Cheesecake #3 (I have yet to write #2) of that one week where I somehow ended up making 3 cheesecakes. Some context: I was speaking with my coworker about all these cheesecakes I had on the to-do list, which he related back to his wife… so when I asked him what to bring to his potluck superbowl party, of course, he replied “cheesecake”. A bit more digging revealed that his wife’s a big fan of lemon, and, like most women (or people with common sense), chocolate… and thus the wheels began turning. I had been wanting to try doing a swirled top and an even layer of something within a cheesecake, so here was my attempt. Between the chocolate, hazelnut, and lemon, this turned out ridiculously Italian. Strongly suggested to be made if you have visiting friends from the Land of the Boot.

Lemon-Nutella Swirl Cheesecake with Chocolate Blood Oranges

Ingredients (Crust):

• 3/4 cup almond-vanilla granola
• 3 packaged organic instant maple oatmeal
• zest of 1/2 a lemon & 1/2 a blood orange
• 3-5 tblspn soy butter, melted

Ingredients (Cheesecake):

• 30 oz softened (room temp) full-fat cream cheese
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup full-fat sour cream
• 1 egg (brown, cage-free, organic)
• 2/3 cup whole milk
• 1/4 cup orange-mango juice (by simply orange)
• the zest of 2 lemons
• juice of 1/2 a lemon
• zest of 1/4 of a blood orange
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1.5 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup AP flour
• 1/2 cup warmed nutella
• 3/4 cup warmed chocolate (use the double-boiler method, for dipping the orange slices)

Process:

1. To make the crust: melt the butter in a medium-sized bowl. In a food processor, process together the granola and oatmeal until thin, small chunks that are soft to the touch. Add to the butter, and add in the zest as well. Mix thoroughly until a thick paste forms. If too dry, add another tblspn of soy butter.
2. Line the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan with parchment paper and then place the crust in the bottom, pushing it up an inch around the sides and firmly pushing it into the bottom of the pan
3. For the cheesecake itself: Preheat yoru oven to 360 degrees, then start by mixing together the cream cheese and sugar in a stand mixer on low speed until fluffy and well-combined. This is the most crucial step- do this out of order and your cake will have strange texture, so make sure that cheese is SOFT!
4. Add in the sour cream and continue beating on the lowest speed, slowly incorporating. Beat in the egg, then add the milk, still slowly incorporating. Add the orange juice, zest, lemon juice, blood orange juice, salt, and vanilla – mix until just combined and smooth.
5. Lastly, mix in the flour, until juuuuust combined. Do NOT overmix, and don’t go over the bottom speed of your stand mixer / electric mixer… you don’t want to hurry this.
6. Pour half the batter you’ve just made into your prepared springform pan. Then pour the warmed nutella over the half-batter and spread it evenly, keeping about a half-inch margin around the sides of non-nutella-ness (see photos below) as it will run and expand and you’d rather it not burn against the sides. Then pour in the remaining batter.
7. Take a little extra warmed nutella and pour thin ribbons of it onto the top of your cake. Then, taking a skewer/toothpick/etc, swirl this around until you get a pretty pattern.
8. Into the oven it goes for an hour’s time. After an hour, turn off your oven and let the cheesecake hang out there overnight or for the next 6 hours or so. While your cake is baking, dip slices of your blood orange (the one you earlier zested and partly juiced) and coat about 3/4 of the way up. Dip them then in large-grain candy sugar, then place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and place in the freezer while your cake hangs out in the oven.
9. After the cake is done oven-itizing, place the blood orange slices on top, add chocolate shavings if that wasn’t enough for you, and cool in the fridge. It’ll be ready for eating in 2-3 hours’ time.

That’s it! Quite simple once you get through my wordiness, and will quickly make you seem sophisticated and Italian. They love lemon, and after this cake, you’re likely to as well. The longer you let the cake sit in the fridge (as in number of days, not hours) the more the lemon flavour will intesify and play off the nutella as they mingle and meet, so…. eat this one slowly so you can appreciate its flavour maturing as you go. Mmmh.

I’ve found a lovely way to cook- well, just about any kind of protein- and its splendid results are something I’d like to share with you. The secret is yogurt, my friends – a yogurt marinade, especially a thick yogurt, will break down the toughness of your protein and leave a soft, pliable, delicious meat/fish. I’ve been doing it with yellowfin tuna and it’s scrumptious. Grill it with some lemon, herbs, and keep on some of the yogurt coating – and it’ll be a light, summery dish.

