If you’re a person that owns a heart-shaped springform, bust this out for Valentine’s and you’re good to go! For everyone else…why wait, eat this now! When you get to the ingredient list it’s going to be very clear that this is a very sweet cheesecake. The day I made it, as I was cutting my first slice (and, hey, I don’t have to share so I was licking the cake cutter) I thought it might even be too sweet, a concept I don’t even like to admit exists, but then once I got a bite with all the layers together, I actually thought it went just right!
Ingredients:
- 2 ½ cups crushed Snyder’s of Hanover® Sweet & Salty Salted Caramel Pieces, divided (I had to go to Amazon to get these; I crushed with a meat tenderizer, but using a food processor would be better)
- 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon vanilla pudding powder
- 1 8 ounce package cream cheese, room temperature
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 21 ounce can strawberry, cherry, etc. pie filling
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a medium bowl, combine the butter and 2 cups of the crushed pretzels. Press into the bottom of a 9″ springform pan and bake 7-10 minutes, then let cool completely.
In a large bowl, beat the heavy cream until just about stiff peaks. Add the tablespoon of pudding powder and beat until stiff – this ensures that the whipped cream doesn’t separate and weep liquid on any leftovers.
In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth.
Add the sugar and beat until smooth, then fold in 1 cup of the whipped cream.
Spread the cream cheese mixture on the cooled crust, then top with the pie filling. Refrigerate until completely chilled.
Meanwhile, scoop the remaining whipped cream into a ziplock and keep that in the fridge as well.
To serve, pipe the whipped cream around the edge and in the center of the cheesecake, and sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup crushed pretzel pieces on top.
Caramel Pretzel Cheesecake
Slightly adapted from Snyder’s of Hanover.
- 2 ½ cups crushed Snyder’s of Hanover® Sweet & Salty Salted Caramel Pieces, divided
- 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon vanilla pudding powder
- 1 8 ounce package cream cheese, room temperature
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 21 ounce can strawberry, cherry, etc. pie filling
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a medium bowl, combine the butter and 2 cups of the crushed pretzels. Press into the bottom of a 9″ springform pan and bake 7-10 minutes, then let cool completely.
In a large bowl, beat the heavy cream until just about stiff peaks. Add the tablespoon of pudding powder and beat until stiff.
In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the sugar and beat until smooth, then fold in 1 cup of the whipped cream. Spread the cream cheese mixture on the cooled crust, then top with the pie filling. Refrigerate until completely chilled.
Meanwhile, scoop the remaining whipped cream into a ziplock and keep that in the fridge as well.
To serve, pipe the whipped cream around the edge and in the center of the cheesecake, and sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup crushed pretzel pieces on top.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a 9×13″ dish and set aside. In a small dish, toss the cooked chicken with 1/4 cup of the barbecue sauce and set aside. Cube the cornbread and set aside. Melt the remaining butter, then combine with the eggs, cream, salt, pepper, and caramelized onions and whisk together.
Place the cubed cornbread in a large bowl and pour the egg mixture over it. Add the chicken, cheese, and apple, and gently stir to combine.
Transfer to the greased pan and spread evenly.
Bake until golden brown on top, 35 minutes.
Drizzle the remaining barbecue sauce over the top, sprinkle with chives, and serve.
Preheat your oven to 250 degrees. Roughly chop the white chocolate and place in an 8×8″ glass dish.
Cook, stirring every 10 minutes, until golden and thick, about 65 minutes. After my first 10 minute time period, it looked like it was starting to melt like expected. By the second or third it looked like it was almost curdling. By the fourth it was clearly changing color. Although it wasn’t the melty chocolate expected, I just kept stirring and then spreading it back out before returning to the oven.
Once cooked, spread the chocolate onto a sheet of parchment/silpat, and refrigerate until firm, about 15 minutes.
Break or cut into 1/4″ pieces. At this point you can eat it, use it for other things (melted into blondies!), store it in an air tight container for months, or proceed on to make your ganache.
To make the ganache, heat the cream to a boil on a small pot. Remove from the heat and add the chocolate, then whisk until smooth.
Cut the potatoes in half lengthwise. Lightly brush the cut sides of the squash with oil, then toss the potatoes in the rest of the oil, and sprinkle with a pinch each of sea salt and pepper. Roast until tender, about 45 minutes, then set aside to cool.
If you hate the taste of raw onion, during this time is a good time to cool the onion, in a small skillet over medium heat with a bit of oil until softened and translucent, but it’s not necessary.
When ready to cook, re/preheat oven to 400 degrees with a rack in the top third of the oven. Pour 2 tablespoons of oil into a rimmed baking sheet and place in the oven for 10 minutes. While that heats, prepare the croquettes.
