Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Low and Lush Chocolate Cheesecake


So these aren't the prettiest pictures ever, but I had to show one of only two cheesecakes ever that haven't cracked! I'd always heard not to beat the cream cheese too much, but I think maybe I've always been afraid of that so never mixed it enough. I'm not sure, maybe I'll only make this cheesecake from now on :)

















And here's a slice the next morning. Again, not a great picture or great cutting, but a very tasty piece of cake!

Thanks to the Tea Lady of Tea and Scones for this week's pick!

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Gingerbread Truffles


I wanted a chocolate to go with the little holiday plates for the neighbors, and my fudge didn't work, so I tried going for truffles. I used the Gingerbread Truffles on epicurious. The reviews were very helpful, the ganache sets very firm, so they're a bit tough to roll. I wasn't ambitious enough to temper the chocolates, so I just rolled in a mix of cocoa powder, powdered sugar and nutmeg.

I loved these! My husband and his friend thought they'd be great without the gingerbread flavor. But these were my favorite treats this year!

Friday, December 11, 2009

Puppy Cookies


We have a fantastic neighbor who is so good to our kids, so I wanted to make a little something for her "kids" for Christmas. I'd made a recipe from the vet many times before, but that cookbook's packed up already, so I looked online and found DogTreatKitchen.com. Such a fun site! I tried the
Peanut Butter Dog Biscuits, and they worked great! The dough was very easy to work with, and I liked that it didn't have any dairy or egg. I don't know if it's true, but I'd think these might have a longer shelf life. It is more like a roll or bread dough than a cookie dough, so the bigger cutters seemed to work better. The trees were great (the reindeer's antlers didn't work so well :) ). This one's so easy - definitely a keeper!