Sweet Peach & Apricot Cheesecake Bars

My fruit trees are gifting me with laundry baskets of fruit. Seriously. It's been ages since anyone here has received any fresh clothes; I've used all my baskets to store peaches and apricots!

As everyone here is sick of seeing them in smoothies, cakes, cookies and just on a plate when I'm too lazy to actually cook something, I thought about cheesecake. I really like a solid cheesecake and was really intrigued by introducing a fresh fruit element to the rich goodness. So I thought about making a fruit compote, and swirling it in!

So here's a bowl of fresh apricot and peach compote that hasn't been blitzed yet. Normally, I keep the fruit whole and a little chunky when making summery desserts, but for these indulgent cheesecake bars, I think it's best to have a smooth, creamy consistency that can melt right in your mouth. 

Comment: Use a toothpick or a long skewer to swirl the sweet peach and apricot compote on top of the cheesecake mixture. It provides an interesting texture and looks artistic as well :)

Also, I received this recipe from a friend of mine who had found it elsewhere and hastened to email it to me. If you find any variations of this recipe, try them out and let me know how it turns out!

Happy Baking!

Sweet Peach & Apricot Cheesecake Bars

• 18 graham crackers
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
• Coarse salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
• 5 ounces apricots (about 2), halved, pitted, and cut into eighths
• 5 ounces peaches (one large, two small), havled, pitted, and cut into eighths
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 2 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/2 cup sour cream, room temperature
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a food processor, process graham crackers, 2 tablespoons sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon salt until fine crumbs form. Transfer to a medium bowl and stir in melted butter until crumbs are moistened. Wipe processor bowl clean. With a flat-bottomed 1-cup measure or glass, press crumbs evenly into a 9-by-13-inch baking pan. Bake until crust is firm, 15 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack. Reduce heat to 325 degrees.
2. In a small saucepan, bring apricots, 1/4 cup sugar, and pinch of salt to a boil over medium-high, stirring, until sugar dissolves. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring frequently, until mixture is shiny, 10 minutes. In food processor, puree apricot mixture, lemon juice, and 1 tablespoon water.
3. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese and sour cream on medium until smooth. Add 3/4 cup sugar and beat until smooth. Add vanilla and pinch of salt and beat to combine. Add eggs and beat until smooth, scraping down bowl as needed. Pour cream-cheese mixture into cooled crust and smooth top.
4. Randomly drop small spoonfuls apricot puree on cream-cheese mixture. With a skewer or thin-bladed knife, gently swirl puree. Bake just until set, about 25 minutes. Let cool slightly in pan on rack, then refrigerate until chilled and firm before cutting into squares, 2 hours.

Also, take a look at next week's goal! Filo and Apricot purses...don't they look delicious?! I'm trying to convince the family that apricots can still be yummy, even after eating them for three weeks.

Heavenly Salted Caramel

So this was yesterday's mission. To make the Two Peas and Their Pod Salted Caramel Sauce. See how the caramel just flows deliciously down the whisk and ripples across the smooth surface of the shiny caramel. What I did in my kitchen, along with my mother who hastened to lick anything that was available -like I obviously did not- was to replicate this glorious yumminess. The result? Take a look.

The color is slightly different as I cooked my caramel a little longer - I love a good, robust caramel with depth and notes of honey, butterscotch, and hugging the wooden spoon. You might want to cool it down a little bit before you taste. Or you may want to grab an apple and have at it. Whatever you work ethic may be, I'm not ashamed to say my mother and I took turns sampling this food of gods, to "make sure it wasn't burned," or to "see if it was just the right consistency." If you're like us, this caramel will maybe last you a few days. Or if you're really like us, you'll drape irresistible triple chocolate mocha brownies in this golden robe of caramel and then devour the entire three batches you made in seconds.

Comment - It is so unbelievably worth it to make your own caramel. Once you do, you will laugh at the commercial jars that we have all flocked to, you shall reign queen of your home bakery with a jar of caramel in hand as you look down upon others who still buy the stuff in jars. Okay, don't do that. I shouldn't do that either. Oops.



Anyway, while we all drool over these pictures, here's the recipe in case you have some cream, sugar, and butter on hand. And if you don't, file it for later use, or grab some keys and haul off to your nearest grocery store like I did.

Heavenly Salted Caramel Sauce Recipe:
2 cups granulated sugar
6 tablespoons of room temperature butter, cut into cubes
1 cup heavy cream, also at room temperature
1 good tablespoon of fleur de sel or sea salt flakes

edit: I used only half of what Two Peas and Their Pod used for the butter, and I still got that rich and creamy caramel that sugar plums and other magical beings dream of. I have made caramel sauce with their required amount and though the caramel was just as dreamy, but there was that tint of fat coating that made the sauce too much like straight butter.

