End of the month round-up, part one…pastries, bread, and cookies
The canolli came from Fraboni’s and it was a mid-afternoon snack that follwed a Fraboni’s crazy-tasty sandwich called The Otto…I swear that sandwich is so good it defies logic…of course it’s filled with porky products. The canolli, consumed with a double espresso was heavenly…sweet, creamy, crunchy…mmmm!
Snickerdoodles have to be my all-time favorite cookie in the category of cookie that contains no chocolate. They somehow manage to have a tangy flavor that accents their sweet, cinnamon goodness, and their texture is so toothsome…I get addicted to the texture when I eat them and I can barely stop myself.
Madison Sourdough Company makes a reliable and flavorful baquette…if they would just make one with seeds like a Semifreddi’s seed baquette (fennel, sesame, and poppyseeds) I’d be blissed out.
I’m a sucker for lemon curd and poppyseeds. Scott’s Pastry Shoppe here in Middleton had the audacity to combine the two and cradle it in a buttery, almost brioche like pastry…I confess this pastry left me speechless. The frosting on top was more than gilding the lily…it was slitting the wrists. Woohoo good.
A cherry scone is good…not as good as a strawberry scone but it’ll do. I made these using jarred morello cherries from TJ’s and they were pretty good. Just take any one of the many strawberry scone recipes I’ve posted and substitute cherries.
We’ll move on to savory food next.
Ebony and ivory…a cheesy delight
It’s all about juxtaposition…without it life would be such a drag, and we can’t have that, can we? I was browsing Dorie Greenspan’s book…thinking about cheesecake and how I love cheesecake filling but I find the crust to be nothing short of inspid. I also detest the springform pan…a special, hellish pan manufactured to ensure certain doom on anything baked in it…and…useful for only a a few things…obviously a silly pan. I also found myself thinking that while I adore simple vanilla cheesecake, I also swoon over chocolate cheesecake. But I didn’t feel like committing to one or the other, I wanted both. That’s when it came to me…cheescake parfaits with layers of vanilla and chocolate cheesecake…easy-peasy, drool-inducing deliciousness.
So I chose Dorie’s recipe for chocolate cheesecake and right before I added the chocolate I spooned out half of the vanilla mixture. I layered the cheesecake into small glasses, settled them in a small, tall pot with hot water in it, and baked them for about 20 – 30 minutes… I pulled them out when they smelled done.
They are really dense, cheesy, chocolately treats that are satisfying and rich…together in perfect harmony (I couldn’t resist). We loved them.
Cheesecake Parfaits
(click here for a printer-friendly recipe)
3 8 oz packages of cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
pinch of salt
4 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate
Cut the cream cheese into quarters and put it in the work bowl of your food processor along with the sugar. Pulse it a few times until it starts to move freely then leave it running for about 2 minutes. Add the eggs, vanilla, and salt and pulse four or five long pulses. Scrap down the sides and remove 1/2 of the batter.
Melt the chocolate in the microwave on a power level of 5 for about 2 or 3 minutes. Add it to the food processor and pulse again until it’s well mixed.
Layer the vanilla batter and chocolate batter in alternating layers in tall, oven-proof glasses. Use a tall pot to make a bain marie…fill it about half full with hot water and then place the parfaits into the pan…make sure the water doesn’t come up over the sides of the parfaits.
Bake at 350F for 20 to 30 minutes or until the tops bloom outward, they lose their jiggle, and they smell done.
Cool in the refrigerator for an hour or two at least.
