Yankee-Belle Cafe

Hello everybody! Mary Jane here and I confess: I love those facebook cooking videos. You know, those videos where you're looking at the food from a bird's eye perspective, or the cook's view? I LOVE THEM. I could watch them all day. everything looks so delicious!
 So I think I belong to more cooking groups than any other facebook group, and now I've passed my obsession with cooking on to my children. Behold... Meyer lemons just waiting for a delicious recipe.
Just a day after I bought a bag, I saw a recipe on facebook for blackberry lemon cheesecake. We knew we had to try it.
 The original recipe had a blackberry puree but we had blueberries, blackberries, and some strawberries left over from the summer.

Berry puree:
1 1/2 berries
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water

Mix in a pan over medium heat, bring to a boil and crush gently. I strained mine because one of my kids wasn't thrilled with the idea of lots of seeds in her cheesecake.
 For the crust, the original called for 12 graham cracker sheets, 1/4 cup sugar, and 5 TBS butter. We upped the butter to 6TBS because it always seems dry, and added a dash of cinnamon.
                                                        
One more shot of those delightful lemons!

Have a wonderful weekend and if you haven't picked up my newest Cane River Book, it can be found right here. And be sure to stop by my facebook author page at Mary Jane Hathaway for more news on book releases! Summer's Glory is coming SOON.
Until next time!

Early last summer I was asked to contribute my time and talents to a wonderful organization, Love INC. Of course I said yes! Not only was it an opportunity to bake one of my favorite desserts, but it was a great way to support a fabulous organization.



Before we moved to the Black Hills, I had never heard of Love INC. The organization shows Love to people in need In the Name of Christ.

They do it joyfully, wisely, prayerfully and with respect and dignity.

The first time we attended the big fall fundraiser and I learned about this organization, I was very impressed. They really do live out the motto, "give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day, teach him to fish and he'll eat for the rest of his life."

This organization teaches people to fish.

When you look at the causes of poverty for many people, you tend to find the same repeated cycles: unemployment because of substance abuse or felony convictions; ignorance regarding finances and budgeting, nutrition, and childcare; lack of access to transportation; lack of access to decent housing.

So how does Love INC help?

First, they address the immediate need that brought the individual or family to the organization asking for help. There is a food pantry, a furniture clearinghouse, and staff members who can identify the real need and start the family on the road to acquiring the tools needed to make better decisions for themselves and their families.

Then they ask for help. Anyone participating in the program is asked to volunteer. Volunteer hours help to "pay" for the assistance they receive, but more importantly, they provide a way for participants to extend a helping hand to others.

Next, participants are given the opportunity to participate in classes like "Money 101," "Employment Prep," "Nutrition on a Budget," "Strengthening Families," and "Christianity Explored." Classes are held in area churches on weekday evenings. Meals and childcare are provided, and there is no cost. Everything is provided by volunteers - participants, former participants, and volunteers from local churches.



This program changes lives.

And Love INC isn't only here - it's a worldwide organization. For more information, please visit their website. Look to see if there is a affiliate near you. Here's the link - go visit, then come back for the cheesecake!


You might remember that I've made cheesecake at the Cafe before. You can read that post here. What that post taught me was that my oven was never going to bake well. It wouldn't keep an even temperature, and would fluctuate up or down 50° during the baking time. Grrrr!

Fast forward a few years, and we have a new oven, and a wiser baker. :)

Chocolate Swirl Cheesecake

Let's start with the crust:

Pate Sucree

ingredients:
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 Tablespoons butter
1 large egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 Tablespoon water


Pre-heat your oven to 375 degrees.

In a medium sized mixing bowl, whisk together flour, sugar and salt, and then cut in the butter.

Whisk together the egg yolk, vanilla and water in a small bowl, and then stir the liquid into the dry mixture.


The dough should be crumbly, but should hold together when you squeeze it.

Press the dough into the bottom of your pan and about 1/2 inch up the sides.

The dough tends to be a bit sticky, so I cover the bottom of a glass with plastic wrap and used that to carefully press the dough flat and up the sides of the pan.

