Sinful

Here is my latest culinary experiment. I am ashamed to say that I have never made a cheesecake. I really wanted to try my hand at it. I found this recipe online, and went for it. This particular cheesecake had a lot of ingredients and took a bit more work, but it was well worth it. It turned out marvelous. I took it to a primary meeting, and it was a huge hit! Someone even said it tasted like a Cheesecake Factory cheesecake. Once again, not one of my healthiest recipes. For some reason, if I make a treat I don't have to eat it, I am just satisfied to try the recipe and send the end results away, but I do feel the need to taste it first to see if it is good enough to send away. Sort of a double edged sword. I will post some healthier recipes soon.
INGREDIENTS
1/2 cups vanilla wafer crumbs
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/3 cup cocoa
1/3 cup butter, melted
50 individually wrapped caramels, unwrapped
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 (5 ounce) can evaporated milk
3 (1.4 ounce) bars chocolate covered English toffee
4 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese
1 1/2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
2 egg yolks
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/3 cup heavy whipping cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 (1.4 ounce) bars chocolate covered toffee, chopped

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, combine wafer crumbs, powdered sugar and cocoa with the melted margarine. Mix well. Press onto the bottom and half-way up the side of 10 inch springform pan. Bake for 10 minutes in preheated oven. Allow to cool.
Increase oven temperature to 425 degrees F (200 degrees C). In a saucepan over low heat, melt the caramels together with the chocolate chips and evaporated milk stir until smooth and pour into crust.

Beat cream cheese until smooth. Add sugar and flour; beat until smooth. Add eggs, then yolks, one at a time. Blend in heavy cream and vanilla. Add 3 cut up candy bars to mixture. Pour over caramel and toffee layers. Wrap outside of pan with foil.
Set in a large pan that has been filled with 1 inch of hot water. Bake at 425 degrees for 20 minutes; reduce oven to 250 degrees and bake 1 hour and 15 minutes. Turn off oven and let sit for 1 hour. Remove from water. Chill overnight in the refrigerator. Top with 2 more Heath Bar candy bars that have been chopped. Drizzle with remaining chocolate and caramel.

For Ashley

My little sister Ashley has been pestering me to post the latest recipes that I've tried. If I had a fast metabolism,(or better self-control) I would try a new recipe or two every day.
Creamy, Tomato Basil Soup

INGREDIENTS
4 tomatoes - peeled, seeded and diced
4 cups tomato juice
14 leaves fresh basil
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup butter
salt and pepper to taste



DIRECTIONS
Place tomatoes and juice in a stock pot over medium heat. Simmer for 30 minutes. Puree the tomato mixture along with the basil leaves, and return the puree to the stock pot.
Place the pot over medium heat, and stir in the heavy cream and butter. Season with salt and pepper. Heat, stirring until the butter is melted. Do not boil.

*This soup is soooo good, although it is definitely not a low-fat recipe. I am working on slimming it down. It is a nice one to take to someone who needs a meal.
I added cheese filled tortellini (because it didn't have enough calories to start with)! The recipe for the focaccia is at the very bottom of the blog.


Cream Filled Cupcakes

For this recipe I just kind of faked it. Because I also like fast, and easy recipes, I used a chocolate cake mix for the cupcakes. After they were completely cooled I used a pastry bag with a large tip to pipe a mixture of homemade frosting and sweetened whipping cream into the middles. You could also add some cream cheese. I then frosted the tops with homemade chocolate frosting and piped the white swirls. Next time I make these I want to try topping these with ganache, they would look more professional. These were a huge hit with both the adults and the kids.