s’mores cheesecake via Rick Rodgers, plus a double cookbook giveaway

Here’s the thing about all the cheesecakes that I’ve made in the past...they all seem pretty discontented with their own existence. 

Thick and cranky, they were always draped in some sickly red liquid topping, as if they were covering up some integral inadequacies (which could describe me some days). It’s irritating to make something that takes a bit of effort, and then feel forced to be overly enthusiastic with yourself about the final product, because I worked kind of hard on this, and it should be better than it is, so if I pretend it’s wonderful by saying “but it’s CHEESECAKE” over and over, then maybe it will be good, as if it is some holy grail of impossibility, the last perfect dessert in the wild. It’s like a spastic cheerleader trying to whip up the crowd during the final game of an already lost season. You just want that cheerleader to pick up her pompoms and megaphone and admit that the entire season was kind of pointless even if there were a couple of mildly pleasant if inadequate moments along the way. Bag it, cheerleader. Game over. Stupid cheesecake.

But game on, my friends. Game on.

All thanks to Rick Rodgers, we have made the perfect cheesecake. S’mores cheesecake. Rick is a very well-known author, and from this great profile in the Star-Ledger, it turns out he’s nearly our neighbor here in NJ (waving to you, Rick. Expect us to show up at your house with our three kids for Thanksgiving. You will never be the same).

  

Rick has two new books out, and we were lucky enough to win them both via The Secret Ingredient Facebook page from Morrow Cookbooks. They did a drawing for Rick’s spanking-new cookbooks, Tea and Cookies and Coffee and Cake (that's two books in there, one for tea and one for coffee). Hey, Rick, we like all those things in your book titles. We like free things, clearly. But we really like your new books. We like them so much that we’re giving them away (Morrow Cookbooks hinted they might replace ours, so that’s good, because we, um, like them a lot).

But first, let’s get it on with the cream cheese...

As we were flipping through the books, we wanted to put a recipe to the test, and Rick has a very special s’mores cheesecake recipe. And a very pretty picture of it. And I sort of wanted to call Rick’s bluff. Really, Rick? Is it really that good? Given our history with cheesecake, I was a bit skeptical.

Oh, yeah. It’s that good. You want to make this now. Because Rick has smart tips to make the perfect cheesecake. His number one recommendation? Use a food processor to mix the filling. Apparently, incorporating too much air with a mixer is what caused my past c-cake unpleasantness. Too much air makes it sort of souffle-y, and it’s bound to fall on itself, and crack and densify (not a word) in unhappy ways. I will never go back to a mixer for the c-cake. Ever. You shouldn't either. Unless you like your cheesecake to be less awesome than it could be.

Yes, this cheesecake is sweet. It’s a s’more after all. What else could it be? But you know what really cuts through the sweetness? A cup of coffee. (Thinking Rick may have thought through the title of his book fairly well).

You could bring this out at the end of a really fancy meal and completely delight everyone, or you could serve it over a coffee break with friends. Or you could make it for yourself for that special occasion that I call “Tuesday.”

You want these books. Trust us.

And a confession...I failed to put my springform pan together correctly when I made this. I know. Embarrassing. We had some (not a lot) of the filling seep out the bottom of the pan, and it caused a mess, and that’s totally my fault. So with some quick thinking/panicking, I pulled the pan out and placed it on a baking sheet. The leaking stopped, and that cheesecake still came out perfectly. Rick’s recipes are also fool-proof, me being the fool. Test your pans, kids. Test your pans.

the contest

Congrats to Jen Thomson Caplet & Heather Jurczyk for winning the Rick Rodgers' cookbooks!

Before we get to the recipe, here’s how to win one of these two books (yes, we’re splitting them up, so you just doubled your chances to win).

• You get one entry for “Liking” the peche on Facebook. Just go and hit the “Like” button on our page. If you’re already a fan on Facebook, you’re already entered. You don’t have to tell us you Liked us; we can see you.
• You get another entry for “Liking” Morrow Cookbook’s The Secret Ingredient page. Morrow Cookbooks didn’t ask us to do that, but we like their authors a lot, including Rick, and we think you’ll want to stay in the know on what’s coming from them. If you do “Like” them, come back and tell us in the comments below.
• Your “Liking” must be completed by noon on Monday, 8 November.
• Sadly, this is open to US and Canadian residents only. Sorry rest of the world. We love you, but we cannot afford the postage.

