Triple Chocolate Hazelnut Cheesecake

 

I thought I'd start off today's post with a somewhat obvious observation. Once you start baking (and inevitably sharing all of the diet-busting goodness with those around you) you tend to get a reputation for being "the girl who bakes," which can be a good thing and a bad thing. It's a good thing because once folks learn about your new found hobby, they're pretty willing to sample the results, and often end up being the best providers of honest feedback. This is great in-and-of itself because feedback leads to practice, and practice makes better, right? 

However, you may also begin fielding requests to bring baked goodies to every clam bake, birthday party and office function known to man. Now, I love baking, but if I had to whip up desserts every day, our kitchen would never be clean and I'd start to resent my new favorite hobby. So--as I suspect is the plight of many amateur bakers--I've had to perfect the ancient art of "No." In doing so, I've been able to focus on one thing at a time and ultimately make a better dessert, so I like to think it's a win-win for everybody! That leads me to today's recipe, which I used for another office party last month. 

The above ended up being a modified version of this Martha Stewart recipe for chocolate cheesecake, minus the chocolate ganache on top and with raspberry garnish instead. The crust I tweaked by adding crushed hazelnuts, which I'm a big fan of. Before you use them, make sure to blanch and toast them a bit to bring out the flavor. Also, make sure to blind bake the crust for about 10 minutes before adding the chocolate filling. Enjoy!

For the Crust:

1 package of Oreo Cookies (8-9 oz.) 

1 cup blanched, dry roasted and pulverized hazelnuts

1 stick unsalted butter

Freestyle Friday #2 - Passion Fruit & Mango Cheesecake

Hello everyone! I hope you've all enjoyed this week's French pastry. On this episode of Freestyle Friday (which I decided to publish a day early), I thought I'd return to my favorite flavor combination: passion fruit and mango. After using about half a bottle of fruit concentrate in Chef Felder's passion fruit creme recipe, I didn't want the remainder to go to waste, so I decided to try this cheesecake. I've never made one before, so I was a bit nervous. I find a lot of homemade cheesecakes to be too "cheesy," or just too much like a slab of Philly topped with canned fruit. Not all that appetizing, in my opinion. This one, however, turned out surprisingly light, and I'll definitely make it again.

I did make a few tweeks, to includ the addition of a bottom crust:

For the Crust:
1 box animal crackers (pulverized)
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 stick unsalted butter

I also changed the topping a bit, because I didn't have any unflavored gelatin (which, incidentally, is a bit hard to find on Amazon as well...unless you're buying in bulk). Instead, I diced up two fresh mango and soaked the fruit in a mixture of passion fruit concentrate and mango-flavored jello. Once that set up a bit, I poured the topping over the cooled cheesecake, and popped it back in the refrigerator to chill completely overnight. Yum! The office had cheesecake for breakfast :)

Pate Sucree - Tarte Creme de Citron (Lemon Curd Tart)

Citrus is so delightful in summertime, and now that it's August, I couldn't wait to try this recipe for Lemon Curd Tart from section one of Chef Felder's book. I was much happier with the crust this time around, as I finally managed to roll it out to the proper thickness (about 1/8 inch thick). The candied lemon peel was so much fun to make, and it was incredibly simple. Water, sugar, lemon! Too cool :)

From Patisserie: Mastering the Fundamentals of French Pastry

For the Candied Lemon Slices:
1 lemon, sliced paper thin
1/2 cup (3 1/2 oz., 100 g) sugar
3/4 cup (200 ml) water

For the Pate Sucree (Sweet Pastry):
1 stick (4 oz., 120 g) unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup (3 oz., 80 g) confectioners' sugar
1 vanilla bean, 1 Tbsp. vanilla sugar or 1 tsp. vanilla extract
3 Tbsp. (1 oz., 25 g) ground almonds
1 pinch salt
1 egg
1 2/3 cups (7 oz., 200 g) all-purpose flour

For the Lemon Curd:
2 lemons, pealed (yellow zest only, no white pith!)
1/2 cup (120 ml) lemon juice
2/3 cup (4 oz., 120 g) granulated sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 sticks (6 oz., 175 g) unsalted butter, diced

Freestyle Friday #1 - Our Family's Blueberry Pie

I thought I'd take a break from the book occasionally to post some recipes that aren't Felder's own. I'll be posting them on Fridays, from now on, but still plan on regular updates with French pastries throughout the month. First is a personal favorite of mine: blueberry pie. Growing up in the Midwest, and of French-Canadian and Scottish/Irish heritage to boot, my family had pie for dinner probably once a week. Meat pie, chicken pot pie, shepherds pie, you name it. Suffice it to say, it is now one of my standard fall back options for dinner or dessert.

However, up until this point, I had never made my own pie crust! So, I took the opportunity to rectify this handicap in time for a coworker's farewell party a few weeks ago. Rumor had it that the guest of honor was a fan of blueberry pie, so I jumped at the chance to bake one from scratch. Thankfully, both of my parents have really great fruit pie recipes, so all I needed to supply was the crust. I ended up using the same Pate Brisee from Chef Felder's plum tart, and it really turned out well (despite the fact that I forgot to blind bake the bottom crust...amateur mistake). Next time, I think I'll roll the crust a bit thinner, and make sure to blind bake before adding the fruit. There's always room for improvement!

Our Family's Blueberry Pie:

For the filling:
5 cups blueberries
1/4 cup tapioca
1 tsp corn starch
3/4 cup granulated suger
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1 orange, zested

For the Pate Brisee (pie dough):
1 stick (4 oz., 125 g) unsalted butter, diced
2 cups (9 oz., 250 g) all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
3 1/2 Tbsp (1 1/2 oz., 40 g) sugar
1/2 cup (125 ml) cold water

Mix all of your filling ingredients in a bowl, and let stand for 15-20 minutes. Meanwhile, make the pie dough, divide into two discs, refrigerate for at least 2 hours, then roll out each disc to about 1/8 inch thick. Lay the bottom crust in your pie shell, prick the bottom and sides all over with a fork, and blind bake at 400 degrees F for about 10-12 minutes. Remove the bottom crust and fill with your berries. Cover with the top crust and crimp as you see fit. Use a pastry brush to cover the top with an egg wash (1 egg beaten), and sprinkle with granulated sugar. Bake again until the top crust is golden, about 25-30 minutes. Voila!