Prick the bottom all over with a fork, and then bake at 375 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes.

It should be lightly browned.

Remove it from the oven and set aside to cool.




Now, before you do anything else, reduce the heat in your oven to 325°. You'll thank me later.

Before I go on, I have to put in a plug for my favorite baking cookbook. This is where this recipe is from -- The King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion. Put it on your Christmas list.



Now for the Cheesecake

This is a sweet, chocolate swirl cheesecake, so the ingredients are a little bit different than you'd use for a classic cheesecake.

ingredients:
3 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese at room temperature
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs
1 Tablespoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups heavy or whipping cream

chocolate swirl ingredients:
1/2 cup heavy or whipping cream
3/4 cup semisweet or bittersweet chocolate (I used Ghiradelli 60% cacao chips)

note bene (that's Latin - it means "note well," and means you really need to pay attention to this detail!):  The biggest problem most bakers have with cheesecake is that the surface cracks while the cheesecake is cooling. There are two very important things to do to prevent this. The first is to keep from incorporating air into the batter during the mixing process, and the other is to let the cheesecake cool gradually.

So be very careful when mixing the cheesecake. A little bit of care here will save you headaches later on!

Make sure your cream cheese is at room temperature, or even a little warmer - about 75° to 80°. My kitchen is usually around 66° in the winter (unless I'm cooking!), and so my "room temperature" cream cheese tends to be a little cool. Why does that matter? Because cooler cream cheese will have lumps, and you'll need to mix the batter longer to get rid of the lumps. You don't want to mix the batter longer!

In your electric mixer with regular beaters (not your whisk) and at slow speed, beat the cream cheese until it's smooth, stopping to scrape the sides of the bowl once or twice.

Add the sugar and salt and mix until well blended.

Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing and scraping the bowl. You won't need to mix for very long for each egg.

Remove your mixing bowl from your mixer, and stir in the vanilla and cream just until it's well blended.

Next, melt your chocolate and the additional 1/2 cup cream in a microwavable bowl (I use my 2 cup Pyrex measuring cup). Once the chocolate is melted (the mixture should be very warm), add 3/4 cup of your cheesecake batter and blend well.

Pour your batter into your prepared crust, then drop the chocolate batter onto the surface in five large dollops. Run a knife through the batter several times to make a swirl effect.

Bake the cheesecake in a 325° oven for 45-50 minutes. I've found that at our higher altitude (about 3500 feet), I need to bake it for 60 minutes. The cheesecake is done when the center is no longer shiny and it passes the "jiggle test."

Jiggle test: Shake the oven rack slightly. If the center of the cheesecake is done, it will remain firm. If not, it will slosh a little.

Leave the cheesecake in the oven and turn off the heat. Set the door ajar to let the heat escape slowly, and leave the cheesecake in the cooling oven for an hour or so, until it has cooled enough so that you can handle it without a hot pad.

No cracks! Perfection! I took me four tries to achieve this.

Now, do you remember that I was making this cheesecake for the Love INC banquet?

At the banquet, bakers from all over the city donate desserts for a silent auction. It's a great way for restaurants to advertise their business as well as for home bakers to do something extra to raise money for the organization.

Each year they ask ten people to bake a "Showcase Dessert," and this year I was one of them.

My picture was in the program,


and my cheesecake was displayed in a place of honor.

The paper and pen are there for people to make their silent auction bids. There were two bids already!

But donating the cheesecake like this brought a new set of things to consider. How do I display it? How do I make it portable? How do I make it look professional?

Youtube and the Food Network came to my rescue!

First of all, these cake rounds are wonderful inventions.


I cut one to match the bottom of my springform pan and inserted it in place of the metal bottom when I baked the cheesecake. No transferring from one pan to another, and no dishes to worry about returning!

Second, my daughter's addiction to the Food Network inspired her to buy an offset spatula. I didn't think we needed one, but I was wrong. I'm going to buy my own when she moves out!

Third, I watched Youtube videos to learn how to remove the cheesecake from the pan. Remember three words: dip, wipe, repeat.


