Dead Man's Peanut Butter Cupcakes

Devil's Food & Dead Man's Peanut Butter Mousse
Slathered in chocolate fudge.
Oh yea. 

We're revisiting my Dead Man's Peanut Butter Pie recipe today, with a few fun tweaks.

Today I found myself wrestling with a familiar peanut butter and chocolate craving.  In such situations I have the following options:

1. Go to the store and buy all the available peanut butter cups. Of course, this isn't much of an option since getting out of the house with two small children and going anywhere requires nearly as much planning and preparation as a mission to Mars.
2. Eat peanut butter from jar with a spoon, dipping it into that 20lb bag of chocolate chips I have. Also not a great option, since with this method of consumption, any semblance of portion control vanishes and I just bought skinny jeans.
3. Bake something with peanut butter and chocolate for the blog, while wearing said skinny jeans and pretend that they will encourage restraint while tasting and testing.

I think we all know how this worked out.

Dark Chocolate Granola

A happy mid-week to everyone!

I'm still playing the role of bad blogger this month. I decided to take yet another mini break, this time to the Oregon and Washington coast. Meaning, I've spent just about every weekend on the road these past two months and no where near a kitchen.  I'll justify this behavior by pointing out the brief Pacific Northwest summer and that I really need the vitamin D.

So, I've been out and about hiking rather than baking but that's healthier, right? After all, testing and evaluating all these baked goods has the potential to be hard on the hips. Running around outside--and inside I suppose, after children--lends a healthy balance.

I also balance healthy with the not so healthy in my diet, so let's talk granola. I love the stuff. I eat oats in the form of oatmeal or granola almost every morning as part of my breakfast routine. I really like a little ordinary low fat granola sprinkled on my cup of non-fat yogurt. I like to pretend it is really good for me, even though I--like those of us who eye-ball nutrition lables--know better.

Granola is one of those foods that is generally perceived as being healthy, but in reality, kind of isn't.

Sorry to dash any illusions there, but just seeing granola on this blog should have been a sign.

Midnight Sin Chocolate Cake

Happy Monday, everyone! 

We're baking cake today. In my blistering hot kitchen, which doesn't lend itself to working with chocolate mousse but whatever! I'm on a mission. A cake mission. 

So today we have a rich, moist chocolate cake. A simple, reliable chocolate cake recipe for folks who love their cakes uber-moist-a-licious. I've eaten this midnight-hued cake plain and unadorned many times, but today I could not resist filling it with bitter-sweet chocolate mousse and glazing it with ganache. 

Neapolitan Marshmallows

A good Sunday to everyone!

I'm still busy making the most of my baking weekend but I have things prepared to share. Today, we're making  Neapolitan Marshmallows. They're tasty little bites, flavored just like neapolitan ice cream with layers of chocolate, vanilla and strawberry.

Now, you can probably tell just by looking at them that they're going to be a wee bit time consuming but hey, they're adorable! Pretty takes time and these are probably the cutest confection I've made in a while. I can already see them dressed up in little bags and chocolate colored ribbons, ready to be gifted.

Golden Raspberry-Rose Chocolates

It's getting close to that time of the year again, Valentine's day.

Since last year's post was a wee bit bitter, I'll provide some actual sweets for your sweetheart over these next few weeks. Starting with these raspberry and rose flavored chocolates (appropriate, right?), only bitter for their use of rich dark chocolate.

Raspberry and bittersweet chocolate is a common combination in the candy making universe. However, add a little rose oil (or rose water) and you have something very unique and delicious. The raspberry ganache centers in these chocolates finish with a wonderfully fruity-floral rose note without being perfumey.

As an added bit of fun, I'm going to teach you all how to turn your chocolates (or any chocolate) brilliant gold. (No pesky gold leaf required)

White Christmas Cupcakes

Tis the season for White Christmas Cupcakes.

Though in the Seattle area, we are more accustomed to wet holidays than the white variety… which I'm absolutely not complaining about, since my car readily doubles as a sled when there is so much as a blush of frost on the ground.