Now, on to this perfect recipe...

recipe | s’mores cheesecake from Rick Rodgers’ Coffee and Cake cookbook

Published by Morrow Cookbooks

Reprinted by permission 

Crust

• Softened unsalted butter for the pan
• 1 1/2 c graham cracker crumbs
• 3 T sugar
• 6 T (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted

Filling

• 9 oz milk chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 1 pound cream cheese, softened
• 3/4 c sugar
• 1/8 t salt
• 3/4 c heavy cream, at room temperature
• 3 large eggs, at room temperature

Topping

• 1 c sugar
• 2 large egg whites
• 1 t cream of tartar
• 1/8 t salt
• 12 large marshmallows, snipped into quarters with wet scissors
• 1/2 t vanilla extract

1. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350F. Lightly butter the inside of a 9-inch springform pan.
2. To make the crust, stir together the cracker crumbs, sugar, and melted butter to moisten in a medium bowl. Press firmly and evenly into the bottom and 1/4 inch up the sides of the pan. Bake until lightly toasted and fragrant, 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from the oven. Reduce the oven temperature to 325F.
3. To make the filling, melt the chocolate in the top part of a double boiler over very hot, not simmering, water, stirring occasionally, until smooth. Remove from the heat and cool until tepid.
4. In a food processor, process the cream cheese, sugar, and salt together until smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides of the work bowl with a rubber spatula. With the machine running, add the cream and then stop it to scrape down the bowl. With the machine running again, add the chocolate, then the eggs, one at a time, processing and scraping until the mixture is smooth. Pour into the crust.
5. Bake until the side of the cheesecake are slightly risen and the cheesecake looks set (the very center of the filling will look shiny and unset), about 1 hour. Transfer to a wire cake rack. Run a wet, sharp knife around the inside of the pan to loosen the cheesecake from the sides. Let cool completely.
6. Cover the cheesecake with plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled, at least 4 hours. (The cheesecake can be refrigerated for up to 1 day).
7. To make the topping, combine the sugar, egg whites, 3 T water, the cream of tartar, and salt in the top part of a double boiler or a heatproof bowl. Place over a saucepan of simmering water and whisk until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is hot and opaque, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the marshmallows to the sugar mixture. Let stand to soften the marshmallows, about 3 minutes. Return to the simmering water and beat with an electric hand mixer set on high speed until the topping stands in stiff, shiny peaks, about 5 minutes. Beat in the vanilla.
8. Unwrap the cheesecake and remove the sides of the pan. Using a metal icing spatula, spread the topping over the cheesecake, swirling it in peaks. Let stand until cooled and set, about 15 minutes.
9. Using a kitchen torch, wave the flam over the cheesecake until lightly browned. Or broil the cheesecake in a preheated broiler about 4 inches from the source of the heat until lightly browned, about 1 minute. (The marshmallow-topped cheesecake can be refrigerated for up to 1 day.) Using a sharp, thin knife rinsed under hot water, cut into slices and serve.

milk + dark chocolate pots de crème with grand marnier candied clementines

I don't believe in pudding.

I believe it exists, but I don't subscribe to it. I can't support it.

I know this makes many people hate me. Perhaps just a strong dislike. Maybe indifference.

But the siren's call of a bowl of jiggly, wiggly pudding is lost on me. It lacks intention.

It just sits there, slumping into a container, full of apathy toward life and its role in the world. Pudding is an afterthought, even to itself. And so the silky goodness that many of you will cite as pudding's best attribute wears off with the third bite, and you realize that this pudding is dragging you down. Pudding is in a co-dependent relationship with you. Time to set boundaries and tell pudding to get its act together, to live a life of purpose.

Have a backbone, pud.

But.

Then there are pots de crème. Pudding’s cool cousin. I call it pudding with integrity. Pots de crème have seen the world, know its pleasures, and aren't afraid to share them with you. They get it. And they want you to get it, too.

 
Dense, intense, cool, and smoother than it needs to be. We fell in love with pots de creme at Elysian Cafe in Hoboken, NJ. Dark-ish chocolate with Grand Marnier infused candied orange slices. You must go and order it. Now.

It is the singular dish we miss the most since we moved from Hoboken, and Karen and I set out to replicate it. This is also dead simple to make. Heat some milk. Chop some chocolate. You do want a fine mesh strainer for this if you want a really smooth consistancy, but your life will be fine if you don’t. Don’t stress.

First we tried Karen DeMasco’s Extra-Bittersweet Chocolate Pots de Crème from the New York Times. Let's take a moment and remember that Chef DeMasco is at the Craft family of restos. And she knows what she's doing.

