Cheesecake

Every year I make cheesecake around the holidays. I make only once  because I can not stay away from it. Last weekend I promised my friend that I'll bring cheesecake to her Christmas Party, and made it on Saturday morning. Of course it was a great hit at the party.  I used the recipe from Betty Crocker Christmas Cookbook.
My husband does not like cheesecake. He teases me and says that he likes to eat cheese and cake separately;-)

Ingredients:
Crust:
1 Cup all-purpose flour
1/2 Cup butter or margarine, softened
1/4 Cup sugar
1 egg yolk

Cheesecake
5 packages (8 oz each) cream cheese, softend
1 3/4 Cups sugar
3 Tablespoons all- purpose flour
1 Tablespoon grated orange peel
1 Tablespoon grated lemon peel, if desired
1/4 teaspoon salt
5 eggs
2 egg yolks
1/4 pint whipping (heavy) cream

Garnish
3/4 pint whipping cream
1/3 slivered almonds, toasted

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 400 F. Lightly grease 9-inch spring-form pan with butter; remove bottom. In medium bowl, mix all crust ingredients with fork until dough forms; gather into a ball. Press one-third of the dough evenly on bottom of a pan. Place on cookie sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes or until light golden brown; cool. Assemble bottom an side of pan; secure side.  Press remaining dough 2 inches up side of pan.

2. Heat oven to 475 F.  In a large bowl, beat cream cheese, 1 3/4 cups sugar, 3 Tablespoons flour, the orange peel, lemon peel and salt with electric mixer on medium speed about 1 minute or until smooth.  Beat in eggs, one at a time. Beat in egg yolks and 1/4 whipping cream on low speed until well blended.  Pour into crust.

3. Bake 15 minutes.  Reduce oven temperature to 200 F.  Bake 1 hour longer.  Cheesecake may not appear to be done; it will become firm as cheese cake cools. (Do not insert a knife to test for doneness because the hole could cause cheesecake to crack.)  Turn off oven; leave cheesecake in oven 30 minutes longer.  Remove from oven and cool in pan on wire rack away from drafts 30 minutes.

4. Without releasing or removing side of pan, run metal spatula carefully along side of cheesecake to loosen.  Refrigerate uncovered about 3 hours or until chilled; cover and continue refrigerating at least 9 hours.

5. Run metal spatula along side of cheesecake to loosen again.  Remove side of pan; leave cheesecake on pan bottom to serve. In chilled small bowl, beat 3/4 cup whipping cream with electric mixer on high speed until stiff.  Spread whipped cream over top of cheesecake. Decorate with almonds.  Store covered in refrigerator.

Chocolate Fudge

It has been over 3 months since I wrote anything. Not that I've not been cooking, I did not have the time to sit and write.  I'm planning to post at least a couple recipes every week in the upcoming new year.

 This past week I have been baking quite a lot. I got this easy recipe for fudge from a colleague. It is known as Mrs. Eisenhower's Fudge. It is easy to make and tastes awesome.

Ingredients:

4 1/4 Cups granulated sugar
1 pinch salt
1 2/3 Cups evaporated milk(one 12 ounce can)
2 Tablespoons butter
2 Cups semisweet chocolate pieces
3(4 ounce) semi-sweet chocolate baking squares
1 pint marshmallow creme(two 7 ounce jars)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 Cups chopped pecans

Directions:
1. In a large saucepan, combine the sugar, salt, milk and butter.  Bring to a vigorous boil, stirring often; then reduce heat and simmer 6 minutes, stirring continuously.
 2. Meanwhile, place the chocolate, Marshmallow Creme and vanilla into a large bowl. Gradually pour boiling syrup over the chocolate-marshmallow mixture and beat until chocolate is melted. Stir in nuts.
3. Pour into a buttered 11x16-inch Jellyroll pan and store in a cool place for several hours to harden before cutting into 1-inch squares.

4. Store in a covered tin.