Divide the vegetable mixture into 8 portions, then shape each portion into a log about 3″ long. Roll each log in cornstarch, then in the egg mixture, and finally in panko, pressing more panko lightly on if needed to cover any gaps. Place each prepared croquette gently on the lined plate. These don’t have incredible structural integrity, so be gentle with them. You can also prepare up until this point, then cover and refrigerate several hours before cooking.
When ready to cook, carefully remove the pan with the hot oil from the oven. Transfer the croquettes onto the plate and gently brush each all over with more vegetable oil. Bake 10 minutes, then remove from the oven. Roll each croquette a quarter turn and bake 4 more minutes. Repeat 2 more times, until they’ve baked on each side and are crispy and golden all over.
Sprinkle with a bit more sea salt, and serve with a dipping sauce such as tonkatsu sauce mixed with ketchup. (I just ate ’em, didn’t even bother digging through the door full of bottles.)
Ingredients:
Remove the seeds then rub the inside of both pieces with olive oil. Place, cut sides down, on a baking sheet and bake 45 minutes, or until the inside is tender.
Meanwhile, make the stuffing: Cook the sausage in a large nonstick pan over medium-high heat, breaking up well with a large wooden spoon. Once fully browned, pour off any excess grease and reduce the heat to medium-low.
Add the onion and celery and cover, then cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, 10-15 minutes.
Transfer the sausage mixture to a large bowl and add the salt, pepper, cornbread, apple, craisins, parsley, and sage. Stir together well.
Heat the broth in a small pot until simmering. Drizzle a half a cup over the stuffing mixture and stir in. Add as much of the remaining broth as needed to make the stuffing feel moist, but not wet – that was about an additional quarter cup for me this time.
Transfer the mixture into the roasted squash, piling up the extra as needed, and then cover with the top of the squash.
Readjust your oven rack to the bottom 1/3 and reduce the oven temp to 350 degrees. Bake for 45 minutes, then take the lid off the squash and bake another 10-15 to brown up the top of the stuffing a bit. Get a huge spoon, and serve! Don’t forget there’s good squash in the lid too!
Ingredients:
Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each, then mix in the vanilla.
Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with 2 additions of milk, mixing until just combined each time.
Gently transfer to the greased pan and smooth the top until even.
Bake 50-60 minutes, until it passes the toothpick test.
Cool in the pan 20 minutes, then invert onto a cooling rack to cool completely.
Let stand for 5 minutes, then stir until smooth.
Pour the ganache over the cooled cake, then top with sprinkles as desired.
I did lots of the prep work the day before for this, baking the crust, stirring together the spices, etc., for the filling, and prepping the crumb topping. Not at all necessary, but it didn’t harm anything and meant pie with less waiting on a work day!
Add the butter and use your fingers to incorporate it until it’s mixed into the dry ingredients with some pea-sized chunks remaining.
Drizzle in the apple cider and mix in. It can mostly, but not 100%, hold together if squeezed into clumps at this point.
Cover and refrigerate for 15 minutes, and preheat oven to 375 degrees while you wait. Sprinkle the chilled mixture into your prepared pan. Press into a 1/4″ thick layer on the bottom, and then up the sides as far as there is crust for.
Refrigerate for 10 minutes, then place on a baking sheet and bake for 8 minutes. Using the bottom/sides of a ramekin or cup, press the crust down, flat and against the sides, then bake an additional 6-8 minutes until golden. Set aside to cool.
To make the filling, place the prepared fruit in a large bowl and toss with the lemon juice.
Pour the mixture into the cooled pie shell, then sprinkle the refrigerated crumb topping mixture over the top.
Let cool some before slicing.
Ingredients:
Whisk in the vanilla and salt.
Add the flour, stirring until evenly mixed.
Stir in the chocolate chips, then turn out onto the lined pan.
Spread the dough thinly, pressing all the way out to the edges of the pan, then bake for 25 minutes, rotating halfway through. (Totally forgot the rotating and mine managed to cook evenly – good work, oven!)
Let cool in the pan for 3 minutes, and in that time line another pan or the counter with parchment/another silpat. Turn out onto the counter/second pan, and let cool completely before breaking into pieces.
Ingredients:
In a large bowl, use a mixer to beat together the layer 2 ingredients until smooth. (It’ll get much smoother if you actually let your cream cheese come to room temp!) Spread evenly over the crust.
In a large bowl (I used the same as from the crust) whisk together the pudding mix and milk until it starts to thicken. Spread the chocolate pudding over the first Cool Whip layer.
Top with the remaining Cool Whip, then sprinkle the remaining Cocoa Pebbles over the top. refrigerate for at least 1 hour to help set.
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugars.
Add the eggs and vanilla and beat until combined.
Add the dry goods mixture, starting beating on low to avoid a huge puff of flour in your face, beating until just combined.
Stir in the chocolate chips, then scoop dough with a medium cookie scoop onto the lined pans.
sparecake 