Yogurt-Herb Yellowfin Tuna

Ingredients:

• 2 yellowfin tuna steaks, sashimi-grade
• 1 heaping cup yogurt (suggestion: greek gods honey greek yogurt, organic)
• 1 tsp honey
• 1/4 tsp garam masala
• 1.5 tblspn herbes de provence
• 1 lemon, halved
• 2 tsp organic canola oil, for grilling
• large-grain sea salt & freshly-cracked black pepper, to taste

Process:

1. Place yogurt, herbs, garam masala, and honey in a medium-sized bowl and gently mix without ruining the thick yogurt texture. Pat down your tuna to keep it as dry as possible, then place in bowl and cover entirely with yogurt marinade. Cover and refrigerate for 2+ hours (up 24 hours)
2. Heat a cast-iron grillpan with the canola oil; once hot enough (test by sprinkling in a little pepper- if it sizzles, it’s ready) and place in the tuna steaks, keeping on a thick coating of the marinade if possible.
3. Grill for about 3-4 minutes per side, until nice grill marks heat onto the fish (the honey should help caramelize into a nice colour)
4. Serve with lemon halves. Pairs well with a starch like a baked sweet potato half or some fresh-roasted corn.

Simple and easy, this is a great way to jazz up some fish and ensure its tenderness. The grilling will allow for a crispier interiour without ruining the soft integrity of the fish’s insides. Cut along the grain and it’ll fall like butter!

The best part about this torte should have been the pear- using canned pear was my mistake, but everything else about this torte was utterly fantastic. I’ll redo it next time by lightly poaching some pear halves and it’ll be lovely. I highly suggest you make it as it’s a) incredibly simple, and b) incredibly delicious. The crunch of the crust pairs (hah… pears) so nicely with the creaminess of the creamcheese mixture and the texture of the pears.

Pear Cheesecake Torte

Adapted from Cafecherie

Ingredients:

• 1 stick room-temperature organic butter
• two half-cups of granulated sugar
• 1 cup AP flour
• 1 brick cream cheese (full-fat for best results, organic)
• 1 egg (organic, cage-free, brown)
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3 sliced peeled pears

Process:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
2. Beat the butter and 1 of the half-cups of sugar until light and fluffy. Once fluffy, add in the flour and mix until well combined. Take your dough (oh, that’s what you were doing!) and spread it firmly on the bottom and about an inch up the sides of a 9-inch springform (you’ll be glad you can remove the bottom)
3. Beat together the cream cheese and the remaining sugar in the same bowl from earlier (no need to wash!) until well blended. Once well combined, add in the egg and vanilla and mix thoroughly. Spread your cheesecake-y mixture evenly over crust the crust. 
4. Sprinkle the pears (peeled and cored) with some sugar, the cinnamon, and place in 1-2 tblspn of butter into a pan to lightly cook/soften them. Once soft, arrange them over the cream cheese mixture. At this point, feel free to sprinkle on almonds – the sister’s not a fan, so I decided to forego them.
5. Bake the torte in the middle of the oven for  10 min at the original temperature, then reduce the temperature to 375°F and continue baking for an additional 25 min.
6. Cool on a wire rack until cool enough to put in the fridge; then have it hang out there for 2-3 hours so it can settle into its cheesecakeyness happily before you get to munching upon it.

The wait time once cooked does test you, but it’s worth it – you’ve got cheesecake, tart, and soft baked fruit all in one dessert…. for added deliciousness, take some pear nectar and reduce it with vanilla, a little cinnamon, and a tiny bit of brown sugar to make a syrup drizzle to go on top!

These are the fluffiest chocolate chip cookies you will ever eat. If you don’t believe me, look at the picture and see for your own eyes. They are ncredibly ooey and gooey, may not be cooked through (I’m told this is a plus), and will melt in your mouth. I really don’t feel the need to say much more than that – just make yourself a batch!

Fluffiest Chocolate Chip Cookies

Adapted from Puffy Chocolate Chip Cookies (Levain Bakery Copycat)

Ingredients:

• 1 stick cold organic butter, cut into small cubes
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar, firlmy packed
• 2 tblspn granulated sugar
• 1 large egg, cold (cage-free, organic, brown)
• 2.5 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 & 3/4 cup unbleached AP flour
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 heaping tsp salt
• 1 heaping cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (suggestion: guittard fair trade!)

Process:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees & prep your Silpat (or parchment paper) onto a large baking sheet.
2. Beat the cold butter and sugar until barely combined (not creamed, not fluffy, not runny- still very cold) Then beat in the egg and vanilla until combined.
3. In a separate, medium-sized bowl, mix together the dry ingredients, then add them in 2 batches to the wet dough. Once mixed together, add in the chocolate chips, and be liberal with them! You only make puffy chocolate cookies for the first time once :)
4. Using an ice cream scooper, scoop out the cookie dough onto your baking sheet and then freeze the baking sheet for 10 minutes. The taller your mounds of cookie dough, the more puffy (and undercooked in the center) your cookies will be.
5. Bake your cookies for 11-13 minutes or until the outsides are lightly browned and the insides are mostly done – or, if you’re like most of my friends, purposefully undercook these guys so they’ll be mushy masterpieces. Cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes or as long as your willpower holds… then devour.

They’re waiting for you. Will you make a batch? They’ll make you new friends, repair problems relationships with old ones, perhaps even pave your way to lifetime luck and happiness. Try it out for yourself :)