I'll take frosty christmas cupcakes over the real thing any day. More so today, since I was having a raging pregnancy sugar craving.

Tiramisu Truffles

I've gone totally scatterbrained in the kitchen. I'm starting to cook like my sister, who is famous in the family for baking purple chocolate chip cookies without the aid of any food coloring. How exactly that happened remains a mystery.

I can't seem to read recipes correctly. I find myself omitting key ingredients and steps. My custards magically curdle, my ganaches crack, I neglect to remove the desiccant packet from freeze dried fruits before grinding them.

I'm spacing out, putting things in the freezer that should be in the refrigerator and vice versa.

I think I ruined a 3lb box of cream cheese...

Big Chocolate Cake

Best way to follow up a healthy post? A massive, heart stopping chocolate cake.

I was tempted to load up on the chocolate curls, ganache, raspberries and fancy piping, but in the end I decided to make something a little more basic. A big, fat, simple chocolate cake.

Don't feel constrained by my minimalism though. Add-ons like raspberries and whipped ganache would be wonderful upgrades to this moist, fine textured chocolate cake.

Marbled Chocolate Malt Marshmallows

I'm not sure about other food-bloggers, but I am always on the lookout for new cookbooks.

After spending 5-6 hours a day in the kitchen, I often need something new and exciting to drag me in again the next day. New cookbooks keep me inspired, baking and blogging.

Every now and then, I stumble across a really unique cookbook, one that will be supplying today's recipe. The simply titled "Marshmallows: Homemade Gourmet Treats".

White Chocolate Butterscotch Cookies

Happy Friday, everyone!

Today's post is going up a little later than normal. Mr. Humble took today day off and is at home… which throws a wrench into my normal baking/blogging routine.

Like when he drags me off to hunt down produce all morning because being at home on a workday makes him "fidgety".

He does try to be helpful though, like staging this glass of milk for me.

You spilled some there, buddy…

S'mores Candy Bars

Chocolate again today! In fact, we're making candy bars at the Humble household.

Over the last year I've noticed an increasing number of custom candy bars being offered online. Candy makers have finally put a choke hold on chocolate lovers by offering to craft their ultimate, personal chocolate bar. Who can resist that?

Chocolate, any way YOU want it. To think, for so many years I raged at the world for denying my cravings for chocolate with chili and gummy bears. Now the retail market is finally reaching out to me and my bizarre cravings.

Of course, making personalized chocolate bars is something that we've had the ability to do for ages. It doesn't require a lot of specialized equipment, just a little time, a lot of chocolate and a dash of know-how.

Really, the only tool you will need is a chocolate bar mold. I have a single large break-apart chocolate bar mold that I use for my candy-bar making. They're cheap--a couple dollars--and will give your candy a nice professional look.

**A warning though, owning a chocolate mold may turn you into Willy Wonka--only crazier. Yes, that IS possible--and you may start inventing candy bars that only a mother could love.**

Occasionally though, you'll hit on something that has a little appeal… like a s'mores candy bar.

S'mores Chocolate Bars
this should yield 2-3 bars, depending on your mold's dimensions
1/2 pound milk chocolate
1 jar marshmallow fluff
dozen graham crackers

Special tools:
chocolate bar mold
kitchen torch (optional)

The first thing you need to do when making candy bars is temper the chocolate. This is where the science comes in. When you buy a good quality bar of chocolate or a molded chocolate from a candy shop you'll notice it has a nice hard, glossy finish and will break with a clean snap. Tempering is the process that creates this finish. Without it, you'll have a whole host of problems: The chocolate may never set up at room temperature. It may become hard but will look dull and blotchy. You can have blooms of fats and sugar on the surface of the candy. Worst of all, the chocolate might not pop out of your mold.

That's bad.

To prevent this you need to coax the cocoa fats into a specific structure that stabilizes the chocolate. This is done by regulating the chocolate's temperature and rather than write endlessly on how to do this, I'm going to post a video and then go do some laundry. Blogger cop-out for sure, but hey... I don't have any clean towels.

