Mini-Heart Cheesecake

For Valentine's Day, I bought a mini spring-form pan in the shape of a heart to make a cheesecake for my boyfriend. I found an Italian cheesecake recipe on Foodnetwork.com and changed a few things.

Mini-Heart Cheesecake Recipe

2 ounces graham crackers (finely ground in a food processor)

1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

3 oz fresh whole milk ricotta cheese

4 oz regular cream cheese, room temp

1/4 cup sugar (or a little less)

1 tablespoon clover honey

1 teaspoon orange zest

1 whole egg

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Wrap the mini heart shaped spring-form pan in 2 layers of foil, making sure that the foil comes far above the top of the pan (this ensure that no water enters the pan when baking). Finely grind the crackers in a food processor.  Add the melted butter and process until the crumbs are moistened.  Press the crumb mixture over the bottom of the pan (not the sides). Bake until the crush is golden, about 10 minutes.  Cool the crust comp

letely.

Blend the ricotta cheese in a clean food processor until smooth.  Add the cream cheese and sugar, blend well.  Add the honey and orange zest, blend again.  Add the egg and pulse until just blended.

Pour the cheese mixture over the crust in the pan.  Place the pan in a roasting dish.  Pour enough hot water into the roasting dish to come halfway up the sides of the heart pan.  Bake until the cheesecake is golden and the center of the cake m

oves slightly when the pan is gently shaken, about 40-50 minutes.

Transfer the cake to a rack and cool for 1 hour.  Refrigerate until the cheesecake is cold, at least 6 hours and up to 2 days.  Serve with strawberries.

Sour Cream Drizzle Cake

I baked this cake for my mom to take to a friend's house for brunch. It came out really moist because of the sour cream and the brown sugar and pecan drizzle added an extra sweetness.

Sour Cream Drizzle Cake

For the drizzle:
4 tablespoons butter- softened
2/3 cup chopped pecans
2/3 cup dark brown sugar

For the cake batter:
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup oil
3 large eggs, at room temp.
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sour cream

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a bunt pan with "Pam for Baking."

First, mix the butter, chopped pecans, and brown sugar in a small bowl until crumbly and set aside. Beat the sugar, oil, and vanilla using a stand mixer. Add the eggs one at a time and beat well after each addition. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and soda, and salt. Start by adding 1/3 of the flour mixture to the egg mixture, beat until incorporated. Then add 1/3 of the sour cream and beat. Alternate adding the flour mixture with the sour cream until all ingredients are added to the egg mixture and beat until the batter is smooth. Add about half the batter to the greased bunt pan. Then crumble half of the pecan mixture on top of the batter, evenly distributing it. Add the rest of the batter on top of the pecans to create a crunchy layer in the middle of the cake. Last, add the remaining pecans on top of the batter. Bake for 35-45 minutes or until fork inserted into the cake comes out clean.

Yellow Layer Cake

While in New York City this past Christmas, I visited Magnolia's bakery in the Village and tried their cupcakes. They were absolutely amazing. I ended up buying a cookbook from the Butter Cup Bake Shop, which was started by one of the same original owners of Magnolia's. I just recently made the yellow layer cake for New Years and it came out really well.

Yellow Layer Cake

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, at room temp.
1 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups self-rising flour (can be found at any grocery store)
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Spray "Pam for Baking" on three 9 x 2-inch round metal cake pans.

In a large bowl using a stand-up electric mixer on medium speed, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy (for about 3 minutes). Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. In a separate bowl, mix the vanilla and milk together. In another separate bowl, combine the flours. Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture in two parts, alternating with the milk mixture. Beat well after each addition. Don't forget to scrap down the sides when needed.

Divide the batter among the cake pans evenly. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick or fork inserted into the middle of the cakes comes out clean. Let the cakes cool in the pans for 30 minutes before removing them. Cool the cakes completely on wire racks before icing (I recommend waiting at least 2 hours).