German Chocolate Cheesecake

OK. I chose this recipe because it seemed like it might be a bit of a challenge for me. There were no hard to find ingredients, but there were four separate layers if you will to make this. The first step was a basic cheesecake whip up in the mixer - very easy! Next step - a basic chocolate cake recipe. I poured the chocolate cake mix and then the cheesecake mixture into my Pam sprayed springform pan. At this point I felt this may not have been too big of a challenge (more on that soon). I followed the baking time and temp. instructions exactly. When I opened the oven, I was disappointed to see the top had three major cracks! Then I realize that the ingredients did not call for any chocolate to be added to the basic cheesecake layer - this was a huge oversight when I chose this particular recipe! After the cooling process, I took off the sides of the springform pan. The bottom section, chocolate cake portion was very dry and dark looking. I let it cool and refrigerated it. The next afternoon I took on the chocolate glaze and German chocolate topping. Again these were basic easy steps to take.  After refrigerating the cheesecake again, it came time to cut the cake. Total disappointment with the way the layers came out. First off the layers were uneven (thick chocolate on the outside to a thinner layer towards the middle), the obvious original instead of chocolate cheesecake, the dryness of the chocolate cake layer and the runny German chocolate topping. When I tasted the cheesecake, it was mediocre. I have included the recipe below, but I would not recommend making this particular one.

German Chocolate Cheesecake

Ingredients:
***Cheesecake***
24 ounces cream cheese, softened and cut into chunks
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/4 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
***Chocolate Cake***
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
1/2 cup butter
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 cup flour
***Chocolate Glaze***
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
2 tablespoons whipping cream
***German Chocolate Topping***
2 egg yolks
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter, cut into small pieces
2/3 cup whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup flaked coconut
1 cup chopped pecans
***Garnish***
Whipping cream
Turn this recipe into a puzzle! [click]

Directions:

For Cheesecake: In bowl of electric mixer or in food processor fitted with metal blade, blend cream cheese, sugar, eggs, sour cream and vanilla extract until smooth. Set aside.

For Chocolate Cake: In large microwave safe bowl, combine chocolate and butter. Microwave on HIGH (100%) power for 2 to 3 minutes, or until just melted. Cool slightly. With fork, beat in sugar, eggs and vanilla extract until smooth. Add flour and mix until blended. Spoon into well-greased 9 1/2-inch springform pan, spreading evenly. Carefully, spread cheese mixture evenly over top of chocolate batter.

Bake in preheated 425 degree oven for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees and continue baking 55 to 60 minutes. Turn oven off, open oven door and let cake cool completely to room temperature in oven. Refrigerate until well chilled.

Remove sides from springform. Invert cake onto serving plate, so cheesecake is on bottom and chocolate cake is on top. Spread sides with Chocolate Glaze. Spread top evenly with German Chocolate Topping. Refrigerate until serving time. Garnish with whipped cream if desired.

For Chocolate Glaze: In small microwave-safe bowl combine chocolate chips with whipping cream. Microwave on HIGH power for 45 to 60 seconds. Beat until smooth. Spread on sides of cheesecake.

For German Chocolate Topping: In small microwave-safe bowl, beat egg yolks. Stir in sugar, butter and whipping cream. Microwave on HIGH power 4 minutes, stirring every minute. Remove from microwave and stir in vanilla extract. Stir in coconut and pecans until well blended. Refrigerate until mixture is of spreading consistency. Spread on top of the cheesecake.

This recipe from CDKitchen for Cheesecake Factory`s German Chocolate Cheesecake serves/makes 12

http://www.squidoo.com/cheesecake-factory-restaurant-recipes

Recipe for Chocolate Macaroon Bars

This recipe is an adaptation from the Nestle Best-Loved Cookies Chocolate Macaroon Bars and the Williams-Sonoma Cakes Devil's Food Cake recipe.

Cake Mix
(dry ingredients from Williams-Sonoma Cakes Devil's Food Cake recipe) (adjusted from original)
2 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup sugar
4 oz. chopped unsweetened chocolate
______
1/2 cup butter softened (adjusted from original)
3 eggs, divided (2 for the dry mix addition, 1 for the topping) (adjusted from original)
1 1/4 cups (14 oz. can) CARNATION Sweetened Condensed Milk (Low-fat)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups NESTLE TOLL HOUSE Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels
1 1/3 cups flaked coconut, divided (I would use more for top sprinkle next time)
3/4 cup chopped nuts (Optional- I did not use this in my recipe)

Sift flour. baking soda, and salt. Fold in the rest of dry cake ingredients. Beat prepped cake mix, butter, and 2 eggs in large mixing bowl. The mixture is a firm ball. Press this into the bottom of a 13x9 inch baking pan.

Combine sweetened condensed milk, 1 egg and vanilla in medium bowl; stir in morsels, 1 cup coconut and nuts. Spread over mixture in baking pan. Sprinkle remaining coconut.

Bake in preheated 350°F oven for 30-40 mins. or until golden brown (center will set when cooled). Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars. Makes 2 1/2 dozen.
*Note I would bake mine for at least 35 mins next time. Also, they were better the next day after refrigeration.