Tempering Chocolate (In the Microwave) with Jacques Torres

Thank you Jacques!

So, once you have your bowl of tempered chocolate you're ready to start candy making. The easiest method of making custom candy bars is to fill the mold 3/4's full and then poke any dried fruits, nuts, confections, cookies, cereals etc into the wet chocolate and allow to set.

So if this method of making the candy bars seems a little overwhelming or bothersome, you can still jab mini marshmallows and graham cracker chunks into the chocolate to make a simplified version of this candy bar.

Now onto making this S'mores Candy bar:



Ladle in the tempered chocolate and fill the mold. Grab a chef knife or large spatula (the sort you use to frost cakes) Turn the mold over the bowl and tap the back of the mold with the back of your chef's knife to remove the excess chocolate. This will create a hollow chocolate shell to contain all the s'more goodness. Allow the remaining chocolate in the mold to set until firm and glossy.

Fun with fire!

Meanwhile, spoon your marshmallow cream onto a plate or bowl and grab your kitchen torch. Toast the surface of the cream and then stir. Repeat several times until the cream has the flavor of toasted marshmallow. (You should be able to get the same effect using your oven's broiler, just watch it carefully.)

Allow the marshmallow cream to cool completely before the next step.



Spread a layer of cream into your set chocolate mold. Press a single layer of graham crackers down onto the cream.

Pour a layer of tempered chocolate on top to seal the candy bar. Tap the bar on the counter to release any air bubbles and then scrape off the excess with the back of a chef's knife.



Allow the chocolate to set completely before un-molding. Breaking and eating.

Enjoy!

Chocolate! Chocolate! Chocolate! Cookies!

Quick post today, as the little Humble and I are getting ready to go hunt for cars again.

Today I whipped up a big batch of cookies. Chocolate cookies. Serious chocolate cookies. A baking friend of mine gave me this cookie recipe a few months ago. They're absolutely wonderful and luckily, I have permission to share.

They're basically two pounds of chocolate bound together with a bit of butter and flour. Cooked just right, they're moist and fudgy like brownies, laden with bits of chocolate.

How can that be anything but great! Right?



On a quick blog-related note. Once again, I might be deviating a little from my normal blogging schedule this month. On Wednesdays--and possibly Friday's--I'll be setting aside my baking pans and doing some volunteer work. It has been too nice in Seattle to stay in the kitchen all week baking. So, I'm going to get out and be useful to others while the weather is nice. I do hope no one minds too much.

Alright, so let's get down to the chocolate...

Chocolate! Chocolate! Chocolate! Cookies!
yields 5-6 dozen cookies
1 cup (two sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups all purpose flour
2/3 cups extra dark, unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 pound bittersweet chocolate, chopped (I'm using 53% cacao)
2 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
4 large eggs
1 1/3 cups white chocolate morsels
2/3 cup milk chocolate (or semi-sweet) morsels

Pre-heat your oven to 350°F.

In a double-boiler, melt the pound of bittersweet chocolate. Set it aside to cool, stirring occasionally.



Sift together the flour, baking soda, cocoa and salt in a large bowl and set aside.

In your mixer, using the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and brown sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add the cooled chocolate to the mixture and blend. Be sure to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl to ensure the mixture is uniform.

Add half the flour mixture and combine on low speed, then add the remaining flour and mix until the batter comes together.

Now add the chocolate morsels--feel free to add a couple handfuls of nuts too, if that's your style--and stir them in by hand.

Line a baking sheet with parchment, or silicone baking sheets, and drop spoonfuls of the cookie batter onto the sheet. Give the cookies plenty of room to spread.

Bake the cookies for approximately 10 minutes until puffy and the edges start to crisp. Be careful not to over bake. These cookies should be moist and chewy.

Allow the cookies to cool and firm up on the baking sheet for a few minutes before attempting to move them to a wire rack.



