Free-form Strawberry Cheesecake, Recipe

Strawberry Cheesecake

Ingredients:

2 cups fresh strawberries, sliced 

4 tablespoons powdered sugar, divided

1 1/2 cups ready-to-eat cheesecake filling

1 teaspoon lime zest

1 tablespoon lime juice

6 crisp gourmet cookies, crumbled

Garnishes: crisp gourmet cookies, lime slices 

Preparation:

1. Stir together strawberries and 2 Tbsp. powdered sugar.
2. Stir together cheesecake filling, lime zest, lime juice, and remaining 2 Tbsp. powdered sugar.
3. Spoon cheesecake mixture into 6 (6-oz.) glasses or ramekins. Sprinkle with crumbled cookies. Top with strawberries. Garnish, if desired. Serve immediately.
Note: For testing purposes only, we used Philadelphia Ready-To-Eat Cheesecake Filling and Biscoff cookies.

 

Bittersweet Chocolate Ganache- Recipe-

Bittersweet Chocolate Ganache

Ingredients

• ¹⁄₂ cup heavy cream
• 4 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

 Preperation:

Bring cream to a boil in a 1-qt. saucepan over medium heat. Put chocolate into a medium bowl and pour in hot cream; let sit for 1 minute, then stir slowly with a rubber spatula until smooth.

 

Quick Chocolate Puff Pastry recipe

Quick Chocolate Puff Pastry

Ingredients:

• 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  
• 3/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1/4 cup sugar, plus more for sprinkling
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 3 cups (6 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into rough 1/2-inch cubes, chilled
• 1 cup cold water 

 preparation:

1. Combine the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add all the butter to the bowl at once and mix for 30 seconds on low speed. You want the butter to just start to break up and incorporate into the flour. Add the cold water and mix for 15 seconds. At this point the “dough” will look shaggy, crumbly and quite dry. (If you don’t have a stand mixer, you can do this by hand. Rub the cold pieces of butter between your thumb and forefinger to partially flatten it. This helps to encourage the butter layers.)
2. Roughly shape the mess of “dough” into a rectangle. Fold the right third of the dough over to the center. Now fold the remaining left third over the center (kind of like you're folding a letter), so that you have a stack of three layers. Rotate the dough 90°. This was your first turn. (A bench scraper comes in handy during this process. The dough will likely fall apart at some point during the first 3 turns; when it does, simply use your hands to press the dough back together.)
3. Using the palm of your hands, push the dough back into a flattened rectangle and repeat the process 2 more times for a total of 3 turns. If at any point the butter gets soft or the dough becomes too difficult to work with, just place it in the fridge to rest for at least 30 minutes.
4. After 3 turns, wrap with plastic wrap, then let rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes or up to 1 hour. If time is an issue, you can leave the dough overnight, well wrapped in the refrigerator—just let it rest on the counter for 10 minutes to remove the chill from the butter slightly before starting the turning process again.
5. Once the dough has rested, the water will have hydrated much of the flour and it should resemble a dough. Continue with 3 more turns, this time using a rolling pin. Let the dough rest again in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. At this point, your dough is ready to use!
6. You can use the chocolate puff pastry in any desserts or pastries where you would use regular puff pastry. Bake the cold dough in a hot oven (400° F) for the first 15 to 20 minutes, then turn down the oven to 350° F and continue to bake until the dough is set, about 15 to 20 minutes more. Brush the edges with cream or egg wash for a shine. I like to sprinkle the dough with a good bit of sugar before sending it into the oven.

Mixed-Fruit Smoothies Recipe

Mixed-Fruit Smoothies

Ingredients :

• 2 bananas, chilled
  
• 2/3 cup strawberries or mango slices
• 1 12 ounce can grape juice or mango, apricot, strawberry, or other fruit nectar, chilled
• 1 8 ounce carton fat-free yogurt
• 1 tablespoon honey (optional)
• 2 tablespoons ground pistachio nuts (optional)

  
  

  Directions:

  In a blender combine bananas, strawberries or mango slices, grape juice or fruit nectar, yogurt, and, if desired, honey. Cover and blend until smooth. Pour into six tall, chilled glasses. If desired, sprinkle with ground pistachio nuts. Makes 6 smoothies.
  
  

  Variation

  Note:
      For two-tone smoothies, make mango smoothies and strawberry smoothies. Transfer to separate pitchers or glass measuring cups. Taking a pitcher or cup in each hand, slowly pour both smoothies at the same time into opposite sides of the glass.

Cake Balls recipe

Cake Balls

Ingredients:

• 1 (18.25 ounce) package chocolate cake mix
• 1 (16 ounce) container prepared chocolate frosting 
• 1 (3 ounce) bar chocolate flavored confectioners coating 

 Preparation:

1. Prepare the cake mix according to package directions using any of the recommended pan sizes. When cake is done, crumble while warm into a large bowl, and stir in the frosting until well blended.
2. Melt chocolate coating in a glass bowl in the microwave, or in a metal bowl over a pan of simmering water, stirring occasionally until smooth.
3. Use a melon baller or small scoop to form balls of the chocolate cake mixture. Dip the balls in chocolate using a toothpick or fork to hold them. Place on waxed paper to set.

Extreme Chocolate Cake recipe

Extreme Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:

• 2 cups white sugar
  
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
  1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup milk 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup boiling water
• 3/4 cup butter
• 1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
• 5 1/3 cups confectioners' sugar
• 2/3 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour two 9 inch cake pans.
2. Use the first set of ingredients to make the cake. In a medium bowl, stir together the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add the eggs, milk, oil and vanilla, mix for 3 minutes with an electric mixer. Stir in the boiling water by hand. Pour evenly into the two prepared pans.
3. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes in the preheated oven, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to cool completely.
4. To make the frosting, use the second set of ingredients. Cream butter until light and fluffy. Stir in the cocoa and confectioners' sugar alternately with the milk and vanilla. Beat to a spreading consistency.
5. Split the layers of cooled cake horizontally, cover the top of each layer with frosting, then stack them onto a serving plate. Frost the outside of the cake.

Creamsicle Cheesecake recipe

Ingredients:

• 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup sour cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon orange extract
• 2 drops yellow food coloring
• 1 drop red food coloring
• 1 (9 inch) prepared graham cracker crust

preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Beat cream cheese and sugar together in a large bowl with an electric mixer until light and fluffy; add eggs and beat well. Beat sour cream and vanilla extract into cream cheese mixture until batter is smooth.
3. Transfer one cup of the cream cheese mixture to a small bowl and stir in orange extract, yellow food coloring, and red food coloring until batter is smooth and orange.
4. Pour uncolored batter into prepared graham cracker crust. Drop spoonfuls of orange batter over the top of the uncolored batter and run a knife through the orange batter to create a marbled effect.
5. Bake in the preheated oven until the edges are firm and center is slightly loose, 30 to 35 minutes. Cool at room temperature for 1 hour. Cover cheesecake with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator, 8 hours to overnight.