Dip the spatula into a cup of hot water (I used a quart mason jar) and wipe the spatula on a clean towel. Now you have a hot spatula to use to loosen the cheesecake from the side of the springform pan. After a few inches, wipe the cheesecake crumbs off of the spatula with a paper towel, and repeat.



Beautiful? Oh, yes!

Now for the decorating.

I had purchased an inexpensive charging plate at Hobby Lobby, along with a bit of festive greenery.

By the way, my daughter was aghast. I guess you're never supposed to decorate food with inedible items. Oh well.

But I wanted a little more, so I made a simple ganache.

Ganache

ingredients:
1 cup heavy or whipping cream
9 ounces semi-sweet chocolate

Cut the chocolate into small pieces and place in a small mixing bowl.


Next, pour the cream into a small saucepan and bring it to a boil on the stove. Stir it until it reaches the boiling point (it won't burn as easily as milk does), then pour it over the chocolate.

Stir until it's smooth, then let it cool until you can handle it easily.

I piped the ganache onto the cheesecake with a piping bag and decorator's tips.


I added my bits of inedible greenery, and voila! A cheesecake with a purpose!


The banquet was last Monday night with over eight hundred people attending. And the cool thing? The dessert auction - my dessert and many, many others - raised almost $30,000 for Love INC.

It's the season of giving! Don't you love it?

I love mushrooms. I love them raw, sliced into spinach salads. I love making homemade mushroom soup to use in casseroles. I love them on pizza. ManO does not. And that "does not" is more than on his pizza.

Oh no! There is a mushroom on ManO's ham side of the pizza. Much bemoaning occurred!

Now pizza is an easy thing to compromise on. Each person gets their half to do with what they will. But other recipes are far more difficult.

I invited my friend Cathy over to celebrate her birthday and be a part of The Great Dining Room experiment. You know you have a good friend when you make her sit in the middle of a room torn apart. Nope, you can't see the chaos. I'm smart that way. But we haven't used the room in ten years and something had to be done. That's what this experiment got me. More on that next week.

In ManO's childhood kitchen, the table's almost an antique.

Cathy also loves mushrooms. You might think I could fix something mushroom related no stress but I also planned serving ManO the same dish for dinner. I knew I wanted to fix zucchini lasagna You can find the DIY here.  But I really wanted to hide, I mean, layer the lasagna with mushrooms. But ManO is too smart for that.

That's when it hit me. Steak houses, at least the good ones, serve a sauteed mushroom side dish so customers can spoon the mushrooms over the steak. Why not do the same with lasagna?

Oh my goodness! Delish! Instructions below.

Thanks to Jan Drexler's quick cheesecake dessert , I revisited my gluten free cheesecake recipe  and experimented with both the crust and putting it in custard cups. I used my berry-sauce topped baked cheesecake because of the added protein. But if you want to make it no bake simply use organic confectioners sugar, cream cheese and whipped cream to thin and chill.  I could have easily done the crust with gluten-free chocolate cookies and corn syrup free homemade chocolate sauce and peanuts or pecans as a base with cane sugar caramel sauce.


The bottom line is we had a great lunch and I didn't have to cook ManO an entirely new dinner!

Easy Sauteed Mushrooms

1 pint washed and sliced mushrooms
1 or 2 tablespoons butter
1 or 2 tablespoons olive oil
minced garlic to taste (optional)

Melt butter with olive oil over medium heat.
Add minced garlic and stir. 
Saute until cooked but NOT limp.
Serve over veggies, meat or as a side.

So, what about you? Do you have a love or hate affair with mushrooms? Is there something you've given up because no one else in the house loves a particular food or ingredient?

Time is a premium commodity here in the Midwest.

The South Dakota Badlands in the winter. I love living here :)

Between deadlines and a son moving, last week was crazy. Throw in the AFC Divisional Championship, and I needed a quick dessert to share here and with our friends at our church's evening service Sunday night.

Deadlines? Two books are in process right now. One due out from Love Inspired Historical in September, and then another from Revell coming in March 2016.