Chocolate Macaroon Bars

Adventure number two...Chocolate Macaroon Bars! I got the original recipe from the Nestle Best-loved Cookies. This recipe calls for you to use a package of chocolate cake mix, so of course I didn't want to use a box mix. I then took out my Williams-Sonoma Cakes book to find a chocolate cake recipe to use as a basis for the dry ingredients for my bars. I decided on the Devil's Food Cake as I LOVE chocolate. I then took off to the grocery store to grab my ingredients - nothing tough to find for this recipe. Then back home for the baking to begin. I mixed up the dry ingredients as listed. The best part for me was chopping the unsweetened chocolate...loved the smell! I then added the called for 1 egg and 1/3 cup butter. The dry ingredients was still very dry. I then decided to deviate from the recipe and added one more egg and enough butter to equal 1/2 cup total. It had the consistency of a thick pie crust. I pressed it into the baking pan (which by the way I quickly realized I need to perfect my parchment paper application). I tried to spread this with a spatula, but ended up using my fist. I then took on the easy part of the coconut macaroon mixture. I opted not to use the nuts, which were optional. I tossed the bars in the oven and they started to smell yummy after about 25 minutes. I baked mine for 33 mins., because the sides seemed to be getting quite brown. Now the results....Yummy chew textured chocolaty bars. I didn't feel like there was a strong enough coconut flavor or consistency. Next time I would add another half cup of coconut and the nuts to the topping. Also I would bake them for 2 or 3 more minutes. All in all I thought they were very tasty, but I am guessing with the small changes, they would taste even better!

I will be adding the recipe later today!

Maybe too much information :)

Nutrition Facts User Entered Recipe
15 Servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories		149.9
Total Fat		1.7 g
	Saturated Fat	0.8 g
	Polyunsaturated Fat	0.2 g
	Monounsaturated Fat	0.5 g
Cholesterol		27.2 mg
Sodium		106.4 mg
Potassium		205.7 mg
Total Carbohydrate		31.9 g
	Dietary Fiber	0.5 g
	Sugars	16.2 g
Protein		2.6 g

Weight Watchers Points

Just a quick update. This bread is 4 weight watcher points plus a slice if you slice it into 15 slices :)

Gingerbread

Today I took on baking the Williams-Sonoma Crystallized-Ginger Gingerbread. (Yes that is a picture of the gingerbread I made today!) This is the start of the baking adventure, but first the ingredient finding. This seemed a bit challenging. I could not find minced crystallized ginger at any of the local grocery stores, but was able to find crystallized ginger. The idea of mincing these hard chunks was an obstacle I was willing to take on. Actually come to find out it was really easy. I just popped them in my chopper for a few seconds and ta-dah they were minced! And by the way, doing this gave off an amazingly pleasant ginger aroma! The recipe itself was very easy to follow. The ingredient list seemed a little long only because you are using several spices (most of which you would have in your cupboard already if you do even the most basic baking). So anyway, I combined all the ingredients as directed - I used the low-fat yogurt option. I poured the batter into a loaf pan and put it in my oven. Of course at this point I was excited and anxious about how my first gingerbread would turn out. 30 minutes into the baking I could smell the gingerbread throughout my house. After 45 minutes the gingerbread was ready to be taken out. After letting it cool in the pan for 10 minutes, I transferred it to a wire cooling rack and sprinkled 3/4 of a raw sugar individual packet on top. After it cooled for about 15 more minutes, I sliced the gingerbread and had a slice. It was so yummy! If I could dance, I would have right there in my kitchen....so glad my first baking adventure worked out and was delicious too!

Here is the recipe as it appears on the Williams-Sonoma website.
http://www.williams-sonoma.com/recipe/crystallized-ginger-gingerbread.html

Ingredients:

• 4 Tbs. unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1⁄2 cup granulated sugar
• 1⁄2 cup molasses
• 1⁄2 cup minced crystallized ginger
• 2 eggs, at room temperature
• 1 1⁄2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 2 tsp. ground ginger
• 1⁄2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1⁄2 tsp. ground allspice
• 1⁄4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
• 1⁄2 cup buttermilk or plain low-fat or whole
  yogurt
• Demerara or other raw sugar for sprinkling
  (optional)

Directions:

Preheat an oven to 350°F. Butter a 9-by-4-inch loaf pan and line the bottom with parchment paper.

In a bowl, beat the butter and granulated sugar until creamy and fluffy. Stir in the molasses and crystallized ginger. Beat in the eggs one at a time. In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg. Stir the flour mixture into the butter mixture in 3 additions, alternating with the buttermilk and beginning and ending with the flour; mix until smooth.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake until the gingerbread is golden and springy to the touch and a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let stand for 10 minutes. Turn the loaf out onto the rack. Serve warm or at room temperature, sprinkled with demerara sugar. Makes 1 loaf; serves 10 to 12.

Notes: This tender, moist, dark gingerbread is good served warm with poached pears and their syrup or with yogurt (see related recipes at right). Or, try it with afternoon tea or coffee. Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

Adapted from New Healthy Kitchen Series, Desserts, by Annabel Langbein (Simon & Schuster, 2006).

Day 1

Well I have already decided what my first, although probably easy, dessert will be....Crystallized-Ginger Gingerbread from the Williams-Sonoma website. My job today will be to find all of the ingredients. Tomorrow morning the baking will begin.