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.

Smoked salmon, filo dough, cream cheese, chives, lemon juice, and salt. That’s it - and about 10 minutes- and you have a plate of sophisticated and delicious appetizers. These go perfectly for gatherings of all kinds as they’re easy to do assembly-wise, can be made a few hours ahead (not too much more or the cups won’t be as crispy) and even thsoe who are culinarly-challenged can easily be of help. Even the boyfriend could assemble these.

Smoked Salmon Filo Cup Appetizers

Ingredients:

• 1 package wild (please, do make sure it’s wild) smoked salmon (NOT atlantic) (the redder the better (but not if food colouring made it so))
• 1/2 package (4 oz) cream cheese (reduced fat works fine, plain, softened)
• 2 packages (usually about 12-15 cups in a package) frozen filo dough cups
• the juice of 1/2 a lemon
• 5 or strands of fresh chives
• pinch of salt

Process:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place all filo cups on a large baking sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes until lightly golden. Remove from oven and let sit for 5 minutes to rest.
2. Place approx. 1 tsp (or just a chunk, really) of cream cheese in the center of each cup.
3. Place a small piece of the salmon over the cream cheese.
4. Cut the chives into inch-long pieces and place 3 or so pieces on each filo cup.
5. Sprinkle lightly with a tiny bit of salt and place two drops or so of lemon on each filo cup (feel free to omit this)

And you’re done! Assembled in mere minutes after baking! And yet for some odd reason, people will be quite impressed by these. Little do they know how simple they are to put together :). Try them out for yourself, they’ll be a hit!

Oh, yes. I’m not saying 12 for exaggeration’s sake- this monstrosity of a dessert is twelve moist, crunchy, and amazing layers of beauty. Baklava is traditionally relatively thin- 4-6 layers as a max- and fairly bite-sized. These ones are diamond-esque shaped (hey, I tried) and can happily feed two people as an entire dessert in and of itself. They may be a caloric nightmare, but they’re a tasty dream, so why not treat yourself to one as a special occasion? :)

12-Layer Baklava

Recipe Adapted from Baklava by LolFoodie

Filling Ingredients:

• 1 package (1 lb) organic filo dough
• 2 cups walnuts, whole
• 1.5 heaping cup pistachios, shelled (be liberal on the pistachios, they’re meant to be the star here)
• 1 cup almonds, whole, dry roasted
• 2 sticks of soy butter (sadly you really can’t cut this out, but at least it’s for a whole pan of baklava)
• 2 tsp cinnamon (I put in 3)
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• pinch of nutmeg, cloves, and ginger

Syrup Ingredients:

• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup clover honey (or wildflower, if you’ve got it)
• 2/4 cup room-temperature filtered water
• 1 teaspoon freshly-squeezed lemon juice (if you’re Italian, that means 2-3 tbl instead)
• 1/2 tsp each of cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, coriander
• a tiny pinch of lemon zest (again, if you’re Italian, go over on that amount (which you would do, anyway))

Process:

1. Syrup first – and it’s going to boggle you as it did I, but it’s okay, trust that this works. Take a medium saucepot and place all the syrup ingredients in it on low heat. Cook this down for 15-20 minutes- the longer you reduce it, the stickier and thicker your syrup will be. I left mine on for a good 20 minutes. Let this sit at room temperature to cool while you prepare the filling – it’ll coagulate and thicken and become glorious.
2. Place walnuts, pistachios, almonds, filling spices and salt in a food processor until appropriately broken down (I liked mine to be on the chunkier side, but yours can be as powder-y as you like) and set aside.
3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and thoroughly butter all sides (up to the very top) of a baking dish (I used a 9 x 9 pyrex to get the super thickness going- if you’d rather thinner, use a larger rectangular dish)
4. You’re going to have to work quickly here- first, place the remaining butter minus what you used to coat the dish into a microwaveable bowl and mirowave until liquid. Prepare a pastry brush.
5. Take one layer of filo and place it into the bottom of the dish. It’s going to be too big, and that’s all right – just fold the sides. Brush it with butter, and repeat with two more sheets, buttering each time.
6. Spoon on about 3-4 tbl of the nut mixture evenly onto the filo. Then take 3 more filo sheets and add them one at a time, brushing with butter and folding over to fit- or you can cut and trim and just treat them as two sheets each, it’s up to you. Keep repeating this process of filo layering, buttering, and placing the nut mixture, until you place your last 2-3 sheets of filo right on top. Butter the top generously (of course).
7. Place in the oven for 35-45 minutes (depending on the heat of your oven) or until the top is golden brown (see below picture). You can cut them prior to baking if you like, but my father (whom I made these for) suggested cutting after so that they’d be more moist inside. That’s your choice!
8. Remove from oven once golden brown and let sit 5 minutes. Then, using a sharp knife, patience, and gritted teeth, cut them (roughly) into large diamonds. Get your now-thick syrup out and douse the whole thing with all the syrup, making sure to get into all the cracks.
9. Let sit another 15-20 minutes until the syrup is well absorbed. It’ll actually be better the next day once it’s been fully saturated with honeyed goodness, but if you must serve it now, wait a half hour after syruping to ensure moistness all over.

