Cookies and Cream Cheesecakes

Martha Stewart fans assemble!
I mean if your a cheesecake fan, Oreo fan, or just a dessert foondie, 

YOU HAVE GOT TO BAKE THESE ASAP!!! 

Mini Oreo Baked Cheesecakes! ♥ Are you kidding me! 

This recipe is as simple and delicious as they come, I hope you guys enjoy baking & eating them as much as i did! 

Recipe yields 3 Dozen Standard Muffin size Cheesecakes.

Ingredients

• 3 boxes of Oreo Cookies, 3 dozen whole cookies to be kept aside for cheesecake base, the remaining cookies to be roughly chopped.

• 2 Pounds (roughly 907 g) Cream Cheese, softened

• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract

• 1 Cup Sour Cream

• 1 Cup Granulated Sugar

• 4 Large eggs, lightly beaten

• pinch of salt

Method

1. Preheat oven to 135° C or 275° F.
2. Line Standard size muffin pans with cupcake liners. Place 1 whole Oreo cookie at the bottom of each liner. (the Oreo cookie will be your cheesecake base/crust) 
3. Beat Cream cheese at medium speed using an electric mixer. Gradually add the sugar, beating until combined. Beat in the Vanilla.
4. Drizzle in eggs, a bit at a time. Beat in sour cream and salt. Stir in chopped cookies by hand. 
5. Divide batter evenly among cookie-lined cups, filling each one almost to the top. (I use an ice cream scoop so i get even sized cheesecakes) 
6. Bake, rotating the pans halfway through, until filling is set, about 22 minutes.
7. Transfer to wire racks and allow to cool completely. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours (or up to overnight). Remove from cupcake liner just before serving.

These desserts are best when served really cold! 

You may garnish with fresh whipped cream and crumbled Oreo if desired.

Troublesh0oting

My tips for flop proof Cookies and Cream Cheesecake!

• Let me put this into perspective for you, your going to sink your teeth into a velvet smooth baked cheesecake with cookie crumbs on the top, chunks of Oreo cookie in the center, and then you get a little crunch from the Oreo cookie base, the play on texture and flavor here is just amazing! This is an Oreo Cookie Monsters dream come true!

• Start by keeping aside your 3 Dozen Oreo cookies, Fight the urge to snack on any of them, you want to make sure that these cheesecakes are bursting with Oreo flavor! 

• Once you've kept your 3 Dozen whole Oreo cookies aside, roughly chop the remaining cookies and then using both hands grab up the chopped cookies and place them in a separate bowl from the crumbs that were too small to be picked up. These crumbs are what I used to garnish the tops of my cheesecakes. Its also important that you keep the cookie fines away from your mixture so that the cheesecake doesn't end up grey in color. 

• Make sure you combine all the ingredients thoroughly and when you add the roughly chopped Oreo, mix very gently (by hand) so that you do not break up the pieces too much. Ensure the Oreo is  spread out nicely throughout your mixture before placing equal amounts of filling into your cupcake liners, you want to make sure each cheesecake gets some Oreo pieces in it. Sprinkle your Oreo cookie crumb garnish on the tops of each cheesecake before baking.

• Do not rush the baking time, if your oven is a bit small then bake one tray at a time, ensure you keep an eye on the cheesecakes, when the tops look like they are cracking a little and the mixture is no longer wobbly, you know they are ready. 

• Allow them to cool completely and then refrigerate them for minimum 4 hours, its totally worth it!

I Hope you guys give this a shot! its so simple and delicious you just have too! 
I foresee many "Yum in my tum" moments!

Till my next bake adventure, all my Love ♥ Prish

Creamy Custard Profiteroles drizzled with Toffee sauce

I decided to bake up some Profiteroles, most of you must already know about these little heavenly puffs, but for the benefit of those who don't; 

Profiteroles are made from Choux pastry and you would use the same pastry if you were making eclairs. Choux is a very light and airy pastry that virtually anyone can make because it is not as fussy as other pastries and requires no real pastry making skills, that's whats so great about it, it is truly an amateur bakers dream come true! They go perfectly with cream or custard fillings, but one could always get creative and add ice cream or whatever you please. 

