FOUR SEASONS CAFE

Cheesecake!

Happy Valentine's Day! Here's a most delicious dessert for you to try, and it's extremely easy. You don't even have to use a springform pan and watch for those perfect surface cracks on top, like you would for a New York cheesecake. This cheesecake isn't as dense as a NY cheesecake, but its creamy richness will have you forgetting all about that gym membership you started on January 1st.

Here's the printable version for you: Cheesecake!

And here is the picture version to follow along with, if you'd like...

(Can I just say that I'm in love love love with this Le Creuset 10" pie plate my parents got me for Christmas? The recipe calls for a 9" plate, but this one was begging to be baked in.)

Pumpkin Bundt Cake with Vanilla Icing

Although fall hasn't quite reached our area, it sure felt like it over the weekend, with the temperature dropping from the 80's into the 50's. And the rain! It was really wonderful, and as anyone who knows me knows, rainy weather puts me into a baking mood!

My mother brought me my annual "fall love present" last week, and I was ecstatic with it, as usual. (Yes, I realize most of you hadn't heard of a fall love present, but neither had I until my mom started showing up on my porch with them each year.) This year her gift was triple-fold: a bottle of hand soap in Creamy Pumpkin from Bath and Body Works; a Yankee candle in Be Thankful; and Yankee's new cookbook: The Yankee Candle Favorites Cookbook.

What a way to kick off the fall season, wouldn't you say?? :)

When the gloomy weather arrived this past weekend, I decided to put my new love cookbook to use and bake something to go with my coffee - and if I was lucky, maybe Mike or one of the girls would like what I chose, too. (They're more into rick, chocolaty desserts, while I prefer the spiced ones.) So I decided on the Pumpkin Bundt Cake with Vanilla Icing.

I wasn't disappointed. :) Here it is, straight from the Yankee Candle Favorites Cookbook!

PUMPKIN BUNDT CAKE WITH VANILLA ICING

2 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
2 1/4 c. sugar
1 1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground cinnamon
3 large eggs
1 (15 oz.) can pumpkin pie filling
3/4 c. vegetable oil
1/2 c. water
2 1/2 c. powdered sugar
2 Tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
2 Tbsp. maple syrup
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

(ETA: the recipe did not include milk in the icing portion, which meant it was impossible to "drizzle." I added milk, 1 T. at a time, until I got the desired consistency. I suppose you could try adding more maple syrup as well, if you were so inclined!)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour Bundt pan or coat with non-stick cooking spray.

2. In large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Set aside.

3. In another large bowl, beat eggs. Add pumpkin, oil, and water, and beat until smooth.

4. Combine flour and pumpkin mixtures thoroughly, until smooth.

5. Pour mixture into prepared Bundt pan, and bake approximately 60 minutes, or until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean.

6. Let cool on rack 10 minutes, then turn upside down to remove from pan, and cool completely.

7. To make vanilla icing, combine powdered sugar, butter, maple syrup, and vanilla until smooth. (ETA: Don't forget the part about the milk or maple syrup!) Drizzle over cake. Serves 12-16.

(Btw, the linen that I have the cake plate sitting on is Lakeside's Vintage Autumn Gold.)

What a wonderful aroma that fills the house when this is baking! And when that wears off, you should definitely have a Be Thankful candle on hand. ;)

Thank you, Mom!!

Oreo Freeze!

 

I had to include an exclamation point in the subject line bc truly, every time I make this dessert, my whole family lights up like I've just announced I'm taking them to Disney World.

If you make this for your family - or for just yourself - you'll be glad you did while you're eating it, and then you'll be mad you did after you've eaten the whole pan in one sitting.

Here we go! (The freeze time for this dessert takes about 5 hours or so, so allow plenty of time if you're making it for company. Your family won't care - they'll eat it soupy if they have to, which mine has been known to do.)(And don't forget to clear out a space in your freezer large enough to fit a 9 x 13 pan.)

OREO FREEZE

1 package of Oreos
1 stick of butter
1 carton of vanilla ice cream
1 jar of hot fudge sauce
1 tub of Cool Whip (I use the medium sized one)

Crush almost all of the Oreos in the package (you can eat 4 or 5 of them and it will be okay) using whichever crushing method you'd like. (I didn't feel like getting out my mini processor, so I just used a meat mallet and hammered them.) They should be nothing but crumblies when you're finished. Reserve a couple handfuls of the crumblies.

Melt the stick of butter and mix it into the crumblies.

Pat the crumbled mixture into a 9 x 13 pan, nice and flat. Put it in the freezer and freeze for about an hour. In the meantime, set out your carton of ice cream to soften.

After your ice cream has softened, remove the 9 x 13 pan from the freezer and, using a spatula, smooth all of the ice cream on top of the frozen Oreo "crust."

Place the pan back in the freezer and let the ice cream harden, for about an hour.

Heat the hot fudge sauce according the the directions on the jar. Remove the pan from the freezer and pour the fudge over the ice cream, spreading as evenly as you can over all of the ice cream. 

Place the pan back in the freezer and let the hot fudge harden, for about an hour.

Make sure your Cool Whip has thawed, and then remove the pan from the freezer and spread all of the Cool Whip on top of the fudge layer.

After you've finished spreading the Cool Whip, take your reserved crumblies and sprinkle them on top of the Cool Whip later. Put it all back in the freezer and freeze for however many hours you can stand. (The more frozen the Cool Whip layer, the better!) Btw, I ALWAYS cover anything I'm putting in the freezer (or refrigerator, for that manner) so that it doesn't pick up that "frozen foods" flavor. Blech.

When you get ready to cut into the Freeze, be sure to run your spatula under very hot water to make the cutting/removing process easier. (As with anything in a 9 x 13 pan, that first piece can be a bear to remove.) You'll want to really work that spatula under the crust so you don't leave it behind!

Enjoy now. Gym later. ;)