Culinary Concoctions by Peabody

So when I started getting entries for HHDD#10 Cheesecake, I was surprised at how many people had never made a cheesecake before. Though my own mother has never either! So I was really touched that so many people entered the contest who had never made a cheesecake before…very brave and I hope you learned that making a cheesecake is not that hard to do!
I could not help but think of what cheesecake I would have made had I been able to enter the contest. I had a lot of ideas. After my Samoas cheesecake, several people asked me to make a Thin Mint cheesecake(I am actually thinking about making a Thin Mint cupcake instead)…but I wasn’t in a minty mood. I thought about an orange mascarpone one…no mascarpone cheese in the apartment. What I did have was apples though. I love caramel apples. So something involving caramel apples was it. I didn’t just want a plain cheesecake with caramel apples on top. Luckily I had a bag of toffee bits…and I thought, “how perfect.” I had really wanted to make a brown butter cookie base for this, but we had very little butter in the fridge(highly unusual). So plain old graham cracker crust it was.
You have just ONE more day to vote. We have several front runners and 1st place seems to change just about every time I go and check my email. So vote, vote, vote!!!

Caramel Apple Toffee Cheesecake

1 ¼ cups graham cracker crumbs
2 TBSP sugar
¼ cup unsalted butter, melted
2 lbs cream cheese
2 cups sugar
2 TBSP flour
4 eggs
2 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla
¾ cup toffee pieces

3 Granny Smith apples
3 TBSP butter
¼ cup sugar

1 ¼ cups sugar
1/3 cup water
2/3 cup heavy cream

Combine the graham cracker crumbs, 2 TBSP sugar and melted butter. Press this into the bottom of a 10 inch spring form pan.
Bake crust for 10 minutes at 350F and set aside.
Mix the cheese and sugar with paddle attachment on medium speed, about 3 minutes.
Add in the flour on low speed. Add eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides and bottom after each egg. Add the egg yolks and vanilla. Fold in the toffee pieces.
Pour the batter into the preparend pan. Wrap aluminum foil on the outside of the ban and bake in a water batch at 350F for approximately 1 ½ hours. A knife inserted should come out clean when the cake is done.
Chill the cake overnight and then remove from the pan. Make the topping. Peel and core three apples(Granny Smith). Slice apples thinly.
In a heavy saucepan melt 3 TBSP butter. Stir in ¼ cupsugar and cook until the sugar starts to caramelize. Add the apples and cook them until they are tender. Cool.
Make the caramel. Pour the sugar into the center of a deep saucepan. Carefully pour 1/3 cup water around the walls of the pan, trying not to splash any of the sugar onto the walls. Do not stir; gently draw you finger twice through the center of the sugar, making a cross, to moisten it. Over high heat, bring to a full boil and cook without stirring, swirling the pan occasionally to even out the color, until the mixture is medium caramel in color, 5 to 10 minutes. Immediately turn off the heat and use a wooden spoon to slowly and carefully stir in the cream(it will bubble up and may splatter).
Top cheesecake with apples. Drizzle caramel over top of the apples.
Serves 14-16 people or 4 if you are in my family

I must remind myself not to take on big pastry projects when I am watching the season finale of one of my shows. And speaking of TV show finales…it is MARCH. What is up with shows starting in late October and then taking a break in December and part of January and then they are done in March! Does anyone else remember the days of a show starting September and going till May?
Okay enough about that. My point was I got all into watching What About Brian and I forgot a step. Not an important one luckily, but a step none the less. I forgot to spread the apricot preserves over the pastry…which I can not say for sure would have really made that much difference in the taste. I’m not sure what made me want to make this. I was just in the mood for a multi-step recipe. I know, I know…most people are looking how to simplify their life…I look how to complicate it. It is called a cake but not really in my opinion. It is sweet pastry dough that is wrapped around a gooey caramel walnut filling and then has chocolate glaze dumped on it….ha, dumped on it(no wonder I am not a food writer!) Now the serving suggestion size is one inch but my piece for breakfast was larger than that and I had no problems getting it down…though I will agree that it is very rich. Your friends and family would be quite impressed if you made this for them.

