Lisaopolis.comLisa’s Adventures in the Kitchen

I love cheesecake. Since we’ve had a lot of cherries in the house recently and some of them were getting a little to soft to eat plain, we decided to make a cheese cake with them (my mom and I). We are both huge fans of cheese cake so, making the cake was a easy decision to make.  I made the cherry pie filling from scratch (to use up the cherries) while my mom worked on the crust and filling. The result: a to die for cheese cake. It was not too sweet, or rich. It was everything a cheesecake should be soft and creamy, sweet, (from the cheery pie filling) with a mildly crunch vanilla wafer crumb crust.

If you are a cheese cake lover you need to make this cake stat! It’s perfect for hot summer days since its served chilled.

Here is the recipe

Cherry Cheese Cake

Cherry Pie Filling (adapted from about.com)
6 cups cherries pits and stems removed
4 tbsp corn starch
1 ½ cups white sugar

Add cherries corn starch and sugar to a large pot. Mix well. On medium heat stir the mixture constantly for 15-20 minutes or until a thick cherry pie filling forms.

Cream Cheese Filling (adapted from Philadelphia cream cheese box)
2 boxes light cream cheese
½ cup sugar
½ tsp pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs

In a large bowl add the: cream cheese, sugar, vanilla extract, and eggs. Beat until smooth.

Vanilla Wafer Crust (adapted from Philadelphia cream cheese box)

1 ½ cups vanilla wafer crumbs
3 tbsp sugar
1/3 cup margarine (melted)

Combine, crumbs, sugar, and melted margarine in a bowl. Mix well. Press into pan )11X7 or desired size). Bake at 350 degrees F for 5 minutes. Cool.

Bake the assembled cheesecake at 350 degrees F for about 40 minutes or until the centre is almost set. Cool. Top with cherry pie filling. Refrigerate 3 hours or overnight before serving. Enjoy.

A few weeks before mother’s day my mom started talking about a cake she had not made in years. It was a pineapple carrot cake with cream cheese icing. I asked her where I could find the recipe, and then I made it for her as part of her mother’s day gift.

The recipe was originally from one of her coworkers who passed away in a plane crash 15+ years ago. I made huge changes to it since it was way too unhealthy for my liking (even though cake is meant to be unhealthy, it took unhealthy to a place I didn’t want to go).

I was a bit skeptical of putting crushed pineapple in the dough with out pureeing it (I puree almost all fruits and vegetables in my baking except berries), but since it was part of the original recipe I did it, and I was amazed at the result. The crushed pineapple took the carrot cake to a whole new level that I didn’t know carrot cake could go to. Delicious would be an understatement. It was heavenly. I also added some coconut to the recipe since coconut and pineapple where made to be together. The cream cheese icing was a bit sweet for my liking even though I reduced the amount of icing sugar in it.

My mom loved the cake.

Here is the recipe.

Marlene’s Carrot Cake (adapted by Lisa)
Makes one 9X13 cake

1 cup white sugar
1 ½ cups all purpose flour
1 ½ cups whole wheat flour
½ tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
2 cups chopped carrots
1 cup crushed pineapple
3 eggs
½ cup olive oil
1/3 cup pineapple juice
¾ cup skim milk
2 tsp rum extract
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

Cream cheese icing

8 oz light cream cheese
1 ½ cups icing sugar
¼ cup salted butter
¼ cup pineapple juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees C. Prepare 9X13 pan (grease or spray). In a large bowl add the: fours, white sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and white sugar. Mix well. Add the coconut and pineapple and stir until well combined. In a blender add the: chopped carrots, olive oil, eggs, vanilla extract, rum extract, milk, and pineapple juice. Blend until smooth. Add pureed mixture to the dry mixture and stir until smooth. Pour the cake batter into 9X13 pan. Bake for 50-60 minutes. Cool. Ice.

To make the icing

In a medium sized bowl add the cream cheese, butter, icing sugar, and pineapple juice and blend with electric beaters until a smooth soft icing forms. Ice the cake once the cake has cooled.  Serve immediately. Refrigerate leftovers.

Today I was in the baking mood. I wanted to make something red in the spirit of Valentines Day, so I decided to would make a beet cake. Instead of the usual beet cake I make I decided to change things up at bit, and make my beet cake into a cheese cake.
The result was magnificent a chocolaty beet cake with the flavor and a bit of the texture of a cheese cake.

I made the recipe myself combining a few of my own recipes to create this new one.

