Cheesecake Cupcakes

This miniatures disappeared the same day I made them, my family devoured them like they were the last desserts they were ever going to eat. But I don't blame them, they were moist and sweet with a hint of saltiness that left you wanting to eat a million if these. The recipe asked for fruit preserves, I used apricot jam for half the cupcakes and for the other half mango preserves. Recipe from The Baking Sheet, Autumn 2005.




Cheesecake Cupcakes
Makes: 12

12oz cream cheese
1/2c sugar
2 Large eggs
1 egg yolk
1tsp lemon zest
1tsp vanilla extract
1/4tsp salt

Beat the cream cheese at low speed of an electric mixer until soft and creamy. Gradually add the sugar, increasing to medium speed, beating until the mixture is light and fluffy. Stop and scrape the sides and bottom of the mixing bowl. Mix in the eggs one at a time, taking care to scrape the bowl after each addition, and mixing until smooth with no lumps. Beat in the egg yolk, lemon zest, vanilla, and salt.

Preheat the oven to 300F. Line the wells of a muffin pan with papers. Scoop the batter into the cupca by tablespoonfuls; the cups should be 2/3 full. Bake for 25 minutes. Once you take them out of the oven, they will fall down a bit and give you the head room you need to put on the topping.

Topping

3/4c sour cream
1 egg white
1/2tsp vanilla extract
1/4c sugar
1/4c fruit preserves

While the cupcakes are baking, combine the sour cream, egg white, vanilla extract, and sugar in a small bowl. After the cheesecakes have baked for 25 minutes, remove them from the oven and spoon a teaspoon of the topping over each, taking care to cover the entire top. Place a half teaspoon of jam or preserves in the center and return the cheesecakes to the oven for 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool for 20 minutes before removing from the pan. Chill until ready to serve.

Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake with Cola Frosting

Last Thursday was my mom's birthday. She wanted me to make her a chocolate cake, so I found a recipe of chocolate cake with mayo and a cola chocolate frosting. Even though it sounds weird, it tasted very good even though it had a strong chocolate flavor, there was no hint of it having mayo and it added moisture to the cake.It's great for days when there's no milk and eggs at home, because the mayonnaise substitutes them. This was the first time I did a double layer cake, so it wasn't perfect, but I think that for a first time I did pretty good. Again, when dealing with a chocolate frosting I had problems because of the heat, I actually had to stop frosting it and put it in the fridge because the frosting was slowly melting. The recipe doesn't have walnuts but I added about 1 1/2 cups chopped in the middle of the cake and on top because my mom loves adding nuts to EVERY dessert she makes. I got the recipe from The Baking Sheet from Autumn 2005, a newsletter from from King Arthurs Flour me and my mom used to receive.



Chocolate Mayonnaise Cake with Cola Frosting
Makes: two 8 inches round cakes

2c all-purpose flour
1c granulated sugar
1/2c brown sugar
1/3c unsweetened cocoa
2tsp baking soda
1/4tsp salt
1/2tsp espresso powder
1c water
2tsp vanilla extract
1c mayonnaise
1c semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375F. Grease and flour two 8 inch round pans. In a large bowl whisk together the flour, sugars, cocoa, baking soda, salt, and espresso powder. Pour in the water, vanilla and mayo, and beat on medium speed for 2 minutes, stopping once to scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl. Stir in the chocolate chips. Pour the batter into the prepared pans. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Let cool completely before removing from the pans.

Cola Frosting
Makes: 4 cups

1/2c (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/4 tsp salt
1/3c unsweetened cocoa
1/2c cola beverage
6c confectioners' sugar

In a small saucepan, bring the butter, salt, cocoa, and cola to a boil. Transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl and add 2 cups of the confectioners' sugar. Beat on low speed to incorporate the sugar and to cool the mixture. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl, and then gradually add more sugar. Once all of the sugar is incorporated, beat until the frosting is a soft, spreadable consistency. It will continue to firm up as you work with it (unless you live in a humid place where it will melt), so keep the unused portion covered with a damp towel.