Chocolate Walnut-Caramel Cake

1 ½ cups sugar
1 cup water
1 cup whipped cream
2 ½ cups walnut half’s
7 TBSP unsalted butter. softened
1 egg white, lightly beaten
½ cup apricot preserves
6 ounces semisweet chocolate
4 TBSP unsalted butter

Sweet Tart Pastry
10 TBSP cold butter
4 egg yolks
¼ tsp salt
½ cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract 1 ¾ cups flour

Sweet Tart Pastry:
Place egg yolks, salt, sugar, vanilla and butter in a bowl of food processor fitted with a metal blade; process using 4 one-second pulses until partially mixed. Add flour all at once and process with 6 to 8 one- second pulses until dough begins to clump(but does not form a ball). Gather dough into a rough mound on work surface. Work small portions of the dough against the work surface with the heel of your hand(pushing the dough away from you). Press pieces of dough into a ball. Divided ball into two pieces: one piece that is less than two thirds of the dough for the bottom crust, and one piece that is just over one third of the dough for the top. Refrigerate 2 hours or until firm.

To make the cake:

1.Prepare Sweet Tart Pastry: Line bottom of an 8-inch diameter, 1 ½ inch deep, round cake pan(I used a spring form) with a circle of parchment paper. Brush sides of pan with melted butter. Roll out the larger piece of dough into a circle 1/8 inch thick and 10 inches in diameter. Mold the dough to bottom and sides of pan with gentle finger pressure. If the dough breaks as you are trying to fit it into the pan, just press into into the pan all around in and even layer. Patch holes with small pieces of dough. The bottom and sides of the pan must be covered with an even layer of pastry; none of the pan should show through. Wrap pastry shell and refrigerate while you make filling. Roll out the small piece of dough into a circle 1/8 inch thick and 8 inches in diameter. Prick all over with a fork. Place on waxed paper-lined baking sheet, cover and refrigerate.
2. Place sugar and water in a 2 ½ quart saucepan, stir until sugar dissolves and syrup comes to a boil. Boil, without stirring, until sugar is a light caramel color.(320F on a candy thermometer). Remove from heat.
3.Add cream and stir to blend. Then stir in the walnuts and the 7 TBSP soft butter. Return to heat, and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil gently until the syrup reaches 225F on candy thermometer. Remove from heat. Cool for 40 minutes, stirring occasionally. Preheat oven to 375F.
4.Brush inside of pastry-lined cake pan with a thin layer of egg white to moisture proof shell. Spread cooled caramel filling in bottom of shell. Trim the sides of pastry shell to 1/8 inch above filling. Place pastry lid on top; press to seal at edges.
5.Bake until pastry is golden brown(40-50 minutes). Remove from oven; cool in pan 30 minutes. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool. Cool completely before covering with chocolate glaze.
6.Heat apricot preserves until melted and bubbly. Strain to remove piece of fruit. Brush entire surface of cooled pastry with warm preserves.
7.To make chocolate glaze: Break chocolate into small pieces and place in a small stainless steel bowl over a pot of hot(not boiling)water. Melt the 4 TBSP butter in a small saucepan, and skim off the white foam that rises to the top. When chocolate is just melted, stir in the clarified butter(discard the white solids left behind). Set aside until chocolate is 86F.
8.Slide cake onto a cardboard cake circle(covered with foil) that is slightly small in diameter that the cake. Place cake on a wire rack over a rimmed baking sheet. Pour chocolate glaze over cake and using a narrow metal spatula, quickly pared it evenly over the top and sides of the cake. Allow chocolate to set to firm consistency before serving.
9.Store cake at cool room temperature. If refrigerated, allow to warm to room temperature before serving. Serve in 1-inch wedges. Cake is very rich. Serves 12.

Source: Adapted from Cakes and Pastries at the Academy by the Califonia Culinary Academy

P.S. Don’t forget to vote for HHDD #10 Cheesecake. There are less than 5 days to do so!!!