Son moving? Our youngest started an eight month internship on the other side of the state today. He drove from the Black Hills to Brookings on Wednesday, and the another son and I made the trip (and back) with a van full of his stuff on Friday. On Thursday we had a blizzard. It wasn't too bad on the west side of the state, but the east side was like something out of a Laura Ingalls Wilder book. And like Pa Ingalls, we traveled between storms.

And the AFC Championship? Broncos against the Colts. We'll know the outcome of the game by the time you read this!

So where do you go to find a quick recipe? I asked my daughter if she had any ideas, and she pointed me to Pinterest.

And this was NOT a Pinterest fail!!!

Beautiful and delicious!

Cheesecake Cupcakes

There really isn't a recipe for this.


You need no-bake cheesecake mix, and either chocolate sandwich cookies or peanut butter cups. I used both since I made a double batch.

Line muffin tins with paper liners. Place a cookie or a peanut butter cup in the bottom of each one, reserving a few cookies or one peanut butter cup for the topping.


Mix the no-bake cheesecake according to the package directions. Don't make the graham cracker crust, though. Save that for later.

Spoon some of the cheesecake batter into each muffin cup.

Now, for the cookie cheesecakes, take those reserved cookies and crush them. Sprinkle the crushed cookies on top of the cupcakes.

For the peanut butter cup ones, Sprinkle some of the graham cracker crust crumbs on top. Then take the reserved peanut butter cup, mince into small pieces, and sprinkle it on top of the graham cracker crumbs.


Put them in the refrigerator to cool. Or if you live in the north, use your extra winter cooler (aka, your garage). Wait a few hours before serving. One batch makes 14-16 cupcakes.

These quick cupcakes were perfect for a busy weekend. Delicious, impressive looking and fun.



Did I mention delicious?

Is your life as busy as mine is right now? Tell us about it!

As the GAL (gluten free, allergic living) member of Yankee Belle, sometimes it is plain torture to read the delicious posts of my compadres. Whether you're watching what you eat due to health restrictions, allergies or ethical beliefs, living around food and foodies can be a challenge.  I just read about a vegan blogger who developed orthorexia, over focus on ethical eating. Another ate too much kale and found it interfered with her thyroid levels as too much of a good cruciferous thing can. And I lost too much weight when my allergies were first diagnosed a decade ago because I was afraid of dying at any moment from hidden corn syrup!

That's not a way to live. No matter how hard it is, you need variety in your diet. You need more than green leaves every day, all day or so much pumpkin your hands turn orange (don't ask!).  And maybe sometimes you just need cheesecake. I blame it on the fact that cheesecake was my birthday cake growing up. I associate it with comfort food. It is friendlier toward diets needing protein, less sugar, and fewer carbs. 

Ruthy's Triple Berry Cheesecake looked so scrumptious but thanks to my allergies to corn and wheat it was out. I ignored Ruthy. Or rather Ruthy's post. How could she do that to me?

But one day last week, things in my life transpired to make me declare, "I need cheesecake" and I immediately thought of Ruthy's recipe.

The berry flavor.  I wanted Ruthy's cheesecake - but what fruit did I have? My sister and I had eaten almost all my cherries but I did have a pint of black berries. Except ManO says he doesn't like the seeds in blackberries. Hmmmmm, so I cooked down what I had and strained it to make a sauce. Note: I cut the sugar level because I've gotten rid of a lot of sugar out of my diet.

Confused about the PBJ picture here? Keep reading.

    
Berry Cherry Sauce:
1 cup cherries
1 cup blackberries
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
water to dissolve sugar
1 tablespoon tapioca starch (optional)

Combine all ingredients in a small sauce pan. Boil until fruit is soft, pressing spoon against softened fruit. Turn to low and simmer twenty minutes for a thin sauce.

Happy Accident: Add tapioca starch at the start if you want a more jelly type consistency. I was so thrilled to have jelly on my peanut butter toast!  It will still have a drizzle consistency for your cheesecake if you leave it out a few minutes but straight out of the fridge it is perfect for PBandJ.

Now to the crust.  Ruthy used Nilla Wafers. I didn't have any gluten free wafers in the house but I  just made my own gluten-free granola. Tah dah! Necessity is indeed the mother of invention. That and a bunch of granola crust recipes online! Don't let lack of ingredients keep you from getting something you really want.