Preparation:
You must have everything ready and good to go before you start. Making caramel is a slow process at first, but then everything goes into full speed and you do not have time to run to the fridge or dismantle a fire alarm (I did) either. So keep everything on your countertop and get ready to make the dreamiest caramel you will ever make!

To start, heat the sugar over medium high heat (I actually started off with low heat and gradually heated in about five minutes) in a heavy 3 quart pan. The sugar will clump up, but don't worry, keep faith! Your caramel is just beginning to cook. Use a whisk to break up the clumps and keep the sugar moving in the pan. Once it starts to melt, keep whisking, until it has nearly dissolved. Swirl the pan, without stirring with anything until the color turns a deep amber. I am new to making my own caramel and did not use a thermometer, but you have to keep your eye trained on this bubbling pot. Don't even change the channel or feed the dog. One minute this will be white and bubbling, the next, it'll be scorching before you know it. So watch the caramel!

If you are using a thermometer, cook the caramel until it reaches 350 F.

As soon as it hits this temperature or the color is just right, add the butter and whisk with a wooden spoon.  Remove the pan from the heat and add the cream. This will bubble up wonderfully, but just keep whisking until everything is combined! Whisk in the salt and allow the caramel to cool down.

If you're patient and very meticulous, let the caramel cool for at least ten minutes in the pan. Or if you're like me, you'll burn your tongue once, then happily burn it again and again. This stuff is that good.

This will keep in the refrigerator for at least a month! And here's what makes me so blissfully happy every time I walk by and see this resting on my countertop:

Happy cooking! :)

-sneha

Best Stout Cake You'll Ever Taste

This is a recipe I've grown close to, shared memories and laughs, and then attacked with my fork. And then two forks. Pretty soon it was a double handed duel of the richest, smoothest, darkest chocolate stout cake proportions ever. 

Oh yes.

Forgive the markings of my fork up there...it was difficult to take a picture and sneak sample some delicious cream cheese frosting at the same time.

Anyway, enjoy this recipe! It is definitely one of my favorite chocolate cakes that you can modify easily :) It's also great to whip up swiftly on a rainy Sunday or if you're like me, any day! :D

Happy baking!

Recipe:

Cake

• 2 cups stout (such as Guinness)

• 2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter

• 1 1/2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder (preferably Dutch-process)

• 4 cups all purpose flour

• 4 cups sugar

• 1 tablespoon baking soda

• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt

• 4 large eggs

• 1 1/3 cups sour cream

• Icing

• 1/4 cup butter, softened

• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened

• 3 ounces (3 squares) unsweetened chocolate, melted

• dash of salt

• 3 cups confectioners' sugar

• 1/3 cup half-and-half

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• Add a little kick? 1/2 tablespoon of Jameson Irish Whiskey will do the trick! 

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour three 8 inch pans and line each with parchment paper. This is important - if not, and if you're like me and busy (lazy), you will end up with delicious cake that can only be eaten out of the pan. Anyway, then butter the paper. Meanwhile, bring the stout and the  butter to a simmer and then add your cocoa powder and whisk away. Whisk until this mixture can take its own flight. Or until smooth, if you are bus-no, lazy. Cool the mixture down slightly.
Whisk flour, sugar, baking soda, and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt in large bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat eggs and sour cream in another large bowl to blend. Add stout-chocolate mixture to egg mixture and beat just to combine. Add flour mixture and beat briefly on slow speed. Using rubber spatula, fold batter until completely combined and the mixture looks smooth, shiny, like Heaven's Gates have opened, like you could stick your entire head in this bowl and forget about the world. Yes. Like that.
Divide your batter up now. Bake just until a toothpick inserted comes clean. This will take about 30 minutes. Cool down the cakes on a rack for about 15 minutes, it's worth it, trust me! You don't want to attack this straight out of the oven, because the frosting. Oh my the frosting.
For Icing:
Cream together the butter and cream cheese. Add melted chocolate, salt, sifted confectioners' sugar, half-and-half, and vanilla. Add the whiskey if you like, and cream again until very spreadable. You have my permission to dip a finger into the bowl and taste. Or two hands. Go ahead. 

Ah this cake. This glorious cake. Please comment and review if you felt enlightened after inhaling the dizzying aromas that filled your baking space as you nurtured this loving brown beauty. And if not, please comment anyway if you had any trouble with this recipe - I have baked it several times and have yet to be disappointed! :)

Happy baking :)

-sneha