So here it is, the tried and tested Profiterole recipe + Troubleshooting... Enjoy ♥

Ingredients

Choux Pastry

• 125 ml water

• 60 g butter

• 125 ml (70 g) cake flour

• 1 ml salt

• 2 extra-large eggs

Custard Filling

• 500 ml milk

• 80 ml (65 g) sugar

• 45 ml custard powder

• 15 ml butter or margarine

• 3 ml vanilla or lemon essence 

• 125 ml fresh cream 

Toffee Sauce

• 4 x 55 g Bar One chocolate bars, coarsely chopped

• 60 ml milk

Method

For the Pastry:

1. Heat water and butter in a small, heavy based saucepan until the butter has completely melted, thereafter bring mixture to the boil.
2. Once mixture begins to boil, turn off the heat immediately. With one hand add flour and salt while stirring quickly with the other until a ball forms in the middle and the dough comes away from the sides of the saucepan, this process happens fairly fast, less than a minute. 
3. Remove from heat and allow to cool for approximately 5 minutes,
4. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition until the dough is smooth and glossy.
5. Place heaped teaspoonfuls onto a greased baking tray or pipe out rounds roughly 3 to 4 cm wide. 
6. Bake in a preheated oven at 200° C for 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 180° C and continue baking for 15 minutes. 
7. Once baked the puffs should be golden and crisp, remove from oven,pierce to release steam and allow to cool completely on a cooling rack. 

For the filling:

1. Heat milk in a medium heavy based saucepan. 
2. Combine the sugar and custard powder and add some of the heated milk to it, mix well.
3. Add to the hot milk in the saucepan and boil until it starts to thicken, stirring continuously.
4. Remove from heat and add butter and essence. Mix well and set aside to cool completely.
5. Once custard is cooled, whip cream to soft peak stage and gently fold into cooled custard mixture.
6. Using a piping bag or metal spoon fill each puff with the custard cream. 

For the sauce:

1. Place chocolate pieces and milk in a heavy based saucepan and melt over medium heat. Stir constantly until chocolate is melted and sauce is smooth. Pour over puffs and serve immediately. 

Troublesh0oting

My tips for flop proof profiteroles

• Choux pastry is meant to be light and airy. The pastry dough contains a fair amount of water and this creates steam in the oven, it aids the pastry in getting the desired puffed look once baked, for that reason, DO NOT OVER BOIL YOUR MIXTURE! it is important to salvage as much of the moisture in the pastry dough as possible. 

• Do not add the eggs to the dough too soon after removing the dough from the heat, or you will end up with scrambled eggs!

• You may use a greased sheet pan, silicone mats or parchment paper to bake the pastry.

• I prefer piping the pastry out but spooning the mixture works just as well, it wont be as perfectly formed, but that's perfectly okay!

• Do not over bake the pastry, it drys out and crumbles.

• Do not forget to pierce each puff to release steam and prevent sogginess once removed from the oven. 

• make a small incision in each puff and pipe the custard in,its so much simpler than struggling with a spoon!  

• I tried the toffee sauce over the top and it was magnificent, my only regret is that once cooled the chocolate becomes a bit chewy and tends to get stuck in your teeth so you will have to eat them immediately if you want them at their best.

• I recommend topping the profiteroles with a chocolate ganache instead. Its just as delish and wont turn chewy the next day (if the profiteroles survive that long! lol)

• Finally remember that if you have a thermo-fan (convection) oven, the temperature is usually reduced by 10° C and/or the baking time is adjusted. 

That's a wrap! I hope you enjoy them, please feel free to post comments and let me know how they turn out! 

Ciao! 

Bakes

I have to say that my all time favorite baker has to be my mom ♥
Growing up there were 3 recipes of hers that got the most popularity in our kitchen

The first: Moist chocolate cake with a whipped cream and strawberry jam filling,the jam soaks into the sponge turning it into the most sweet and sensational cake, the top was covered in more cream and encrusted with chocolate flakes... just amazing
The second: Milk tart, simple but so delicious, nothing beats a warm cinnamon milk tart on a cold day! Whenever mom made her special milk tart there would be wars raging on between my older brother and myself, for who gets to eat up all the left over milk custard in the pot! 
The third: Moms famous custard and cream, chocolate coated eclairs, angels dance on your tongue with every bite!

Maybe one day I will share them with you... 

(I say this because i am still waiting for her to share the secret recipes with me! Trust me, no other recipes I have tried can compare!)

I have since taken over as the baker and recently our home underwent some major renovations, we now have our dream kitchen!!

This is where the magic happens

Mind you this picture was taken before we accessorized, it now has red bar stools and red accessories, its simply perfect! I can say with all honesty, this kitchen is my inspiration behind starting this blog!