The cookies are best enjoyed slightly warm from the oven. If you're not able to gobble up five dozen cookies fresh from the oven, allow them to cool completely and store in a air tight container for up to a week.

Chocolate Agnolotti

Only a few days left before I leave and things are getting hectic. As soon as I finish this I'm going to run some last minute errands and then figure out how I'm going to manage the Little Humble's entertainment on one of the longest flights we've taken her on to date.

I see from the poll I posted a few days ago that most folks are okay with me blogging about my trip so I'll do that in addition to posting the pies for the NSHP pie contest. I'll try to keep things fairly food oriented, just so things don't deviate too far from the food-blogger norm.

To those who answered "Trip?" on the poll: Mr. Humble, the Little Humble and I be visiting my mother in London for a couple weeks. My family and I will also be taking a few brief side trips with my mother and her husband to Scotland and Morocco.

Yes, there will be haggis.

I see one person selected the option indicating that regardless of what I post, they want to stab me with a butter knife... interesting. Well, I'm surprised it was just one out of a hundred. I really thought I was more irritating than that.



So today's treat is quick and simple. I would tag it as "easy" but it does involve frying which I realize terrifies some folks.

I have always been a fan of fried ravioli (agnolotti is simply a half moon shaped ravioli), and they only get better when the savory filling is swapped for something sweet.

These chocolate agnolotti remind me a little of a warm adult version of Hostess Pudding pies. I've not seen them for years, but I was very fond of them as a kid (yes, I'm a child of the '80s). They make a sinful breakfast, or an impressive yet easy dessert. They would be lovely dunked into, or drizzled with, some sort of decadent sauce. Something I considered whipping up this morning, but I'm a bit crunched for time and I desperately need to de-chocolate the little Humble, who went to town on these little pastries.





Not So Humble Chocolate Agnolotti
filling
1/2 cup (82g) bittersweet chocolate, chopped
2 teaspoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons heavy cream

pastry
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
pinch salt
1/2 cup cold water

oil for frying

To make the filling, combine the chocolate, cream and butter in a heat-safe bowl. Place the bowl over a pan of simmering water and stir until smooth and combined.

Place the chocolate mixture into the refrigerator to chill until firm. This makes it easier to work with. It isn't absolutely necessary though, being in a rush this morning I allowed mine to cool for 30 minutes (until it had thickened) and then filled my pastry.

To make the pastry, combine the flour, sugar, salt and melted butter in a bowl. Use your hands to mix the butter with the dry ingredients, then add the water. Use just enough to make the dough come together in a ball (if it is crumbly, you may need more than half a cup, so feel free to add a little more). Kneed the dough with your hands in the bowl for 3-4 minutes until smooth.

Allow the dough to rest lightly covered for 10 minutes.

Roll the dough out into a thin (1/8" thick) sheet and then cut 5-6" wide ribbons from the dough.

Fold each ribbon in half, to create a crease along the length of the dough.

Using this crease as your guide, drop teaspoons of the chocolate filling on one side of the crease (you'll be folding the other side over to cover the chocolate), leaving about 1.5-2" of space in between.

Fold the dough over to cover the filling and press firmly to seal. Using a round cutter, cut out the agnolotti from the ribbon. Set aside in a single layer to await frying. Repeat with all the remaining dough and filling.

(The agnolotti can be frozen at this point and stored for future use. Simply arrange them in a single layer on a sheet pan and pop into the freezer until frozen, then toss them into a ziplock bag. No need to defrost before frying.)



When ready to fry, pour roughly one and a half inches of oil into a heavy bottomed pan and place over medium heat. Once the oil is hot, fry the agnolotti in batches until golden brown, draining on paper towels.

Serve warm with a generous dusting of powdered sugar.

Fresh Mint Truffle Tart

My mint is back...

Last year I filled three enormous bags with the plant, pulling up as many of the stolons from earth as I could find. Yet it comes back... every year.

The plant and I have an tense relationship. It wants world domination, spreading its shoots up all over my yard and beyond. I just want it to give up a few leaves now and then, play nice in the yard and leave the rhododendrons alone.

