Brownie Cheesecake

What's better than brownies or cheesecake?

... Brownies AND Cheesecake!

Not just that, this Brownie Cheesecake is full of color.

A while back, I came across a post for this BEAUTIFUL brownie cheesecake

Shared by aliastriona_angerboda

at Craftster.org

I've been wanting to make this for a while.  Well, we finally did!

As much as I want to make a rainbow colored cake like the original picture above, I thought a red, white and blue cake would be most suited for this time of year.

Really, it was so easy, I will be doing this again!

Ingredients:

- Brownie Recipe (made from a box or from scratch)

- Cheesecake Recipe (your favorite New York Style)

- Food Coloring (any and all colors you wish to add to your cake)

Ok... I realize that you may not have a favorite cheesecake recipe.  And if you don't, you are likely (like me) one who usually makes brownies from a box.  

This is what I used for my "Cheesecake Recipe"...

- 16oz of cream cheese, at room temperature

- 3 large eggs

- 1/2 sugar

- 1 Tbsp vanilla

- 1/4 cup sour cream

Notes: I liked this cheesecake recipe because it wasn't so sweet... so it went nicely with the brownie layer which was quite sweet.  It was also very, very creamy.  If you wanted a more firm cheesecake layer, you would need to add another egg.  However, I thought this turned out quite nice.

Directions:

1)  Prepare the brownie layer!

Preheat your oven according to your brownie recipe instructions.  Grease your pan!  I used a spring form pan, but if you don't have one, you could really use any dish you'd normally bake in.  

Prepare your brownies according to the recipe instructions.

Transfer your brownie batter to your baking pan.

Lick your spatula nice and clean... because brownie batter is SOOOOO yummy!

Bake your brownies to your liking.  When they are done, set them aside to cool and begin working on your cheesecake layer!

Now... I was making this for my husband, who is oddly appalled by gooey, messy brownies.  I made sure I baked them until they were nice and firm.  I would have much preferred a brownie layer that was slightly under-cooked.  The choice is up to you.

Remember, however, you will be baking this once again with the cheesecake layer, so you don't want to overdo it here!

2) Prepare your cheesecake layer!

Follow the instructions for preparing your favorite cheesecake.  If you are using my recipe above, follow these...

- Mix your cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until well blended.  Make sure you scrape the sides of your bowl often.

- Add your eggs, mixing well after each.

- Add the sour cream, and mix until well blended.  Again, making sure to scrape the sides of the bowl.

Once mixed, separate the cheesecake batter into as many bowls as you wish to have colors for your cake.  I chose red, white and blue, so I needed two extra bowls.

3)  Add some color!
Add food coloring to each bowl of cheesecake batter until you get a color you are happy with.  You can buy cake decorating colors that are more concentrated than the typical food coloring you would buy at the grocery store.  These might be best if you want to have really dark colors.  I used almost half a bottle of red ad blue to get the colors I did for this cake.

And here is my colored cheesecake batter...

At this point, you may want to preheat your oven according to your cheesecake baking instructions.  If you are following my instructions, preheat to 325F.

Next, drop, drizzle, or pour your cheesecake batter over your brownies.  I did three rounds of each color, so I got a nice layering of colors.  The colors will pretty much stay where you drop them, so keep this in mind when you are finishing up... what you see is what you'll get!  :)

I had debated running a toothpick through to swirl the colors, but opted not to this time.  However, it was VERY tempting.  I think that would have given a very cool effect.. and because I used only red and blue, the worst I'd end up with was purple, right?  :)  Next cake!

And here is my cheesecake, ready for the oven...

Place your cheesecake in the oven and bake until it is set.

If you are following my cheesecake recipe, bake for 35 minutes at 325F.

If you are using your own cheesecake recipe, you may need to go with a different temp or cook time, so refer to your recipe instructions.

When the cake is set, remove from the oven and allow it to cool.

Place the cooled cake in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours before serving.

Then, enjoy, of course!!!

The original instructions had suggested taking care in the cutting of your cake to get a nice presentation.  Use a clean knife and cut down into each slice rather than running your knife back and forth, up and down... you get the picture...

Love it!

I think this would make a beautiful 4th of July dessert, don't you?

If you ask me... all it is missing is whip cream.  I CAN'T BELIEVE I forgot the WHIP CREAM!!!

Hope you love it!

Pudding Beach Cups

A super fun, super simple snack to whip up this summer.

We made these while camping last weekend...

Aren't they cute?

My Inspiration...

Sharks On The Beach

at My Posh Baby & Kids

Ingredients

Pudding (we used butterscotch)

Graham Cracker Crumbs

Blue Sugar Sprinkles

Paper Umbrella

Teddy Grahams

Fish Shaped Snacks (we used SpongeBob but I tried to find Nemo)

Fruit Roll-ups (for a beach towel)

Gummy Lifesaves (for an inner tube)

... I used the clear, plastic cups shown in the picture, but it was WAY more pudding than any kid would eat for a snack.  I would suggest using smaller bowls/cups, like the custard cups.

Directions

1)  Toss a couple of graham crackers in a bag and crush them, if you don't have any graham cracker crumbs on hand.  A ziploc bag, closed tightly, and a child with a couple of hands, works well.

2)  Fill a small cup or bowl with your pudding.

I'd suggest filling it close to the top for a nicer presentation.

3)  Using a spoon, carefully and generously cover part of the pudding surface with the blue, sugar sprinkles.

This will be your water.

4)  Next, carefully spoon your graham cracker crumbs over the remaining surface of pudding.

This is your beach.

You will have this...

5)  Cut a rectangle from the fruit roll-ups to be used a beach towel.

