Spinach Artichoke Dip

A meal between friends with a lot of different appetizers. I made this small dish of spinach artichoke dip to eat with chips or crackers.

I kind of eyeballed the quantities. Basically, it's just a package of cream cheese, strained pack of thawed frozen spinach, chopped up jar of artichoke hearts, some extra cream, and seasoning. Then I topped it with cheese and broiled it just to melt the cheese.

Pumpkin Cranberry Cupcakes

Even with the holiday season newly over, we were still receiving guests from time to time. This time, one of my indirect cousins came over to our house for an afternoon. For lunch, I made a pot of veggie spaghetti sauce, and my aunt helped me cook the spaghetti while I went and handled dessert. While we're on the topic of leftovers, I still had some ingredients left from the pumpkin cake roll. I still had about 3/4 of a cup of pumpkin puree left, along with half a jar of applesauce, and half a tub of cream cheese.

To make it manageable, I decided to make cupcakes. Due to shortage of time, I couldn't do very extended research, so settled for one of the first things I could find: a pumpkin muffin recipe from Vegan Richa.

As I did not have a full cup of pumpkin puree, I filled in the remaining volume with applesauce. In lieu of chocolate chips, I went for a handful of chopped dried cranberries. I did not want to deal with filling the inside with a cream cheese mix, so these were topped with cream cheese frosting. I wanted to play around a little with decorations, so went with a flower. The center is a trimmed dried cranberry. I used dairy milk this time because that was all I had. I also do not stock molasses, so I used some reduced sugar syrup I had.

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RECIPE

  Ingredients

• 1 1/3 cup flour
• 1/2 cup icing sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• pinch of salt
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1 cup pureed pumpkin
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/4 cup oil
• 1 tbs molasses
• 1 tsp vinegar
• 1 handful dried cranberries

  Procedure

1. Preheat oven 200˚C.
2. In a bowl, mix all dry ingredients.
3. Add in wet ingredients. Add in a tbs or 2 of milk as necessary.
4. Fill cupcake pans 3/4 full.
5. Bake for 15 min, then lower heat to 180˚C for another 5 mins.
6. Cool, frost, and enjoy.

Lemon and Berry Cheesecake with Marzipan Mice

November 11, 2015

This cheesecake got lost between posts as I had taken pictures with my dad's camera, having forgotten my own. This was one of the many many desserts available for my niece's 5th birthday party.

The cheesecake itself was made in a manner that was similar to the reunion cheesecake, except with lemon, as I did not have any limes around. The last of the frozen berries I had used then to make the topping, so I watered down some red fruits jam.

The base is the usual shortbread pastry.

The focus point this time are these little family of mice I made to run on the serving plate that I borrowed from my cousin. They are made of plain marzipan, a bit of which I kneaded with chocolate powder to turn it brown. The eyes just have less chocolate. I made a baby one with inverted colors for some variety. Maybe one day, I'll post a tutorial how to make these, as I learned it from a book my brother has.

Christmas '15: Pumpkin Yule Log Cake

Christmas desserts this year were split between my cousin B and myself. B made little choux and éclairs, and I dealt with the egg-free stuff for those among us that don't eat eggs. Having seen a recipe on Dash of (Vegan) Butter for a vegan pumpkin cream roll, and seeing how I still had a pumpkin sitting around, I jumped on the opportunity.

First, I roasted the pumpkin in the oven, puréed it in a food processor, then drained it in a colander with paper towels in the fridge to remove all excess moisture. Then I whipped up about 6 tbs of aquafaba (the liquid from a can of chickpeas), and proceeded with the rest of the recipe.

For the filling, I folded some whipped cream into the leftover cream cheese mix from the brownie topping. I also added a little more sugar. Then I cut a small section at the end to make a stump on top, which was glued on with more of the cream cheese mix.

The whole cake was covered with whipped cream that was mixed with chocolate powder. At first, I just dragged a fork over the whipped cream to make it seem like bark, but then opted instead to shave some chocolate off large choc chips (the only chocolate I had) to dust over the top.

In the end, the cake was well liked, but the cake batter was a little tough. Either I had overbaked it a bit, or the amount of dry ingredients should have been reduced.

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PUMPKIN CAKE ROLL RECIPE

  Ingredients

• 3/4 cup flour
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 6 tbs aquafaba
• 1/4 cup applesauce
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2/3 cup puréed pumpkin
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
• icing sugar

  Procedure

1. Preheat oven 180°C.
2. In a bowl, combine dry ingredients. Set aside.
3. Whip aquafaba on high until soft peaks. 
4. On medium speed, add in applesauce, the progressively add sugar.
5. Mix in pumpkin and vinegar.
6. Fold in dry ingredients.
7. Pour into a prepared pan, then bake for 15 min or until it springs back when lightly pressed.
8. After removing from oven, immediately put on a clean dishtowel dusted with icing sugar.
9. Roll it up with the towel and set to cool.
10. Once cooled, unroll, fill with desired cream, and roll again.
11. Ice as desired, and chill until eaten.

Christmas '15: Brownie with Cream Cheese Pattern

This year for Christmas presents, I decided to bake a big batch of brownie and cut it up into squares to pack up. I had originally planned to have 2 different brownies and some kind of gingerbread-like bars in there as well, but due to time constraints, I had to settle with just the one.

For the brownie, I used a double batch of the classic egg-free recipe I have been using. To make it a little more interesting, at least to the eye, I topped it with a pattern of cream cheese, quark, and icing sugar mix. The quark helped make the cream cheese more fluid, and I had some left from before that needed using up. The pattern was made by drawing lines of cream cheese mix over the top of the batter, then running a chopstick in opposite directions.