Chocolate Beet Cheese Cake

1 ¾ cup all purpose flour
½ cup whole wheat flour
¾ cup not packed brown sugar
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
½ tsp cinnamon
1 ½ – 2 cups chopped beets
2 large eggs
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tsp rum extract (or rum)
1 cup skim milk
¼ cup olive oil
Several squares of your favorite chocolate bar (cut into small pieces)

4 oz cream cheese
¼ cup no fat sour cream
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tsp pure rum extract
4 tsp white sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl combine the fours, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and mix well. Add the chocolate pieces and stir to combine. In a blender add the: beets, brown sugar, eggs, milk, olive oil, 1 tsp vanilla extract, and 1 tsp rum extract. Blend until smooth. Add the beet mixture to the flour mixture and stir until combined. Pour the batter into a prepared baking dish. Set Aside.

In a separate bowl add the cream cheese, white sugar, sour cream, 1 tsp vanilla extract, and 1 tsp rum extract. Using an electric mixer blend until smooth. Add the cream cheese mixture to the beet batter (in the baking dish). Stir it in. Bake for about 35 minutes in the preheated oven. Serve cool.

One of my favorite foodie forums is hosting a cake contest. I am not very skilled in cake decorating but I thought I would give it a try.

I decided to make a chocolate beet cake. I used my chocolate beet muffin recipe and made it into cake form. I picked this recipe since the forum has a dark red background I thought it would complement the cake well.

I iced the cake with a pre made cream cheese icing, by Duncan Hines. For decorations I used mini semi-sweet chocolate chips for the forums name, and one giant bittersweet chocolate chip for the dot in .com.

Here is my cake decorated. (My dad loves this cake and had a piece before it was decorated).

The cooking forums cake contest runs until December 10/09 so there is still time if your interested in participating.

We are moving. In less then a month we will be somewhere, we are just not sure where yet. So that means it’s time to empty the freezers. We still have tons of pears and other frozen fruit and vegetables so they need to be used up quick.

I found a new recipe for pear cake which is AMAZING. It is my ultimate favorite pear cake recipe. I modified it as usual of course. The best part about this cake is that it is so much more light and fluffy compared to many other pear cake recipes I have tried.

I found the original recipe at  southernfood.about.com/od/pears/r/r70204c.htm Here is my version.

Almond Coconut Pear Cake

Blender Mixture
About 4 cups of diced pears
1 cup brown sugar (not packed)
½ olive oil
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 tsp rum extract
3 large eggs

Bowl Mixture
1 ½ cups all purpose flour
¾ cup whole wheat flour
2 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground nutmeg
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
½ tsp baking powder
1/3 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
½ cup sliced almonds

Greese a 9X13 pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine blender mixture and blend until smooth. Set aside. Combine the bowl mixture and stir until evenly blended. Pour the blender mixture into the bowl and mix until smooth. Pour the cake batter into the prepared pan. Bake in your preheated oven for about 55 minutes (or when a took pick comes out clean).

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This is a must try recipe for anyone who likes pear desserts.

Yesterday I decided it was time to use up the zucchini that has been in the fridge for awhile. I got out my favorite zucchini recipe and made it. I modified it tons, so it doesn’t resemble the original lots. It comes from The Mountain View Elementary School cook book (page 67). It’s a really old book and the front cover is ripped off so that is all the information I have on it. Here is my morphed version of the recipe.

Double Chocolate Zucchini Cake

½ cup olive oil
1 cup sour milk
1 cup brown sugar (not packed)
2 tbsp white sugar
2 large eggs
1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp ground cloves
1 tsp salt
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 ½ cups all purpose flour
4 tbsp coco powder
3 tsp baking powder
2 cups of zucchini (or one large zucchini peeled and cut into small pieces)
½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl add the following: flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, cloves, coco powder, and the white sugar. Mix until well blended. In a blender add the following: zucchini, vanilla extract, eggs, sour milk, brown sugar and olive oil. Blend until smooth. Combine the zucchini mixture with the flour mixture and mix until smooth. Stir in the chocolate chips. Pour batter into a prepared pan (I used 9X13). Bake for about 40-45 minutes (on until a toothpick comes out clean).

The cake is nice and moist. It’s not overly sweet, but the chocolate chips give it just the right amount of sweetness. it’s a family favorite.

Yesterday I was in the mood for dessert. However I didn’t want to have something that “unhealthy”. I decided to search for a pear recipe since we have a lot of pears in the freezer from the fall. I found a recipe for pear cake, and decided to give it a try. I morphed the recipe quite a bit. The original recipe can be found at: http://southernfood.about.com/od/pears/r/bl50221b.htm
Here is my version.

Pear Spice Cake

4 cups chopped pears
3 cups all purpose flour
1 cup of chopped walnuts and pecans (mixed)
½ tsp nutmeg
¼ cup olive oil
¾ cup skim milk
2 large eggs
1 ¼ cups brown sugar
2 tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 tsp rum extract
¼ cup sultana raisins

Preheat oven to 350 degrees C. In a large bowl add the flour baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Mix well. Add the nuts and raisins. and stir well. In a blender add the pears, eggs, oil, vanilla extract, rum extract milk, and brown sugar. Blend until smooth. Now add the pear mixture to the flour mixture and mix until smooth. Pour the mixture into a greased 9X13 cake pan. Bake for 45-55 minutes or until a the top is golden and a tooth pick comes out clean.

