yummy yum yums

Ever since we started buying this maple yogurt for Baysil I've been DYING to bake with it. It's sooooo yummy. (A BIG thanks to my Aunt Kristal for introducing me to the stuff way back in '04, I'm glad to finally have an excuse to keep the creamy goodness in my house). So as Will pulled out of the drive way, oops excuse me, I mean parking spot, I thought to myself... Today isTHE day. Yummy yummy yummy maple yogurt, it is time to start baking!

I wasn't in the mood for being too original or creative or homemade. I didn't want this to be the most elaborate creation I just want it to be GOOD. And good it was my friends, gooooooood it was!

I started by adding a little more than 1/2 a cup of the yogurt to a chocolate cake mix... yumdelicious. It turned out beautiful. Bay and I sampled a warm one and it was smooth moist deliciousness... couldn't really taste the maple, oh well.

Onto the frosting. Being the resourceful person that I am... (cough cough) I decided to just liven up some cream cheese frosting I had left over from my last baking excursion. (I like baking ok get over it) I added coco, more butter, sugar and some maple extract and voila.PERFECTION!

Listen you may not know this but I am quite the cupcake connoisseur... I've tried Trophy's andRoyal's here in WA. Royal was ok, don't waist your time on Trophy's. I've had a Mini's cupcake a time or two in Utah, eh, good. I'm not exsaturating when I say I'll take one of these Maple Chocolate Yum Yums (that's the name I gave them) over all of them... (notice I didn't mention the sacred Elizabethan Desserts in Encinitas.. yeah that's because nobody and i mean NOBODY beats those cupcake creations. That Elizabeth is down right magical!)

jolly ho.

Classic Cheesecake

For some reason I am thinking cheesecakes right now, so here is a basic recipe that you can go crazy with and add and play with in any way you want. The graham crackers can be changed to chocolate wafers. I have divided the filling and added melted chocolates to part to make marbled cheese cake. I have also not used crust or a spring form pan, greased a 9-by-13 lightly greased brownie batter in the pan first and then topped with filling; once baked and cooled, top with a poured ganache. Try whatever sounds good, it's all yummy. Sorry I forgot to take a picture of a slice of the cake, it is too yummy and we eat it up every time before I remember I need one.

1 ¾ -cups fine graham cracker crumbs

¼-cup sugar

½-teaspoon ground cinnamon

½-cup butter or margarine, melted

3 8-oz packages cream cheese, softened

1-cup sugar

1-teaspoon vanilla

¼-teaspoon salt

3 eggs

1-cup sour cream

Combined first 3 ingredients, add melted butter; stir well. Press firmly on bottom and 1 to 2 inches up sides of a lightly greased 9-inch springform pan. Bake at º325 for 10 minutes. Cool in pan on wire rack.

With mixer beat cream cheese at medium speed until creamy, gradually add 1 cup sugar and salt, beating well; add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition; scrape sides of bowl occasionally. 

Stir in sour cream and vanilla. Pour batter into prepared crust.

To help keep you cheese cake from being to dry, cover the bottom of the spring-form pan with heavy foil, coming up the sides a few inches, making sure the bottom ans sides are sealed. This can be done before you pour the batter in the pan. Place the spring form pan, with foil covered bottom,  onto the center of a shallow baking pan, such as a jellyroll pan with about one inch of water, like you do when baking a custard. 

Now place the pan into the center of the oven. Bake at º325 for 1 hour and 5 minutes or until lightly brown. Turn off oven and leave in closed oven for 30minutes. The cheese cake will not look completely solid at this point, but will continue to cook in the warm oven. After the 30minutes remove the cake from the baking pan with water and place the cheese cake on a rack till completely cool. Refrigerate uncovered for 4 hours or over night.

Top with your favorite topping.

Individual Cheesecakes

You can't have Valentines Day without these for the kids. You can make them heart shaped by putting one regular marble between the liner and the pan

paper muffin liners

14 vanilla wafers

4 3-oz packages cream cheese, soften

⅔-cup sugar

2 eggs

1-teaspoon vanilla

your choice of fresh fruit or pie filling

Line muffin pans with paper liners. Place a vanilla wafer in each cup. Set pan aside.

Beat cream cheese with mixer until fluffy; gradually add 2/3-cup sugar and mix well. Add eggs and vanilla, beating well until smooth. Fill liners two-thirds full with mixture. Bake at ˚350 for 10 minutes. Cool in muffin pan, then remove and chill. Top with your choice of fresh fruit or pie filling. Makes about 14