Being a stubborn, willful plant, it won't comply. So, I have to go out there and show Mr. Mint who is boss now and again.



Like today.

Who is tough now, eh plant!

So, rich with plenty of fresh mint, I decided to make a truffle tart this morning. A crisp chocolate crust filled with a bittersweet ganache infused with my pesky plant.



Not So Humble Fresh Mint Truffle Tart
serves 12-16 (small pieces, it's rich)

crust
1/2 cup (65g) powdered (icing) sugar
1 cup (138g) all-purpose flour
1/4 cup (21g) dutch processed cocoa
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick, 113g) unsalted butter, cold

filling
1lb 1 ounce (477g) semi-sweet chocolate (56% cacao), chopped
1 1/4 cup (290g) heavy cream
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
40 fresh mint leaves

garnish (optional)
melted chocolate
mint leaves

Pre-heat your oven to 350°F.

In your food processor, pulse together the dry ingredients for the crust. Cut the cold butter into small pieces and add those to the food processor. Blend the mixture until it forms a fine crumb that holds together when pinched.

Pour the crumbs into an 11" tart pan with a removable bottom and press into the pan to form the crust.



Bake the crust for 15 minutes and then allow to cool completely on a wire rack.

While that cools you can start the tart's filling.



Pick roughly 40 mint leaves and give them a good washing. Unless, you know, you like infusing your ganache with extra 'vitamins' and 'minerals'.

Thoroughly dry the leaves in paper towels and then give them a couple smacks with your rolling pin. No need to muddle or pulverize the leaves, just one or two smacks to make them fragrant.

Bring the heavy cream to a simmer over medium heat. Remove the pan from heat and stir in the mint leaves. Cover and allow to stand for 20-30 minutes so the mint can infuse the cream.



In the meantime go about chopping all that chocolate.

When the cream is ready, strain to remove the mint leaves and add the cream, the butter and the chocolate to a heat-safe bowl and place over a pan of gently simmering water (over, not in). Stir the mixture slowly, until completely smooth. The end result should be a glossy, emulsified ganache, fragrant with real mint.



Pour the ganache into your cooled crust and then place into the refrigerator to set. It should take a few hours to firm up.



While you're waiting on the tart, you can make some chocolate leaves to decorate the tart.

Simply melt a little chocolate and take a small paintbrush (the cheap ones with plastic bristles, usually marketed towards children work the best for this) and paint a thick coating of chocolate onto the underside of the leaf, avoiding the edges.

Place your leaves onto a baking sheet and then pop the baking sheet into the freezer for 5 minutes.

Once the chocolate is firm and no longer glossy, you can gently peel away the mint leaf. Keep the chocolate leaves chilled until ready to use. Once the tart has set, you can arrange the leaves on top to garnish.



You can also garnish the tart with a little fresh mint or a dusting of cocoa powder before serving.

To store, keep the tart covered and chilled for up to 3-4 days. Allow to stand at room temperature for about 5 minutes before cutting and serving.

Cut a slice, a very small slice, and enjoy.

Chocolate Pots De Créme & Pretty Blog Guilt

So occasionally I Google my blog name to see what folks are saying about me and NSHP. Just to make sure no one hates me. I'm a neurotic, socially fragile person, what can I say.


So I was reading the buzz and I noticed a link to an article at Jezebel.com talking about pretty bloggers.

The ones run by beautiful hipsters who take photos of their beautiful lives. Complete with perfect clothes, perfect homes filled with beautiful things. Hanging out eating imported cheese from a country you've never heard of, with their model-thin friends and drinking Chardonnay out of photogenic vintage mason jars.

Later, they all head out to some idyllic pasture to make tussie-mussies from wildflowers (the extra blossoms will be photographed braided into their hair).

photo via eros turannos

The whole idea is that these bloggers make us normal folks feel depressed and guilty. We don't have pretty, picture perfect lives. Most of us don't waltz around in vintage floral sun dresses or spend our days consumed with gluing colorful buttons to our refrigerator.