Make sure you pulverize your granola but still leave small bits of oat.

  

Granola Crust:
2 cups granola WITHOUT fruit bits
4 tablespoons butter

Pulverize two cups granola in a processor or blender until chopped up but not fine like flour. Add cold butter and mix. Press into pie plate. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes and take out of oven.
 

Two eggs are hiding under here to add a bit more protein.

The cheesecake: The most important part, right?  I needed a recipe that was lower in sugar, higher in protein, and organic everything for me. I also knew vanilla would bring out the sweetness and almond would give it a bit of gourmet flavor.

Pie filling:

2 packages softened organic cream cheese
1/2 cup organic cane sugar
1 teaspoon organic vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon organic almond extract
2 organic Omega-3 eggs

Mix all ingredients until just blended with a mixer.  Pour into granola crust and bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes until center is set. Take out and cool on counter for 15 minutes and then place in refrigerator until cool, at least two hours.

Top with your berry-cherry sauce and voila! Just what ManO and I needed! 

So what about you? Any food you just HAVE to have when you are low or for a party or just because? What have you had to adapt to fit your lifestyle or your family's tastes or because you hate an ingredient?

 Crush the cookies and add in the brown sugar, butter, and chocolate. I used a tiny little grinder I have and almost killed it. A food processor would be dandy. Press into the bottom of the pan and push a few inches up the sides.
 Now, there's a thick layer of ganache at the bottom of the cheesecake. (What is ganache? Heaven. that's all you need to know.)

1 1/2 cups heavy or whipping cream
20 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
1/4 cup Kahlúa or other coffee-flavored liqueur
Melt the whipping cream and chocolate together, and add Kahlua.
 Ok, now we're ready to assemble the filling. Preheat the oven to 350F.
Beat together the first three ingredients first, then add all the rest, one at a time, mixing well after each.

3 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 1/2 tablespoons dark rum
1 1/2 tablespoons instant espresso powder or coffee crystals
1 1/2 tablespoons espresso powder
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoons mild-flavored (light) molasses (all I could find was the normal stuff)
3 large eggs

 (Christalee used egg substitute and  everything worked just perfectly.)
 Here I am, holding up a spoon of cheesecake batter for Edna's approval. She said, "A few more minutes." So Thor kept a-going.
Wait, you don't remember who Thor is?
                                              
He's been working VERY hard to learn all the ins and outs of being a good mixer. Here, he's reading Edna's Sunbeam manual. See?  No bitter rivalry! Edna is the kind of mixer that will help you out when you need it.

 Here, she says the ganache is set and read for the cheesecake to be poured in!
 Mmmmmm...... Put the cheesecake on the middle rack and bake until browned at the edges, and moves just a little at the center, about one hour.
 Sour cream topping:

1 1/2 cups sour cream
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
 Oooooh, looking pretty!
 Now leave it to cool for 15 minutes. Don't turn off the oven, we'll need it.
 Spread the sour cream mix on the top and pop back into the oven.
 Chill the cheesecake for about 3 hours. Now put the ganache into a piping bag or tool and decorate. Add espresso beans.
 Hm. Well, I wasn't really sure about this cheesecake. I admit I didn't wait the entire 3 hours. And the flavor was VERY strong.


 Can you believe this?? This is hers. Gorgeous, tall, not sloppy and oozing. (P.S. Note her cornflower blue mixer in the background. That's Alice Leavitt (that means 'baker', of course), but you can call her Alice for short. She and Thor have been having Skype dates. Thor doesn't talk much, but I don't think Alice minds.
 Another picture of perfection.
A slice, note the specks of espresso. Funny, I think Christalee had to take this at 3AM because every other attempt was marred by photo-bombing children. Mostly fingers and spoons but I did see one whole face headed in with the mouth wide open. I don't blame them. I would have elbowed her out of the way, too.
 Shot of the inside. No oozing. No mess. THIS is what happens when you make an uber-complicated recipe and you're Texan.