Chocolate Cheesecake

This recipe came from a friend of a friend. She swears it tastes like it came from a gourmet restaurant and will melt in your mouth. It takes a little more effort as it's cooked in a water bath, but well worth the effort. Thanks Janice and Cavel!

Ingredients

Crust

1/3 cup butter, melted
1 1/4 cups chocolate cookie crumbs

Cake

3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 (300 ml) can sweetened condensed milk
8 semi-sweet chocolate baking squares, melted
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla

Directions

Crust

Mix melted crumbs and butter. Press on bottom of springform pan. Wrap 3 layers of heavy-duty foil around the outside of the pan, bringing foil to top of rim.

Cake

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
Beat cream cheese until fluffy.
Add condensed milk and beat until smooth.
Add chocolate, eggs and vanilla and mix well.
Pour batter into prepared pan. Place cake in large roasting pan. Add enough hot water to roasting pan to come halfway up sides of cake pan.
Bake cake until center no longer moves when pan is gently shaken, about 50 minutes.

Pumpkin Creme Brulee

From the first crunch of the crackle topping to the last bite of the creamy pumpkin custard, this sinfully pleasing dessert makes a splendid ending to a fall dinner.

Pumpkin Crème Brûlée

By The Canadian Living Test Kitchen

Servings: 8

1-1/2 cups (375 mL) pumpkin purée
1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla
1/2 tsp (2 mL) cinnamon
1/4 tsp (1 mL) each ground nutmeg and ginger
2 cups (500 mL) whipping cream
8 egg yolks
1/3 cup (75 mL) granulated sugar
1/2 cup (125 mL) packed brown sugar

Preparation:

1- Place eight 6-oz (175 mL) custard cups or ramekins in large pan; set aside.In large bowl, combine pumpkin purée, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger; set aside.

2- In saucepan, heat cream until steaming. In bowl, whisk egg yolks with granulated sugar; slowly whisk in cream. Whisk into pumpkin mixture. Pour into prepared custard cups. Pour enough hot water into pan to come halfway up sides of cups.

3- Bake in centre of 350°F (180°C) oven until edge is set but centre still jiggles and knife inserted in centre comes out creamy, about 35 minutes. Remove from water; let cool on racks. Cover and refrigerate until chilled and set, about 2 hours. (Make-ahead: Refrigerate for up to 2 days.)

4- Set fine sieve over bowl; press brown sugar through sieve to eliminate lumps. Pat custards dry; sprinkle evenly with brown sugar.

5- Holding small blowtorch so end of flame touches sugar, heat until sugar bubbles and turns dark amber. Chill, uncovered, for at least 30 minutes before serving. (Make-ahead: Refrigerate for up to 3 hours.)

Tip: You can also broil the sugar 6 inches (15 cm) from the heat until it turns dark amber. Keep a close eye on the cups because you may need to rearrange them as they broil to evenly darken the sugar.

Variation

Apple Butter Crème Brûlée: Replace pumpkin purée with 1/2 cup (125 mL) apple butter. Increase whipping cream to 2-1/2 cups (625 mL).

Pumpkin Roll Cake

Pumpkin Jelly Roll

3 eggs
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup pumpkin, pureed
1 tsp. lemon juice
3/4 cup flour
1 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup pecans, chopped

Filling

1 cup icing sugar
6 oz. cream cheese
1/4 cup butter
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Beat eggs 5 minutes until thick and lemon coloured. Gradually add sugar. Stir in pumpkin and lemon juice. Sift remaining dry ingredients and fold into egg mixture. Spread in greased 15 x 10 inch (33 x25 cm) jelly roll pan lined with greased wax paper. Top with chopped pecans. Bake at 375° F (190°C) 15 minutes or until no impression remains when pressed with finer tips.

Immediately turn out on tea towel sprinkled with confectioner's sugar. Remove paper and roll up in a roll up starting at the long side jellyroll fashion. Meanwhile, beat softened cream cheese, butter, icing sugar and vanilla to a spreadable consistency. When roll is partially cool unroll and spread on filling. Roll up and chill a few hours until serving time.

The Keg's Billy Miner Pie

This is a recipe I found when looking for a copycat recipe for the Keg's Billy Miner Pie. I made it earlier this summer for a BBQ dessert that we were invited to. OMFG! Just a word of advice, a deep freeze works better for this pie as opposed to your freezer on your fridge. Just take the pie out a few minutes before serving.

Southern Recipe Restoration Project The contributor: Ashley Leckey, a Tallahassee native and University of Georgia graduate who has lived in Atlanta since 2004. The story: “My grandma Cele Marcoux was a jack of all trades. She was an editor of a newspaper, she worked in a dental lab, she had a line of luxury ties, she served as a nurse in the Army. “But what Grandma really loved was entertaining, and she was well-known for the parties she would throw. I am lucky enough to have inherited her collection of family recipes -- handwritten and typewriter-printed. I have some from my great-grandmother as well. " -- Susan Puckett, for the Journal-Constitution Leckey notes that her grandmother sometimes used the Copycat Chocolate Fudge Sauce recipe to make this pie, and flavored the ice cream -- coffee or vanilla bean -- with her homemade coffee-flavored liqueur. See links below for those recipes.

Calypso Pie
Hands on time: 30 minutes Total time: 3 hours Serves: 12

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter (1 stick), divided
18 Oreo cookies, crushed
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup evaporated milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon almond extract
1 quart coffee ice cream
1 cup heavy whipping cream
3 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar 1 cup coarsely chopped pecans

Instructions:

Melt 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter. Mix crushed cookies with melted butter; press into bottom and up sides of a 10-inch pie plate and chill. In a saucepan over low heat, melt the chocolate and remaining butter. Remove from heat and stir in sugar and salt. Add the evaporated milk gradually, blending well. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla and almond extracts. Set aside to cool to room temperature. When the shell is chilled and the sauce has cooled, set out the ice cream to soften slightly, 5 to 10 minutes. Fill the pie shell with the ice cream. Put the pie in the freezer until ice cream is firm again.

In the meantime, beat the whipping cream until it just holds a peak. Beat in the confectioners’ sugar.

Spread the fudge sauce over the ice cream layer, then mound the top with whipped cream and sprinkle with pecans. Store in the freezer until ready to serve. Remove and let sit a few minutes before slicing.