So yea, I'm reading this article on just these sort of blogger and there, in the comment section, is a mention of NSHP. (A comment I just loved, by the way.)

Okay, I love, love, LOVE Ms. Humble's food blog, but her degree in biological anthropology, smarty pants husband, cute kid, stay-at-home and bake-all-day life, in Seattle makes me oh so jealous. And I'm always left wondering---who's eating all of that beautiful food she's making?

My kid is darn cute, this is true.

Little Humble happily nomming one of my giant botched lollipops

But jealous? Really?

Okay, I so cook pretty-ish things but I never set out to make what I do seem easy or normal. As realistic as I try to keep things, even Ms. Humble isn't 'Ms. Humble' 100% of the time outside of the pages of this blog. Sure, I cook almost constantly, but I'm also no stranger to pizzas and takeout. Occasionally...and I loath to admit this, I've even been known to grab a bag of dubious, cheap tacos at Taco Bell.

(Cringe)

See what I mean? I'm normal.

I don't pretend everything is rainbows and unicorns in my kitchen. I can and do mess up. I don't have a magic wand that turns out perfect food. Nor do I take myself or what I do very seriously. I don't want to fall into the black hole of romanticizing food, where I would ramble on and on about how creme caramel reminds me of afternoons in Paris, or discuss the perfect pairing of romantic rainy Seattle days and piping hot lattes.

Some of my family know about and read this blog. They would torture me if I aspired to write like that. It just isn't me.

I'm your normal 20-something mom. I cook, I eat. I frequently get inspired by a new recipes and if I overindulge, my pants get tight.

Normal.

Perhaps I make what I do look too easy? Is that it?

Well it isn't. Trust me. Food blogging--as many of you probably know--is a lot of work. Cooking with the additional, near constant demands of a toddler requires almost superhuman juggling abilities.

Sure you get to see the pretty results of my baking, but you never see my daughter streaking through the kitchen with her tush hanging out because she has recently discovered how to remove her diaper.

No one sees the stained apron or the stacks of dirty dishes that take an entire day to wash.

No one sees the look of horror that follows collapsing on an ivory sofa--one that I am a masochist for buying--after a long day's work only to remember I've been dusting cocoa powder covered hands on my butt all afternoon.

Anyway, my point is: Don't feel guilty or depressed by the crafty, talented wannabe Martha Stewarts out there. I can only speak for food blogging, but it really isn't as effortless as some, or even I, may make it look.

Since I spent all my time writing the above, I'm just going to say that the following recipe is very yummy. Like eating a truffle with a spoon. Nom.



Chocolate Pots De Créme
from Luscious Chocolate Desserts
serves four
1 cup heavy cream
4 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 large egg yolks
1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
pinch salt

Kettle of boiling water

Preheat your oven to 325°F with a rack in the middle of the oven. Ready four 5-ounce ramekins and a 9"x13" baking pan.

Bring the cream to a boil over medium heat. Remove from heat and whisk in the vanilla and chocolate until smooth.

Whisk together the egg yolks, sugar, and salt in a large bowl, making sure to break up any lumps in the brown sugar. Temper the mixture by adding 1/3rd of the hot cream, whisking gently to blend. Add the remaining cream, whisking steadily to combine.

Strain the mixture through a fine sieve and divide between your ramekins.

Place the ramekins into the baking pan and place in the oven. Pour the boiling water in to the pan so that it comes up 1/2 way up the sides of the ramekins.

Bake for 25 minutes, or until the custard is barely set around the edges and still wiggles when shaken in the center. Remove the custards from the water bath and allow to come to room temperature on a wire rack. Once cool, chill for at least 3 hours or up to one day.

Garnish, if desired, with a little lightly sweetened whip cream.


For a little extra reality, I snapped a photo of what it looks like when you step back from the tripod:

What food photography looks like from my POV. Gray cards, scraps of fabric and couple of dishes (now empty because of a hungry photographer).

