Three-Ingredient Japanese Cotton Cheesecake (Soufflé)

Japanese Cotton Cheesecake

3 eggs
4 oz Cream Cheese
4 oz White Chocolate

Heat oven to 340ºF.  Prepare a 6-inch springform pan by spraying with non-stick spray. Separate egg yolks from whites and place into two bowls. Melt white chocolate in a third bowl in the microwave for 30 seconds at a time, stirring until melted. Add cream cheese to the white chocolate, and heat an additional 30 seconds, then stir together until blended. Stir a little of the hot white chocolate mixture into the egg yolks, then add egg yolks back into white chocolate mixture and stir until blended. Whip the egg white to form a stiff meringue. Stir the meringue 1/3 at a time into the white chocolate mixture until combined. Bake in the oven at 340ºF for 15 minutes, reduce heat to 320ºF for 15 minutes, then turn the oven off and allow the soufflé to sit in the oven for an additional 15 minutes.  Remove from oven and cool completely.  Carefully remove springform pan. Dust with confectioner's sugar (optional).

Dave's Pain au Chocolat and Other Fabulous Croissants

Pain au Chocolat Recipe coming soon...

Dave has very detailed and specific instructions about how to make croissant dough.  He has spent a couple of months and many hours working with various recipes and techniques to perfect his art.  He promised to either make a video for this blog or sit down and type up the instructions with step-by-step photos of how to do it.

My Dave can whip your... egg mixture...

Dave making cheese croissants

Gâteau Basque with Brandied Cherries

Gâteau Basque with Brandied Cherries from Food and Wine Magazine.  I'm not going to copy the recipe over, because I followed it exactly.  I became interested in Basque cooking after visiting Epi's Basque Restaurant in Boise, Idaho. This is a very mildly flavored gâteau filled with nuts and butter. It was popular with some people who tried it at my home, but not so much with others. Just to clarify, this recipe is not from Epi's.

The Food and People at Epi's are Wonderful!

Sandkuchen

 This recipe is a German pound cake recipe that a coworker of mine (Annie) gave to me after bringing the cake to a work party.  I'm printing the recipe below exactly as she gave it, which was wonderful.  When I made it I had to make due with what I had in the fridge.  I replaced the margarine with butter and used real rum and lemon extract. I baked it in a bundt pan instead of springform pan or bread pans.  The result was delicious.


SANDKUCHEN:
1/2 lb margarine, softened

1/4 lb butter, softened

1 lb powdered sugar

6 eggs

1 1/3 C flour (measure before sifting)

1 1/3 C corn starch (measure before sifting)

1/2 tsp salt

1 T rum extract
juice of 1/2 lemon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream together margarine, butter, and powdered sugar. Beat until smooth. Add eggs alternately with flour/corn starch mixture. Beat well. Add salt, rum extract, and lemon juice. Beat well. Pour into greased and floured 9" springform pan or 2 bread pans. Bake for 1 hour or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely. Dust top with powdered sugar, if desired.

Gingerbread Pumpkin Bars

Gingerbread Pumpkin Bars

Source: Culinary in the Desert

For the bars

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour


1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda


1/2 teaspoon salt


1/2 teaspoon cinnamon


1/4 teaspoon ground ginger


1/4 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg


1/8 teaspoon ground cloves


16 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened


1 1/2 cups granulated sugar


1/4 cup molasses


1/3 cup rolled quick oats

For the filling

6 ounces cream cheese, softened


1 3/4 cups mashed pumpkin


1/2 cup granulated sugar


1 teaspoon vanilla


1/2 teaspoon cinnamon


1/4 teaspoon ground ginger


1/4 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg


1/8 teaspoon ground cloves


2 large eggs

For the drizzle

1 cup confectioners’ sugar


1 tablespoon butter, softened


1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1

 to 2 tablespoons milk

Preheat oven to 350

To make the bars

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves.

In a large mixing bowl, beat together butter, sugar and molasses until creamy. Add dry ingredients and mix just until combined. Reserve 3/4 cup of this mixture and place in a small bowl. Scoop the remaining mixture into a 10″ x 15″ baking pan lightly coated with nonstick spray.

Add the oats to the reserved mixture and mix until combined – set aside.

To make the filling

In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth. Add pumpkin, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves – mix until well combined. Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing just until combined. Scoop the mixture over the uncooked base and use an off-set spatula to evenly spread the mixture over the top. Crumble reserved oat mixture over filling.

Bake until the topping is a golden brown, about 25-30 minutes. Remove and place on a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the drizzle

In a small bowl, mix together confectioners’ sugar, butter and vanilla. Mix in just enough milk until the mixture will easily flow from a spoon – drizzle over cooled bars.

Whole Grain Pumpkin-Banana Bread

 

Whole Grain Pumpkin-Banana Bread

Recipe found here

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) soft butter
• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup puréed pumpkin
• 1 cup mashed banana, the riper the better
• 2 tablespoons orange juice or water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups Whole Wheat Flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup diced pecans, toasted

Directions

1) Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease an 8 1/2" x 4 1/2" loaf pan.

2) In a large bowl, beat together the butter, sugar, honey, eggs, pumpkin, banana, orange juice or water. and vanilla.

3) Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon, stirring to combine.

4) Mix in the nuts, if you're using them.

5) Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle the top of the loaf with Praline Pumpkin Seed Crunch or coarse white sparkling sugar, if desired. Allow the batter to rest for 15 minutes, uncovered.

6) Bake the bread for 55 to 70 minutes, or until a cake tester or toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean; and that same tester inserted about 1/2" into the top of the loaf doesn't encounter any totally unbaked batter.

7) Remove the bread from the oven, and cool it on a rack. When it's completely cool, wrap it well in plastic wrap, and store it overnight before serving.

Yield: 1 loaf.

Pumpkin Rice Pudding

 Pumpkin Rice Pudding
Adapted from this recipe

2 cups water
1 cup arborio rice
3 cups milk
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup heavy whipping cream, whipped

Preheat the oven to 375ºF.

Bring the water to a boil in an ovenproof 4-quart saucepan. Stir in the rice and cover. Reduce the heat to low and simmer until the rice is nearly cooked, about 20 minutes.
In a large bowl, whisk together the milk, pumpkin, honey, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt.

While the rice is still hot, add the pumpkin mixture to the saucepan and stir well to combine. Cover and transfer to the oven. Bake until the liquid has reduced by about a third and the mixture is foamy and bubbling, 45 to 50 minutes. Remove from the oven and stir well to combine all the ingredients. Transfer to a large bowl, then cover and chill in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours or overnight. The pudding will keep for up to 4 days in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Serve with a dollop of whipped cream and a sprinkling of cinnamon.