Her Pots de Crème were fantastic, but the intensity was more, uh, intense than what we wanted. We knew milk chocolate was all wrong for this. Then Karen had the brilliant idea of doing 50/50 dark and milk chocolate. Perfect balance. 2 oz dark and 2 oz milk chocolate.

Then on to the clementine. This candying process is so incredibly simple. Don’t get scared by the amount of sugar required...most of it is staying in the pan and not going into the clementine. I like this recipe more than others because of the “raw” sugar included. It adds a depth of molasses-y flavor that pure granulated just can’t match.

Any type of orange will be fine. And you really do want these, even if you leave out the booze. Just pick a thin-skinned clementine or orange,and you’re good to go. 

Scared of this? Then ask yourself if you can measure water and sugar. Yes, yes, you can. Can you slice a clementine? Yep. Can you trust yourself not to stir the bubbling cauldron of sugar so as not to make it boil over and destroy your hopes and dreams? Only you know the answer to that one.

Here’s the recipe from myrecipes.com. We skipped dipping them in chocolate. All we did was substitute in 1/2 cup of Grand Marnier for 1/2 cup of water (resulting in 1 c of water and 1/2 cup of Grand Marnier). You need a candy thermometer. Get a cheapo one from the grocery store if you don’t have one. Worth it.


Make extra clementines. You will eat them off the plate while they dry. Make sure you have enough left for the pots de crème. And say goodbye to pudding. You deserve better.

Recipes | Milk + Dark Chocolate Pots de Crème with Grand Marnier Candied Clementines

• Pots de Crème - Karen DeMasco via the NYTimes
• Grand Marnier Candied Clementines via myrecipes.com

wordless wednesday | chelsea market, nyc

If you're coming to New York, a must-see visit has to include Chelsea Market. The array of vendors, restaurants, and colors will whet your appetite, and Chris & I guarantee you'll spend hours just browsing. And eating. And browsing. And hopefully eating some more.

rsvp redux september - peach-snickerdoodle milk shakes

It's a bit sad to let summer go. We look forward to partaking in the amazing produce all year long. But before we leave the sunny days of summer, we need to have one last hurrah.

We recently joined Barbara of Vino Luci at RSVP Redux to celebrate the part of Bon Appetit magazine dedicated to the restaurant recipes desired by readers. Since the blueberry cornmeal pancakes look so amazing here and here, we decided to go with the Peach Snickerdoodle Milk Shakes.

I'm a pretty strict chocolate girl. I hardly ever stray from my chocolate ice cream, and for this recipe from 8oz Burger Bar, I'm really glad I did. We were able to use the very last peaches of the summer and put beautiful, soft snickerdoodles in the glass and on the side (you really need one to just scoop up the peach loveliness.) This simple recipe can be finished in probably 30 minutes. And there's no milk added to the ice cream, which makes the milk shake really thick and wonderful.

You could probably use frozen peaches for this, but if you can still find them, run and get some fresh peaches.

note: we used Pepperidge Farm Soft Baked Sanibel snickerdoodles. Great choice.

Say goodbye to summer one last time. Until next year.

recipe | peach-snickerdoodle milk shakes from 8 oz Burger Bar in LA

Bon Appetit RSVP, September 2010

4 servings

• 4 T sugar, divided
• 2 t plus pinch of ground cinnamon
• 4 yellow peaches (about 1.5 lbs, halved, pitted, cut into 1/2 inch wedges with skin)
• 1/4 t fresh lemon juice
• 4 c. vanilla ice cream
• 2/3 cup crumbled purchased snickerdoodle cookies puls additional for garnish

Mix 2 tablespoons sugar and 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon in small bowl. Set aside. Cook peach wedges, lemon juice, remaining 2 tablesppons sugar, and pinch of ground cinnamon in heavy large skillet over medium-low heat until peaches are soft and begin to fall apart, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Remove form heat and cool peach compote completely. (Peach compote can be make 4 hours ahead. Cinnamon sugar can be covered and stored at room temperature. Refrigerate and cover compote.)

Puree 2 cups vanilla ice cream, 1/3 cup crumbled snickerdoodle cookies, half of cinnamon sugar, and half of peach compote in blender until smooth. Divide milk shake between 2 tall glasses. Repeat with remaining ingredients. Sprinkle additional crumbled snickerdoodle cooies over milk shakes and serve.

wordless wednesday | union square greenmarket & chinatown, nyc