White Chocolate Caramel Cheesecake

I'm back and I've brought cheesecake! I was really excited this morning to slice into this cheesecake and taste it. While my husband was getting ready for work, I was brushing my teeth, channeling Liz Lemon, doing my 'I'm gonna' eat cheesecake for breakfast' song and dance routine.

Why he stays married to me I do not know.

So, I was given this recipe from a friend who insisted that I would love it. A recipe for white chocolate caramel cheesecake. She was right about me loving it, I've been itching to make it. How can one not love a cheesecake brazen enough to incorporate nearly a pound of white chocolate ganache into the batter and then slather the whole pie in caramel sauce?!



She was right, I love it. So delicious with a near perfect texture. Woooo!

Yea, I'm riding a serious cheesecake breakfast induced sugar high at the moment.

Feeling good. Let's get down to it...




White Chocolate Cheesecake with Caramel Glaze
adapted from Ray's Boathouse: Seafood Secrets of the Pacific Northwest

Caramel Sauce
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 3/4 teaspoons lemon juice
1 pint heavy cream
4 tablespoons unsalted butter

Before I get into making the sauce, let me note that this isn't the easiest way for most home cooks to go about making caramel sauce. Melting almost pure sugar in a pan is pesky and it can burn quite easily. If you're not feeling up to attempting this part of the recipe, feel free to buy your favorite caramel sauce and warm it gently to glaze the cheesecake.

In a medium sauce pan over medium high heat (I'm using non-stick for this), combine the sugar and lemon juice. Stir with a wooden spoon until the sugar is mostly melted then set aside the spoon and swirl the pan over the heat to keep the color even throughout.

Continue to cook and swirl until it sugar turns a medium amber color. Watch it carefully, the sugar will quickly darken and should it become dark brown or black it will taste bitter and unpleasant.

When the sauce turns the right color slowly whisk in the cream. If the caramel hardens with the addition of the cream, do not worry. Just continue to add the cream and bring the mixture back to a a boil over medium heat. Continue to stir until the sugar has remelted. Allow to boil for 5 minutes then remove from heat and stir in the butter.

Pour into a heat safe container and chill until ready to use.




Crust
10 ounces graham crackers, crushed into crumbs
7 tablespoons unsalted butter

Cheesecake Filling
3 8-ounce packages of cream cheese, room temperature
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream
8 ounces good quality white chocolate, chopped
5 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch salt

boiling water

Pre-heat the oven to 375°F. Combine the graham cracker crumbs with the melted butter and press into the bottom and 1 1/2 inches up the side of a 10 inch spring form pan.

Bake for 10 minutes and then allow to cool completely on a wire rack.

Reduce the heat to 325°F and prepare the cheesecake batter.

Place the chopped white chocolate into a heat safe bowl and set aside. Bring the 1/2 cup of cream to a simmer over medium heat in a small sauce pan. Pour the hot cream over the white chocolate, jiggle the bowl to submerge it and allow to stand for one minute. Stir the chocolate gently until melted completely.

In your mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese until smooth and lump free. Add the sugar and mix, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

On medium speed, slowly add the white chocolate ganache. Once combined you can add the eggs, one at a time, beating on low speed until each egg is incorporated. Once you've added all the eggs, mix in the vanilla and salt and pour into your prepared pan.

Set the pan onto a couple large sheets of aluminum foil and smooth them up the sides of the pan to waterproof.

Set the cheesecake into a large roasting pan and then place in the oven. Pour the boiling water into the roasting pan, filling to about one inch (no higher than the lowest edge of aluminum foil). Allow to make at 325°F for one hour then reduce heat and bake at 300°F for an additional 60-90 minutes until the center is just set.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely on a wire rack. Once cool chill for at least 4 hours before serving.

To glaze, gently warm the 1 cup of the caramel sauce on the stove or in the microwave until slightly runny and then pour onto the cheesecake. Smooth the caramel over the cake and you're ready to serve.

Enjoy.