Cheesecake

Here's another winter favorite. It's rich and decadent, plus, you don't need any seasonal fruit for it! Perfect for dinner parties because it's baked the day before. This is one of the more complicated recipes I've shared but it looks harder than it is. Be sure to cook the crust through, and be sure to scrape the bowl often so the filling is homogenous. Do not overmix or it will rise and collapse, but this hasn't happened to me yet. The author warns not to use a convection oven or your cake will overcolor and overrise.

Yield: one 9" cake of 12 slices
Baking Temperature: starts at 350°
Note: bake the day before serving
Source: How to Bake by Nick Malgieri

Ingredients: Crust

3 TB unsalted butter, softened
3 TB sugar
1 egg yolk
1 C AP flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt

Instructions: Crust

1. Bring all ingredients to room temperature (especially cream cheese and eggs).
2. Preheat oven to 350°F.
3. Prepare a round, nine-inch, springform pan by buttering, then cover the bottom with a round of parchment paper.
4. In a bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
5. Beat in the yolk until smooth.
6. In a second bowl, combine the dry ingredients.
7. Gently fold the dry ingredients into the butter mixture with a rubber spatula. The mixture will be crumbly.
8. Pat the dough down into the pan evenly and firmly.
9. Bake 15-20 minutes until the dough is golden and baked through.
10. Lower the temperature of the oven to 325°F.

Nut Variation

Add 1/2 C (2.25oz) finely chopped sliced or slivered almonds, or finely chopped pecans, to the dry ingredients. Make sure to bake through.

Ingredients: Filling

2 lb (32 oz) cream cheese
1 C sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp lemon juice
4 eggs

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, using your mixer's lowest speed, beat the cream chese smooth (with the paddle attachment), about 30 seconds. Scrape the bowl and beater.
2. Add the sugar in a stream, mixing for another 30 seconds (or less). Scrape the bowl and beater.
3. Add one egg, lemon juice, and vanilla, mixing only until absorbed. Scrape the bowl and beater.
4. Add the remaining eggs one at a time mixing only until absorbed, scraping the bowl after each addition.
5. Wrap aluminum foil around the bottom of the pan (with the cooked crust in it).
6. Pour the filling into the pan over the crust.
7. Fill a large dish or roasting pan with water to a depth of 1/2 an inch.
8. Place your springform pan in the water bath.
9. Bake the cheesecake in it's bath for 60 minutes at 325°F, or until lightly colored and firm except for the very center.
10. Remove pan from water when the cake is done, remove foil, and cool on a rack.
11. Release the top of the cake from the sides of the pan with the point of a sharp paring knife to prevent cracks.
12. Once cool, wrap the cheesecake in plastic and chill overnight before unmolding.
13. Bring the cake out to warm to room tempterature one hour before serving. Serve plain or with berries.

Orange Ice Cream

Orange Ice Cream with Chocolate Syrup

Felicia's Orange Ice Cream

3C cream

1C milk

1C sugar (or less to taste)

7 egg yolks

zest of 2-3 oranges

Instructions (short version)

Steep zest in dairy with 1/2C sugar. Temper into eggs with other 1/2C sugar. Cool over ice bath. Strain. Churn.

I am adding the following recipe not because I've tried it but because it seems to be a basic flavored ice cream. As you can see the back-and-forth with the heat can be applied to any ice cream recipe. My version of orange ice cream involved heating the dairy before steeping the orange zest but not reheating it once the eggs were in. I suspect it would have had a creamier or fuller texture if I had. Try it?

KitchenAid Pumpkin Ice Cream Recipe Instructions (for reference)

Scald light cream in a heavy saucepan. Whisk yolks, sugar, and vanilla in a medium bowl. Gradually whisk in the cream, add the spice. Return to saucepan and stir over medium-low heat until mixture thickens, about 10 minutes. Do not boil. Remove from heat. Whisk in heavy cream and pumpkin. Strain into bowl. Refrigerate until well chilled. Churn.

Polvorones de Naranja (Orange Cookies)

Polvorones de Naranja

Yield: 4 dozen cookies
Baking Temperature: 400°F
Baking Time: 10-15 min

Ingredients

4 C AP flour
½ tsp baking soda
¼ C white sugar
2 sticks butter (room remperature)
4 large egg yolks
1 can/14oz sweetened condensed milk
zest of 1 orange
¼ C orange juice

Instructions

1. In medium bowl, sift flour, baking soda and sugar.
2. In large bowl, cream butter and egg yolks thouroughly.
3. Slowly add condensed milk to butter/eggs, then zest.
4. Slowly add the drys until they are all incorporated.
5. Finally mix in orange juice.
6. Flour a surface and roll out small quantities dough using a rolling pin to ¼ inch thickness or less (see below).
7. Cut 2" rounds using cookie cutter.
8. Gently transfer to baking sheet/silpat.
9. Bake 10-15 min at 400°F, will not brown much at all. Thin cookies take much less time to cook.
10. Cool 2 min on sheet (if soft) before transferring to wire rack to complete cooling.

Notes: The zest and juice requirements are more or less what one orange provides. This is a big recipe and expect to do several batches. Cookies will freeze fine in an airtight container. Undecorated this cookie is sophistacated and not overly sweet but (once cooled) a dusting of confectioner's sugar or a sugar cookie frosting are fun additions. Consider having the egg whites for breakfast...

Tool notes: In addition to your usual tools you will need a fine grater, a (hand) juicer, a rolling pin, and a cookie cutter. As you can see, I used stars but a round cutter would have more evenly colored edges. See pictures of these tools here.

About Rolled Cookies

I remember the first time I rolled out sugar cookies. It was just a few years ago and I did a lot of research on how to best go about it. I have to say that this recipe, while not really a sugar cookie, is much easier for a first-time roller as the dough is a lot less sensitive to the heat of your hands.

If you've never made a rolled cookie before but you've got your rolling pin all ready to go, here are my quick hints.

• Refrigerate dough for half an hour if it is too sticky to work with.
• Flour your work surface and pin as necessary. Keep cup of flour nearby.
• Find a BIG area for your work surface. I used my glass dining table. Granite, marble, or steel countertops are ideal.
• Lay out a piece (or two) of cling film (plastic wrap) on your work surface.
• Roll a (handful sized) ball of dough flat onto the plastic.
• Use the cutter all over your flat dough. Flour the cutter if it sticks.
• Peel the large pieces of scrap dough away.
• Lift the plastic wrap and with one hand under you can peel the cookies off easily (or lift wrap right up and slap the cookie onto the silpat/cookie sheet upside-down).
• Be careful about spilling flour on the top of your cookie because the flour will stay there despite baking.