The cake turned out super yummy. Its soft and moist with a little crunch. Best if served warm. 30 seconds in the microwave will achieve this once the cake has cooled.

Since it snowed today (on Boxing day) I didn’t do my usual Boxing day shopping. Since I’m not working today either, I had a lot of extra time on my hands. So I decided to bake a cake. I made a family favorite; our traditional marble cake. This recipe can also be made with bananas (a modified version). The banana version is featured in this post; http://lisaopolis.wordpress.com/2008/02/09/banana-marble-cake/

The original recipe can be found in Oetkar German Home Baking page 15. Here is my slightly modified version. Enjoy.

Marble Cake

9 oz (250 g) butter or margarine

9 oz (250 g) sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 tsp rum extract (or real rum)

4 large eggs

A pinch of salt

1 1/8 pound (500 g) flour

3 tsp baking powder

About 1 cup skim milk

3 level tbsp coco powder

A heaped tbsp sugar

2-3 tbsp milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Cream the margarine and add the sugar, eggs, rum extract, and vanilla extract. Beat until smooth. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix together before combining with other mixture. Now combine (beat) the mixtures together. Now gradually add the milk. Alternate adding milk with beating in the flour mixture. mixture should look the like photo below.

Now place half of the mixture in a round cake pan. Add the coco powder, 1 tbsp sugar, and 2-3 tbsp milk to the remaining white mixture. Blend until smooth. Now add the dark mixture to the light. With a spatula blend the two mixtures together (to make an abstract design). Bake in your preheated oven for about 55 minutes. Enjoy.

Tonight I was in the mood for cheesecake, so I decided to make some. I chose to make pumpkin cheese cake since we have a lot of pumpkin in the freezer (from Halloween).

The original recipe I used (and greatly morphed) came from this website: http://recipegal.com/pumpkincheesecake/Bon-Appetit-Pumpkin-Cheesecake.htm

The cheesecake turned out divine. The flavor is exquisite. Not too sweet, but sweet enough, and nice and smooth. The crust is also very flavorful. The only recommendation I would make would be to add more margarine to the crust (maybe double) because the crust was a bit crumbly. Other then that, this is a must try cheese cake recipe.

Here is my morphed version.

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Crust

1 ½ cups graham crumbs

1 ½ cups ground pecan

¼ cup of brown sugar (not packed)

¼ cup olive oil margarine (melted)

Filling

13 oz light cream cheese

1 ¼ cup no fat cottage cheese

1 cup brown sugar

1 ½ cups pumpkin pieces

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground allspice

¼ tsp nutmeg

4 large eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup sour cream

For the crust:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place the graham crumbs, ground pecan, and brown sugar in a bowl. Mix well. Add the melted margarine. Press into baking pan. Bake for 5 minutes. Set aside. (makes one crust). Two crust recommended for this recipe.

For the filling:

In a blender place the pumpkin, brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla extract. Blend until smooth. In a large bowl add the cream cheese, cottage cheese, sour cream, cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg. Beat with an electric mixture until combined. Now add the pumpkin mixture to the cheese mixture and blend until smooth. Pour over crust. Bake in your preheated oven at 350 degrees F for about 45 minutes to an hour (depending on your pan(s) and oven). Cool. Refrigerate overnight. Serve.

This evening I was in the mood to bake so I found a carrot cake recipe and modified it greatly. The original recipe is from allrecipes.com and is called Carrot Cake III. This is my own carrot cake recipe, I only used the other recipe as a guideline.

4 eggs

1 ½ cup white sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp rum extract

½ cup olive oil

2 cups all purpose white four

½ cup brown (whole wheat) flour

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp baking soda

A few shakes of salt

3 tsp ground cinnamon

1 cup skim milk

2 cups chopped carrots

1 cup chopped pecan pieces

Preheat over to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9X13 pan.

In a bowl combine flour (brown and white), baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and sugar. Mix well. Stir in pecan pieces.

In a blender add the chopped carrots, eggs, milk, vanilla and rum extracts, and oil. Blend until smooth. Add the blended liquid mixture to the dry mixture. Mix until smooth.

Pour the mixture into the pan. Bake for about 40-50 minutes. Test with a tooth pick (when the tooth pick comes out clean the cake is done). Enjoy.

I chose not to make an icing for this cake because I thought it didn’t need it, and I don’t need the extra calories.

This cake tastes very homemade and healthy for a dessert. I give this recipe two thumbs up!

Below is an image of the cake.