The wonderful image I had in mind for nice, even squares went out the window the moment I cut into it after cooling and refrigerating it a couple of hours. The no-crust parts were crumbling and falling every which way. Luckily, I managed to somehow cut 30 squares that were more or less intact, and to package them in little bags, each piece sitting on its own square of baking paper. Unfortunately, in some cases, the pattern did not really survive the cutting and packaging.

Murder Mystery Carrot Cake

This week, an event that was a collaboration between two societies at the university (cooking and games) occurred. This was a Murder Mystery Dinner! I was asked if I wanted to bake and thus contribute to the dessert spread, and as I was being flooded in schoolwork, I (of course) decided to jump on it!

I wanted to "catch up" on the lack of frosting and layering from the last cake I made for Cooking Society, so I went all out. I made a double batch of carrot cake in a 24 cm springform pan. The next day, I cut it into 2 layers, and made a frosting out of cream cheese, Greek yogurt (to increase the volume), and icing sugar. I spread this between the two layers, and on top of the cake, and piped some dollops with my new silicone piping bag and some piping tips that I never got to use before. Unfortunately, the frosting had warmed considerably at that point, and was not so firm.

To keep up with the theme, I piped "Murder Mystery" with the crossed fork and knife logo of the cooking society, and added a smattering of powdered cinnamon on top.

The baking paper is still visible, as I delivered it in the springform pan covered with a sheet of aluminum foil to keep dust and the like at bay. I decorated the cake during my lunch break, then went to class, while the cake rested in the fridge. I then came back to pick it up, and decided not to risk biking with a cake in my hand.

Lemon and Nectarine Cheesecakes

 July 20, 2015

This was an unplanned cheesecake, to be honest. I went to the supermarket with my uncle, with the idea of getting ingredients for tiramisu. The cheese/dairy section of the first place we went to had been cleaned out, however, and the 2nd one did not have any ricotta or mascarpone. I had to settle for something else.

When I found a few boxes of cream cheese, I figured I could make cheesecake. My uncle had mentioned liking denser, rich cheesecakes, which is close to the ones I have been making (although I've been trying to make them less dense, these cheesecakes will never be the fluffy or spongy types that use eggs). I then ran to the yogurt aisle in hopes of finding Greek yogurt to use instead of sour cream. No luck. I went for plain yogurt, and figured I'd deal with it as it comes.

The first thing I did when getting home was to put the yogurt to drain in a strainer, in the fridge, for the whole night. I was teaching someone how to make the cheesecake, and he was surprised at the amount of water the yogurt released. This, by the way, is how to make a Greek yogurt-like substance to use. Then I made the cheesecake as usual, flavoring it this time with lemon zest and lemon juice. I did not have any egg replacer, so I tried making my own out of a mix of starches and baking powder (recipe here). I ended up with way more batter than I'd bargained for.

Therefore, I made 2 cheesecakes, with the same filling and topping, but with different crusts. The first, in a smaller mold, had a homemade shortcrust pastry crust that went up the sides, whereas the second just had a crushed cookies and butter crust at the bottom.

I topped it with watered-down nectarine jam, to which I had added more lemon juice. While I was dealing with the jam, I took some green nectarines, and let them macerate with a sprinkling of sugar, to soften them a little. Then I arranged them on the top. The slice of lemon in the middle was a reminder to the filling's flavor.

Triple Cheesecakes

Did I mention that I received some new springform pans for Christmas? I got about 4 of them, around 10.5 cm in diameter. Since with these, I now have a total of 8 mini springform pans, I used the opportunity to test some different recipes for cheesecakes, all in one go! As you can see, I made 3 types, and I made 2 of each type. They all have a butter cookie crust (with a tiny bit of almond).

Let me describe them from left to right:

Classic Cheesecake: This is a twist the "classic" recipe I usually use, with cream cheese and Greek yogurt (as sub for sour cream or fromage blanc that I used to use). I flavored this with rose, and topped with a berry sauce and cinnamon whipped cream.

Ricotta Cheesecake: I read somewhere about a cheesecake made out of ricotta, so I wanted to test it, since ricotta is a much lighter cheese than cream cheese. I flavored this one with lemon zest and lemon juice, topped with somewhat candied lemon slices. Although it was indeed lighter, I felt that the slight grittiness due to the ricotta's texture wasn't what I was looking for in cheesecake.

Greek Yogurt Cheesecake: This recipe was pure Greek yogurt, although I added a bit of starch to stabilize the mix. I really enjoyed the creaminess. I left this one vanilla flavored, and topped with a bit of berry sauce, and cinnamon whipped cream.

Served with more cinnamon whipped cream.

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THREE CHEESECAKE RECIPES (filling only)

  Ingredients

     Classic Cheesecake [2 x 12 cm pan]

• 200 g cream cheese
• 125 g Greek yogurt
• 1 1/3 eggs' worth of egg replacer
• 1/3 lemon's juice
• . rose water
• sugar
• topping

     Ricotta Cheesecake [2 x 10.5 cm pan]

• 250 g ricotta
• 2/3 eggs' worth of egg replacer
• 1/6 cup cream
• 1 lemon's zest
• 1/2 lemon's juice
• sugar
• topping

     Greek Yogurt Cheesecake [2 x 10.5 cm pan]

• 285 g Greek yogurt (~2 cups)
• 1 egg's worth of egg replacer
• 1/2 tbs cornstarch
• 1 pack vanilla sugar
• sugar
• topping

  Procedure

1. Mix all ingredients except the topping.
2. Pour into prepared pan (with prepared crust/base).
3. Bake at 180°C for 15 mins.
4. Let cool to room temperature, then refrigerate overnight.
5. Top as desired, and serve.

  Tips

     Put a pan filled with water on a rack underneath the cheesecakes while baking to provide steam and prevent cracking.