So, I offered to make a dessert to take over to Blaine and Marie’s house (Brett’s brother and Sister in Laws) house for dinner tonight.
SO last night I made a cheese tart. I followed the directions and there was 100% a mistake. It called for only one package of cream cheese when you obviously needed two to fill the tart pan!!!
So, I couldn’t take that (we kept the partially filled tart. Yum!). So then I made a cheese cake. A cranberry and vanilla bean cheese cake. No recipe, I just winged the whole thing — 6 blocks of cheese, 2 cups of whip cream, 6 eggs, 2.5 cups of extra fine sugar, 8 vanilla beans and 2 cups of homemade cranberry sauce placed 14×14″ square cake pan. On top of my new favourite shortbread recipe (the one in Jaime Oliver’s new cookbook, it REALLY is the best shortbread cookie recipe ever. Use semolina. It really makes the difference) — ANYWAY the result was a cheese cake that was WAY too big for 4 people.
I’ll have to freeze it and bring it to the New Years Day family function, because honestly, that is one fucking huge cheese cake.
To be honest, not all of the filling fit in my 14×14 inch cake pan, so took one of the made graham cracker crusts I store for quick desserts, put the left overs in the crust, added a cup of my homemade dulce de leche, swirled it around, baked it then topped it with homemade candied pecans, homemade toffee crumbles, more dulce de leche and chocolate drizzle. One of the best cheese cakes EVAR! Not bad for something without a recipe!
The vanilla beans REALLY make a difference by the way. Buy some on Ebay. Really. You won’t regret it! I made my normal chocolate chip cookies, but subbed one bean per tsp of vanilla the recipe called for and I ended up with the best chocolate cookies I have ever, ever, ever had! Actually. THE best because I actually like eating them! I am not a chocolate chip cookie fan. So really, ebay the beans and use them exclusively. You will not regret it!!!
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Apparently I’m the only person to which Brett’s mother tells strange but true stories. WHY ME!?
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Now its time for a snooze
red_trillium said,
December 24, 2007 at 12:12 am
Yummmm cheesecake
planetsalign said,
December 24, 2007 at 4:49 am
Interesting, I did not know that cheese was an actual ingredient in cheese cake.
merry Christmas.
chicachellers said,
December 24, 2007 at 5:36 am
Wow you really do enjoy cooking don’t you? I couldn’t eat anthing you baked because I’m allergic to it but boy has it made me hungry LOL
trekkingkitty said,
December 24, 2007 at 10:45 am
MMM I wish I was at your house. I’ve never made a cheescake. I’m afraid I’d eat the whole thing before anyone else got to it. Hehe.