Baklava is my father’s favourite dessert, and I owed him some since months ago :) so this was for him. I think next time I’ll try thinner ones with all pistachio or almost all, at any rate…. but these were delicious and so gargantuan that they made for a fun picture. As a note- the syrup for me was very watery for a long time- hence my cooking it down lengthily- but the second I took it off the heat, it began to thicken- so don’t be alarmed if it takes its time becoming a syrup! Just trust in it.

I realize that may be a bit pompous to say, but honestly, this is a rather foolproof delicious pesto. I’ve been rather fed up with the pestos I’ve found as of late. They’re all ‘too’ something: too oil; too yellow; too spiced; too bland; too thin; and so on. Finding a pesto that’s got the proper taste, consistency, and colour is rather difficult, and I’m hard-pressed to find that combination. Sauces and Love has a wonderful pesto but unfortunately it’s quite pricey for a small quantity.

I recently purchased an adorable basil plant- local and organic- at the grocery store for $3 and was very excited about the prospect of my indoor fresh herbs… but the lack of direct sunlight meant this was an unsuccessful attempt. Oh, no! Dying basil plant! Clearly there was only one thing I could do: emergency pesto. Luckily, it turned out completely and utterly delicious. I know this is a recipe I’ll be following again- and soon- because that first batch is almost gone already :). It’s terrific with some plain fresh capellini and a light drizzle of olive oil. Perfecto!

The Perfect Pesto

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup chopped basil (coarse)
• 1/4 tsp minced garlic
• 1/2 cup grated fresh Reggianito cheese
• 1 heaping tablespoon fresh grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
• 1 tsp sea salt, sprinkling of pepper
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon sunflower seeds
• 1/2 tsp lemon juice
• 1/4 cup salted cashews, coarsely chopped

Process:

• Place all ingredients in food processor
• Process on low until all elements are combined and a thick paste-like consistency is formed; do not overprocess to where all the cheese and nut bits are gone- keep a bit of coarseness!
• Spread onto some freshly toasted ciabatta or mix into hot pasta with a bit of extra olive oil for a yummy, delicious time

So simple! So good! So sure to be making this one again soon! Actually, I’m tempted to get a ton of basil, some cute jars, and jar some of this as christmas or holiday gifts… nice packaging will make this have the perfect touch. Seriously, make some. It’s so much cheaper than buying t at the store, and likely to be more delicious, as well! Pine nuts are the traditional nut for pesto, but I almost like it better this way :).

Lemonade seems to be one of the defining items of summer, does it not? When you think of summer, one can feel this thirst for lemonade… as well as a desire for the crunch of fresh fruit. Strawberries and lemons make for fabulous partners. Vitamin C + ascorbic acid = amazing conservation. This cupcake was one that immensly appealed to those who usually dislike sweets- and love fruit. I’m glad to say they were the recipients of some excellent feedback- “I usually don’t like cakes or sweet things but these were pretty darn fantastic!” “I loved them. Those strawberry cupcakes were the best!” “I usually hate icing- but that was some really good icing.” If that’s not enough to convince you, I don’t know what is :)

The cupcake itself is very low fat- using all canola oil in favour of butter, and with plain low-fat yogurt. Yum! The icing, however… well… let’s pretend that’s equally healthy, shall we?

Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes

Adapted from Lemon Yogurt Cupcake @ Smells Like Bean Spirit

Ingredients:

• 1 & 1/3 cups King Arthur organic cake flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp Sicilian sea salt, large grain
• 3 large cage-free eggs
• 1 cup plain low-fat Stonyfield organic yogurt
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 lemons, zested and juiced
• zest of 1 small orange
• 1/8 tsp 2x vanilla extract
• 1 cup finely-chopped strawberries
• 1/4 cup organic canola oil

Process:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Whisk together briskly the eggs, vanilla, zest, juices (lemon + orange), and sugar in a large bowl; set aside.
3. Sift together the flour, salt, and baking powder into a small bowl.
4. Mix the flour mixture into the wet mixture in two batches, mixing briskly and thoroughly but not overmixing.
5. Pour in the oil and mix this in as well, still briskly. Then fold in the strawberry bits.
6. Pour into baking cups (small, large, both, you pick!) and bake for 18-20 minutes (depending on the heat of your oven). Then let cool in a wire rack while you prepare the icing!

