Holiday Baking

[honeychile]

Originally Posted by OtterXO

Yum!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I found a similar recipe (I posted it below) and I can't see how you could go wrong, except maybe over baking the cheesecake. A good suggestion from the one below was putting foil or parchment paper under the cheesecake to aid in the removal since there's no crust. I just might add this to my holiday baking this year.

Cheesecake Batter

* 1 pound Cream cheese, softened

* 3/4 cup Sugar

* 3 Large eggs

* 2 tsp Vanilla extract

* 1/3 cup Whipping cream

* Tiniest pinch salt

Dipping chocolate

* 12 oz Milk chocolate, melted (Note: You may need to use more than this)

Optional

* 10 oz White chocolate, melted to drizzle over bites.


Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350. Line a an 8x8 or 9x9 inch pan with parchment paper or foil and spray with nonstick cooking spray. This step is essential. It will make it much easier to remove the cheesecake from the pan and cut it into bite-sized morsels

2. Beat together cheesecake batter ingredients until smooth. I used a hand mixer, but a stand mixer with the paddle attachment or a food processor would also work. Pour mixture into pan. Bake until set about 30 minutes. Cake should be firm to the touch but not dried out or curling in at the sides. If the cheesecake cracks, don't fret; it will be covered in chocolate later, and we all know that everything looks better with a layer of chocolate. Cool well in fridge.
3. After cooling the cheesecake, cut into 24-32 small squares or scoop out portions of cheesecake using a mini ice-cream scooper. (Note: This part was difficult for me. I’ve never quite mastered the art of slicing a cheesecake. It always looks as if a four-year old did the slicing. I’ve tried many of the tips offered up on successfully slicing a cheesecake. I’ve placing my knife under hot water throughout the slicing, and this helps, but I still struggle. Definitely place foil or parchment paper in the bottom of the pan in step 1 – this will facilitate the process.) Place squares or scoops on a waxed-paper lined baking sheet and freeze for two hours or overnight.

4. To finish, using a fork to assist, dip and turn each frozen cheesecake portion in chocolate. Let set on wax paper lined baking sheet and then dip in or drizzle with another type of chocolate, if desired. With the truffle bombs on the baking sheet, freeze for a couple of hours. Then place Truffle Bombs in a zip-top freezer bag, and freeze up to 2 months. Serve frozen or chilled.

That's it! I've been looking everywhere for that magazine, and my mother just told me that she let my aunt borrow it! Grrr.... Bless you!

And... I was just given a rosette iron! I've always loved them, so now I get to see if I can actually make them. I have three recipes from which to try.

Someone mentioned that they use refrigerated cookie dough? I have, too, but not without adding either orange or almond flavoring, then freezing the dough overnight (so that it's not too sticky to work with). That's how I make any cut out cookies, usually snowflakes with dragees and crystalized sugar sprinkles trimming.

I used to have a really good recipe for Shortbread - does anybody have one?