In the Kitchen

Today my kitchen is hopping!

I'm baking for our guild's annual holiday party.  The theme is A Tribute to Redwork, and Ben has asked us to use as much red and white as possible.  What could be more perfect than a white chocolate cheesecake with raspberry topping?  (Recipe below.)

I'm also bringing one of our new favorite crockpot dinners to a friend.  I make these beef short ribs with some rice and roasted asparagus, and my family inhales it.  It's not one of those complicated crockpot recipes with a lot of browning or chopping or multiple steps either; no, this one has 4 ingredients and can be assembled in under 5 minutes!  Perfect for this busy month.

For dessert, I'm trying out Pioneer Woman's Itty Bitty Nutella Cakes.  Just because they're pretty and easy.  Also, I love Nutella.  Isn't that enough?  

We've run out of our homemade hot cocoa mix, so I grabbed the ingredients for that and stirred up a batch while the cheesecake was in the oven and the Nutella Cakes were in the freezer.

After all that my family will still expect dinner, so I'm experimenting with a new baked potato soup recipe.  I'll let you know how it turns out.

What's new in your kitchen?

White Chocolate Cheesecake (origin unknown)

Preheat oven to 350.

Crust:

• 1/4 lb butter, melted
• 2 C very finely ground tea biscuit crumbs (I use Social Tea Biscuits.  1 sleeve makes about 2 C)
• 1 oz white chocolate, grated
• 1/4 C sugar

Melt butter and combine remaining crust ingredients until well blended.  Press mixture over sides and bottom of an ungreased 10" springform pan.  I put foil around the bottom and sides on the outside of the pan to prevent dripping in my oven, but that is not a necessary part of the recipe.

Filling:

• 2 lbs cream cheese, softened
• 1 1/4 C sugar
• pinch of salt
• 4 large eggs
• 3 oz white chocolate, shaved

Combine cream cheese and sugar and beat until soft and fluffy.  Add salt and mix well.  Add eggs, one at a time, keeping mixer on lowest speed and beating just until each egg is incorporated.  Fold in chocolate.  Pour into crust and bake 40 minutes.  Remove from pan and let stand for 10 minutes. 

Topping:

• 2 C sour cream
• 3/4 C sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 oz white chocolate, shaved
• 1 pckg frozen strawberries, raspberries, or mixture of both
•  confectioners sugar, to taste

Combine sour cream, sugar, and vanilla.  Spread over cheesecake and return to oven for 10 minutes.  Remove and refrigerate immediately.  Puree berries with confectioner's sugar in blender.  Serve cheesecake with shaved chocolate and berry topping.



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