and salt in a small bowl with a fork until the crumbs are moistened. Press the crumbs evenly over the bottom and up the sides of the springform pan. (I like to use the bottom a measuring cup to press the crumbs around the pan. I’ve found that they get evenly distributed that way and end up looking neater around the sides.) Freeze the crust for 10 minutes.

3. Bake the crust for 10 minutes, then transfer it to a rack and let cool.

4. To make the fudge, put the chopped chocolate in a bowl. Heat the cream to a simmer over medium heat. Immediately pour the simmering cream over the chopped chocolate. Let stand for 1-2 minutes, then add the vanilla extract and stir with a whisk or rubber spatula until smooth and combined. Pour the fudge into the cooled crust and spread evenly over the bottom. Place in freezer for 10 minutes. Remove from freezer and sprinkle surface with the chopped peanut butter cups. Return to freezer for 10 more minutes.

5. Meanwhile, prepare the cheesecake filling. Beat the cream cheese and peanut butter together on medium speed until smooth. Add the sugar and vanilla extract and continue to beat on medium speed until thoroughly combined. Reduce the speed to low and add the eggs one at a time, beating until combined after each addition. Scrape the bowl and mix on low for another 20 seconds.

6. Remove the pan from the freezer and pour the cheesecake filling over the fudge and peanut butter cups. Bake until the sides of the cheesecake are set and the middle just slightly jiggles, about 1 hour. Transfer to a wire cooling rack and cool to room temperature (at least 1 hour). Refrigerate the cheesecake at least 4 hours or overnight, until thoroughly chilled. To unmold the cheesecake, wrap a warm towel around the outside of the springform pan to loosen the crust from the sides. Carefully remove the sides from the springform pan.

7. Before serving, prepare the ganache topping. Place the chopped chocolate in a small bowl. Bring the heavy cream to a simmer over medium heat. Immediately pour the simmering cream over the chopped chocolate. Let sit for 1-2 minutes and then stir with a whisk or rubber spatula until smooth. Pour the ganache on the top of the cheese and, using an offset spatula, spread evenly over the top of the cheesecake. Return to the refrigerator to set the ganache, about 20 minutes. Garnish as desired.

Coffee smoothies by Joy

Joy the baker recipe here.

Gorgeous Cupcakes - recipe link

Recipe here.

Banana Blueberry Muffins - recipe

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 cups mashed bananas
• 4 egg whites
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup fresh blueberries

Directions Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 12 cup muffin pan. In a large bowl, mix the whole wheat flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, and baking soda. In a separate bowl, mix the bananas, egg whites, and vanilla extract. Mix the banana mixture into the flour mixture until smooth. Fold in the blueberries. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin pan. Bake 16 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.

M&M cupcakes

M&Ms brighten up everything!

Fancie Cupcakes and Red Velvet Balls

Everybody loves Fancie's cupcakes. I can't wait to take my sister there.
Red velvet cake balls! Looking good! Unfortunately the recipe by Bakerella is made from cake mixes and ready made frosting. I don't do it that way. No way. Always from scratch. That's the whole point of baking, to do it yourself.

Beautiful cake

Gorgeous photo and gorgeous cupcake. Looks so yummy! Found on flickr.
I've just made lovely lemony white chocolate mousse thingy to have tonight. I had to taste a bit now though :) Amazing.

a banoffee post

My friend, my man and I visited the cupcake shop Fancie on Saturday.
I bought a banoffee cupcake. They didn't have the flavours I wanted,
Praline or Cappuccino, so banoffee was the next choice.
The little stall in the Winter Garden is always a lot better stocked.
Strange. You would think that the actual shop and café would
have more than the new stall. No. But this banoffee cupcake was to die for.
So soft and moist and the frosting was delicious and buttery and sweet.
I recommend it! Here are some other banoffee treats.
I've only tried baking mini banoffee pies. Yum.

More whoopie pies

My chocolate chip cookies

photo © Russian Doll
I made these yummy babies on Friday. Moist, soft and chewy.The recipe is top secret though!

new baking book on my wishlist...

The next big thing - whoopie pies. I want this book. So cute.

Cookie dough

Yellow cake baked with a dollop of chocolate chip cookie dough, topped with chocolate buttercream frosting and mini chocolate chips. Sounds awesome.

Snickers sticky chocolate cake - recipe

Mia Öhrn is my favourite person in the baking business, she surely writes the best books on the subject. Here's a recipe from her website, translated into English so that everybody can enjoy it. Here's her blog.

Cake

150 g butter
200 mll caster sugar
3 eggs
210 g plain flour
100 ml cocoa powder
78 g fudge filled chocolates

Topping
200 g dark chocolate
200 ml peanuts

Line a cake tin (22 cm in diameter) with grease proof paper. Melt the butter. Whisk sugar and egg. Measure flour and cocoa and mix into the egg, add the butter. Pour into the tine. Push in the fudge candy and bake for 10-12 minutes at 200 degrees celcius. Let cool before removing tin.

Melt chocolate in a bowl over boiling water, add the peanuts. Spread over the cake and let cool in the fridge.

the way to a man's heart is through his stomach

Read joy's funny and educating post here.

ice cream cone cupcakes!

Very cute idea!

yesterday's baking session - semlor

I made semlor yesterday for my friend. I'd never made them before but they turned out amazing!

photo © Russian Doll

Cookie dough balls. My new obsession.

My individual lemon meringue pies

The lemon meringe pies I made over the weekend. They were very appreciated, again.
I couldn't choose a photo so here's loads...

photo © Russian Doll

Shortbread biscuits/cookies - recipe

Shortbread Cookies

Makes about 20 cookies

¾ pound unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3½ cups all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
6 to 7 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix together the butter and 1 cup of sugar until they are just combined. Add the vanilla. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour and salt, then add them to the butter-and-sugar mixture. Mix on low speed until the dough starts to come together. Dump onto a surface dusted with flour and shape into a flat disk. Wrap in plastic and chill for 30 minutes.

3. Roll the dough ½-inch thick and cut into 3 by 1-inch fingers, either using a cookie cutter, pastry wheel, or pizza cutter. Place the cookies on an ungreased baking sheet and sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until the edges begin to brown. Allow to cool to room temperature.

4. When the cookies are cool, place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Put 3 ounces of the chocolate in a glass bowl and microwave on high power for 30 seconds. Stir with a wooden spoon. Continue to heat and stir in 30-second increments until the chocolate is just melted. Add the remaining chocolate and allow it to sit at room temperature, stirring often, until it’s completely smooth. Stir vigorously until the chocolate is smooth and slightly cooled; stirring makes it glossier.

5. Dip ½ of each cookie into the chocolate to coat, letting the excess drip off. Set back on the parchment-lined sheet and let sit at room temperature until chocolate is set. Store at room temperature in a tin.

red red red velvet

Some of the prettiest red velvet pictures I've ever seen. I. Need. To. Bake. Some. :)