(Caramel Apple Toffee Cheesecake…what would have been my entry…recipe up later this week)

Just a few more days to vote for HHDD#10 Cheesecake! You have until midnight PST March 31st to vote. We have a few front runners but mostly the votes are spread all over….you wouldn’t want your favourite not to win. You can only chose one(I’m mean, I know). Send your votes to luvbriere (at) gmail (dot) com.

The Daring Bakers are at it again. This month we chose red velvet cake, which very few people had made, but I make on a monthly basis for my Southern gentleman.
Like a lot of people I know, I became acquainted with red velvet cake from the movie Steal Magnolias. There at the wedding was the awful grooms cake, an armadillo, that when cut into was a blood red, red velvet cake. Not exactly appetizing to me but no one in the movie thought it out of the ordinary. Before meeting my husband I had red velvet cake a few times but had never made it before. But when I met him one of the few things(we have already established he is a picky eater) he said he truly loved to eat was red velvet cake. So off I went to make it. I was all proud the first time in making it. There it stood, all three layer of cake, covered in cream cheese frosting with chopped pecans sprinkled on top. I was excited to see my husbands reaction(he did not know I was making it). When I held out the cake there was a look of horror on his face. “That’s not red velvet cake,” he said. I assured him that according to the recipe, it was indeed red velvet cake, and if he would cut into it he would see it was quite red. “Pecans go IN the frosting, not on top!” What is the difference I thought? Apparently to him there is…and so from that day on I put the chopped pecans in the frosting instead of on top. Which leads me to my first warning about this cake. It’s a bitch to frost. If you are going for a pretty cake, this is not it. A crumb layer is a must on this cake. You are going to get bits of red in your pretty white frosting…oh well.
I have made several recipes and he doesn’t seem to prefer anyone of them. Every time I get, “tastes good, tastes like red velvet cake.” He is so helpful. So when we(the Daring Bakers that is) picked red velvet cake I decided to pick a recipe I hadn’t tried yet. This one came from a Southern boarding house cookbook and looked pretty traditional so I gave it a whirl. This originally was a three layer cake but my impatient husband could not wait until the next day after I took photos to eat it…so the top layer went to him. I actually made three mini layers and one regular cake layer(that went to a friend). Another impatient thing was that I did not have pecans. When I told him this he said, “fine, just use some other nut.” All I had was slivered almonds, so that is what I used. He seemed to be okay with it telling me, “tastes good, tastes like red velvet cake.” Grrrrr….men.

Red Velvet Cake

2 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
1 tsp white vinegar
2 1/2 cups cake flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 to 3 TBSP cocoa powder
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla
5/8 ounce bottle red food coloring

Preheat the oven to 350F. Cream the eggs, sugar, oil and vinegar. Sift the cake flour, baking soda, and cocoa together. Add the flour mixture to the creamed ingredients while beating. Slowly add the buttermilk. While still beating, add the vanilla and the food coloring. Pour into three 8-inch layer pans and bake for about 25 minutes. Press lightly;if the layers are spongy, then the cake is done. Frost the cooled layers, assemble and frost the top and sides. Serves 12 to 14.
Red Velvet Cake Frosting
1(8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter
1 (1 pound) box confectioners sugar
1 cup chopped pecans
1 tsp vanilla extract

Combine the cream cheese and butter and melt over very low heat. Add the sugar, pecans and vanilla and mix well. If the frosting becomes too thick, add a little milk. Frost one 8-inch or 9-inch layer cake.

Source: Adapted from Mrs. Wilkes’ Boardinghouse Cookbook: Recipes and Recollections from Her Savannah Table by Selma Wilkes

We all used a variety of recipes so head on over to see my fellow Daring Bakers blogs: Quellia, Mary, Ivonne, Elle, Morven, Hester, Brilynn, Lisa, Tanna, Helen, Jen, Mary(Bread Chick), Valentina, Veronica and Freya.

Our great logos were all designed by the highly talented Ximena. If you are not familiar with her blog Lobstersquad, you should head on over and check it out. She did an outstanding job on them!