Icing Ingredients:

• 7 tablespoons soy butter, softened
• zest of 1/2 a lemon
• 1/4 tsp 2x vanilla extract
• 2-3 large strawberries, finely chopped
• about 1.5 cups confectioner’s sugar

The ‘about’ in reference to the powdered sugar is because this depends on the consistency you’re going for. I wanted a thick, creamy icing that would pipe easily and hold its shape; but if you’re going for runnier, then add less sugar, and for a more thick icing, add more, and so forth. It’s not overly sweet, surprisingly, but that’s thanks to the lemon. It’s very rich, and goes very nicely with the airy cake.

This one’s a cupcake for friends and family who claim they aren’t dessert people. Make a batch of these and prove them wrong! :)

SPECIAL NOTE: The one complaint I had concerning these- and it was the same excat complaint every time- was regarding the texture of the cupcake around the strawberry bits, which sort of melted into the cake during baking. The cupcake became rather gooey around these parts, mostly due to the excess moisture being thrown out by the berry pieces. To combat this, try either a) drying them on a paper towel for 1-2 hours prior to baking (thanks, Jon!); or b) masserating them in sugar to ‘sweat out’ the moisture, then dry on a paper towel. It all depends on the sweetness level you would like your cupcake to have! Another alternative is to use method b but then rinse the berries thoroughly to remove the added sugar which has not been absorbed- this may reduce the sweetness by a bit.

I’ve always adored lemonade. I see it as being the patron drink of summer, and the idea of a tall, cold glass of lemonade coupled with a good read makes for my idea of summer heaven (added bonus: abundant sunshine). Last week when the sister and I were grocery shopping I saw lemons on sale and immediately began sorting through them. Sister shook her head, as this happens often:

Sister: “So, what are you doing?”

Me: “Lemons! The lemons! They’re on sale! And look how pretty they are!”

Sister: “…And do you know what you plan to do with them?”

Me: “Oh, well, I hadn’t thought of that yet. But something. Oh! Lemonade. I’m making lemonade.”

Sister: “Do you really need so many of them, though!?”

She worries about my culinary sanity, I think, for I often get over-excited at the store over ingredients without set plans on how or when to use them. It’s always been an issue (“Elle a les yeux plus grands que l’estomac!” was often said of my by my parents) in that I tend to prefer the picture or the idea of the food rather than the food itself. This must explain my early-on interest in food styling. :)

Elise at SimplyRecipe’s is another culinary idol/favourite of mine, so I opted to follow her wisdom in this recipe. I learned the lemonade basics: simple syrup is what gets out that grainyness (if you watch Food Network, Giada’s a simple syrup obsessor, it seems) but I can now truly see the merit in this process (its slight resemblance to caramel frightens me, but I shall ignore this and pretend I’m a whiz at caramel). Therefore, ‘lo and behold this very yummy (but rather sweet- will definitely reduce sugar next time) recipe for something delightfully cool and crisp:

Home-Made Lemonade

Following Elise’s Perfect Lemonade Recipe at SimpleRecipes

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup granulated sugar (even this was too sweet for me, so feel free to go down to 1/2 cup)
• 1 cup room-temp water (for the simple syrup- more later for the actual lemonade)
• 1 cup freshly-squeezed lemon juice (took me about 8 lemons, small-to-medium-sized)
• 5 cups cold water (to dilute; could have even gone with a 6th)
• 1 lemon cut into slices for deocration and too add extra lemon-y-ness

Process:

1. Get out a small pot and place in sugar and simple syrup water, and heat together on medium or so until the sugar is fully dissolved into the water.
2. While the simple syrup is heating, juice your lemons into your jug (I used one with a lid so I could shake it well. If you haven’t a lid, then you may want to juice into a lidded container before placing in your jug/bottle/etc)
3. Add the simple syrup to the lemon juice. Then add in about 5 (or even 6, depending on how you like your lemonade) cups of water to dilute it. I’d suggest tasting a tiny bit after every added cup to make sure you don’t go over and hit the point of no (lemonade) return.

And that’s it! Super simple (syrup) and easy to make, and oh-so-delicious on a hot summer day. And considering the fact that lemons are about 6 to a dollar in most stores at the moment, this comes out far cheaper than purchasing your own (which is probably ladden with HFCS and waiting to destroy your health, anyway)- so why not make yourself a pitcher? It’s a terrific excuse to go vintage glass bottle shopping, if nothing else…