Allow your child to place the umbrella, beach towel, teddy grahams, gummy lifesaver inner tube, and fish on top to their liking.

Looks like a beach party to me!

6)  Last, but not least... ENJOY!

So simple, how could you not love it!

I thought this would make a super cute cupcake topper too, don't you think?

Flower Garden Birthday Cake

We just celebrated my sweet Tatum's 4th birthday.

This was the Flower Garden cake to top off her Fancy Four Affair.

Each birthday I try to make a special cake for my kids.  Though I love baking, cake decorating is not  my forte!

I found this fun idea in one of my favorite books, What's New, Cupcake? by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson.  I love this book because the ideas are fairly simple and the results are so impressive.  Here is how I made it, following the instruction from the book.

Supplies:
Yeah, this one had TONS of items on ingredient list.  However, that is mostly due to the fact that I chose to make a variety of flowers for my flower garden.  Here is basically what you'd need...
- Cupcakes (I'd go with homemade for a firmer cake to stick the flowers into, though not necessary.)
- Green Cupcake Liners (though again, not necessary)
- Tray, for your Flower Garden to sit in
- Pretzels, sticks
- Cookies (sturdy, flat and round work best), one for each flower
- White Chocolate Chips, about 1 cup
- Frosting
- Green Food Coloring
- Assorted Candies for Flowers, I used M&Ms, Mike & Ikes, Jelly Bellies, Gummy Lifesavers
- Assorted Green Candies for Leaves
- Assorted Green Candies to fill in around the cupcakes (optional)
- Marshmallows (for flower petals), I used mini and a medium-sized variety in mine
- Sugar Sprinkles (assorted colors), for the marshmallow flowers

... I added some cute butterfly picks that I found at Hobby Lobby, that I thought were a nice touch.

Directions:
1) Make your marshmallow petals.
Do this by cutting them on the diagonal as shown below.  Set them aside so they can regain their shape.

Choose some colored sugar sprinkles, and place them in a small dish.

Take each of your cut marshmallow petals, and press the cut side into the colored sprinkles until it is nicely coated.  I used two different sizes of marshmallows, and opted to use colored sprinkles to match the color of the marshmallow.  I really liked how the medium-sized marshmallows looked on the finished flowers.

2)  Create your flowers!

Line your cookies up on a try.  I had 20 cupcakes to decorate, so I chose 20 cookies.  I also found it helpful to pre-sort my candies by color so I could quickly grab what I needed before my chocolate had set.  Once I had everything ready....

... I put 1/2 cup of white chocolate chips in a ziplock bag.  Place THE OPEN BAG in the microwave for 10 second intervals, mushing the chocolate in between each, until it is completely melted (may take about a minute).  Remove the air from the bag, and seal it.

Snip about 1/4" from the corner of your bag, and you are ready to pipe your chocolate!

See what I'm doing here?  Not a good idea.  I thought the chocolate would take longer to set than it did.  My recommendation would be to work on 2 or 3 AT THE MOST at a time.  One at a time might be a little too runny to easily decorate without your candies slipping out of place.

Pipe chocolate onto your cookie, and decorate it to your liking with your assorted candies and prepared marshmallow petals.  After a bit my chocolate was getting too "cool" and hard to work with.  I just popped it back in the microwave for 10 seconds, and we were back in business.

Here are my finished flowers.  Perhaps you can select some favorites from mine and copy them rather than experiment until you find one you like.

Note: I made the flowers the night before the party.  Cover them and hide them from the kids... :)

4) Prepare your cupcakes.
I know... I cheated.  I used store-bought frosting and added green food coloring to make it a nice, grassy green.

I frosted each cupcake, added some green sugar sprinkles to the top, and placed them on the tray.

Next, I filled in the gaps with all of the green candies I had stolen from my flower candy supply.

5)  Add your stems to the flowers.
The original instructions didn't call for this, but I happened to have some green candy melts on hand.  I chose to dip my pretzel sticks in the green candy melts.  I did this for two reasons.... 1, because I thought they would look nicer... and 2, because sticking a pretzel in a moist cupcake will cause the pretzel to get all soggy. Ick!

I melted my candy melts as directed on the package, rolled each pretzel stick in each, and let them set on a piece of wax paper.

Next, I melted another 1/2 cup of white chocolate chips in a small glass dish, as directed on the package (in the microwave for 30 second intervals).  I found that it worked best to lay the flowers upside-down, roll the end of the pretzel in the white chocolate, and rest it in place on the back of the flowers.  I then added white chocolate over top of that to make sure it was nice and "glued" into place.  You may have to hold the pretzel in place for a bit to allow it to set... or find a crafty way to rest it in place while you work on the next.

I transferred these to the fridge to allow them to completely set, about 5 minutes.  Set these aside, and add to your cupcakes right before you are ready to display your cake.

6) Arrange your flower garden.
I used green fruit slice candies for the leaves.  They were a little thick, so I cut them in half.  They were a perfect shape, I thought.

Place a flower into each cupcake.  Add a leaf or two to the base.  I rested my leaves in the frosting at an angle on most.  I also added some cute little butterfly picks.  Isn't it pretty?

We added flowers directly onto our extra cupcakes.  Charlotte had fun designing some of these.

And the finished display...

I thought it looked so pretty on the table!

A couple of thoughts...

*   The candy flowers were very heavy.  Little, if any, of the pretzel stem was left showing, as I had to insert them fairly deep to support the weight of the flowers.  I am not sure if there would be a better option.... perhaps a thicker pretzel?

*   Next time I may use green food coloring in the cake as well....

Happy Birthday Tater-Bug!!

Linking up at TCB and THESE awesome sites.