Because She Asked for It

 This is for my sister-in-law because she found the recipe and requested it for her birthday because she was coming to our house. And if you’ll recall, if you’re at my house for your birthday, there will be cake. Because she really liked it, she took leftovers home and shared it with her co-workers. They loved it, too.  Because it was a hit, she asked for the recipe back.  (I’m a little surprised she didn’t simply ask me to find a way to ship cheesecake to her.) Because ultimately what asking for the recipe back means is that I blog about it and share it with the world. 🙂  Because that’s how I work.  🙂 

This is for my sister-in-law who is one of the strongest women I know in faith, spirit, and spunk, who loves my girls when they’re smiling and when they’re crabby. This is for the woman who gives them all the extra projects and trinkets from her classroom and then a year later will help me by sorting through the junk in my house and throwing those same projects and trinkets away. This is for the woman who would do anything for you if you needed it, even if that means telling you exactly what you don’t want to hear because you need to hear it. This is for the woman who drinks Diet Coke like I drink coffee, who has an aversion to green peppers and black olives. Who makes fun of me for making everything from scratch (yes, I know that everything can be made from a box or bought already made at the grocery store). But I’m pretty sure she would be slightly disappointed if I made everything from a box.

This is for the woman who drives the Flying Pickle.

This is for my sister-in-law who quickly became more than family by law. She became one of the best friends I have, whether she realizes it or not. Finally, this is for my sister-in-law because she asked for the recipe back, and, if you know her, you already know, it’s all about Becki. 🙂

These are real-life pictures of the last piece of cheesecake, candle hole, finger indent, and all. You can’t see the raspberries (the magazine picture looks much better), but they’re there — just enough to be good, even for someone like me who doesn’t so much like chocolate and fruit together.

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Redbook’s Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake

Crust

• 8 sheets chocolate graham crackers, finely crushed (1 cup)
• 1 large egg white, lightly beaten

Filling

• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1-1/3 cups sugar
• 4 Tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1 oz. semisweet chocolate, grated (I used chocolate chips here)
• 24 oz. reduced-fat cream cheese
• 8 oz fat-free sour cream
• 3 large eggs (room temperature)
• 1 tsp each vanilla and chocolate extract (I skipped the chocolate extract cuz I didn’t have any)
• 1 cup fresh raspberries

Drizzle (I omitted this, too)

• 1/2 oz semisweet chocolate
• 1-1/2 tsp unsalted butter

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 9-inch springform pan with nonstick cooking spray. In a small bowl, combine graham-cracker crumbs and egg white; press into bottom of prepared pan. Bake 6 minutes; cool.
2. In a small bowl, combine cocoa powder, 1/3 cup of the sugar, 3 Tbsp of the flour, and grated chocolate. In a food processor, mix cream cheese, sour cream, eggs, and remaining 1 cup sugar until smooth. Add cocoa mixture and vanilla and chocolate extracts to cream cheese mixture; blend until smooth. I used a hand mixer to mix instead of the food processor.
3. Toss raspberries in remaining 1 Tbsp flour, then fold into filling. Pour filling into crust in pan. Bake 60 minutes, until center is barely set. Cool at room temperature, then cover and refrigerate overnight. I ran a sharp knife around the edge of the cheesecake about 10 minutes after removing from oven to help in preventing cracking.
4. In a small microwave safe bowl, melt semisweet chocolate and butter; whisk until smooth. Drizzle over cake.

Would Love Apple Pie

I have three “would love”s on my list today.  I would love the clutter in my house to be gone. Just gone. I would love to make pie — I’m in a pie-making kind of mood, I guess. And I would love to call my mom for a chat.

I will never claim to be the perfect daughter by any stretch of the imagination. As a perfectionist trying to live up to a perfectionist mother’s standards, it could get tough. I never called as often as I probably should have. Do I have regrets about that? No, not really. While my sister is cut out to be a super stay-at-home mom and seemed completely content to share every detail about that with Mom, I honestly didn’t find enjoyment in sharing every little detail about folding laundry, changing diapers, etc. with my mom. Now, what I made for supper or a new cookie recipe… that’s a different story. Did not calling every day or even every week mean I didn’t care about my mom? Not in the least!

So while I don’t have regrets, I do have moments when I miss having her available for a conversation. I would love to thank her for leaving that container of turbinado sugar in the pantry — it’s added that little extra “special” to my baking. I guess I wouldn’t mind telling her I just ironed twelve shirts and a dress. Ugh. I sure could use her perspective right now about how she got through all those years when the going was tough. I wouldn’t mind another of her random mailings of grocery store endcap cookbooks and bags of chocolate chips, either.

But that’s okay. I may miss her a lot at times, but I wouldn’t want anything but heaven for her right now. I’ll see her soon enough. Until then, my house may be cluttered and my kitchen may be messy with the makings of pie. I guess I can live with that. Maybe I can pay someone with pie to come and de-clutter my house. I think I’d like that. Or maybe I can ignore the clutter, make some pie, and enjoy it along with a conversation with a dear friend or two. Yeah, I think I would love that, too. 🙂

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Apple Pie

I’ve combined elements from a variety of recipes from sources such as Better Homes & Gardens, Betty Crocker, and America’s Test Kitchen. First, I essentially make enough dough for a double-crust and a single-crust pie. This may not seem like good advice and I’m sure experts would tell me I’m wrong, but it’s always ensured that my bottom crust isn’t too thin to support the filling. Then by borrowing an idea from America’s Test Kitchen for using vodka to make a flaky crust, I figured that vanilla extract is mostly alc0hol and would impart a nice flavor to the crust, so I added a bit of that before the water (to make sure it wouldn’t turn out soggy). I also subbed brown sugar for the normal white sugar, figuring it could add a slight caramel note to the crust. Perfect for apple pie, I think. Most of the filling is from ATK which may seem like skimping on spice, but it lets the apples shine through. Baking instructions are also from ATK.

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 Tbsp. packed brown sugar
• 2/3 cup shortening
• 1/3 cup cold margarine
• 2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 9-10 tablespoons cold water
• 2 Tbsp. flour
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 Tbsp. sugar
• 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp. ground allspice
• 7-8 medium apples, peeled and sliced about 1/4″ thick (I try to use a mix of apples here, for sweet and tart, making sure they’re apples that will hold their shape during baking and not turn to mush; America’s Test Kitchen recommends Granny Smith and McIntosh. I like to use Jonathan, when they’re available.)
• 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 1 slightly beaten egg white
• 1-2 Tbsp. sugar (turbinado works well here)

1. In a large bowl, stir together flour, salt, and sugar. Using a pastry blender, cut in shortening and margarine until pieces are pea-size.
2. Sprinkle vanilla extract and 1 tablespoon of the water over part of the mixture; gently toss with a fork or spoon. Repeat, using 1 tablespoon water at a time, until all the dough is moistened. Divide in half. Form each half into a ball. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
3. On lightly floured surface, flatten 1 dough ball. Roll into  a 12-inch circle.
4. To transfer pastry, wrap it loosely around the rolling pin; unroll onto prepared baking sheet. Repeat with other dough ball. Refrigerate both crusts for 30 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, mix flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice in large bowl (sometimes I use the same one from the dough, if it’s big enough; the “classic” large yellow Tupperware bowl works well, too). Add apples and lemon juice; toss.  (This is the place where the Tupperware bowl comes in really handy — cover and toss.)
6. Adjust oven rack to the lowest position, place a rimmed baking sheet (or baking stone) on the rack, and heat oven to 500 degrees. 
7. Remove dough from refrigerator. Using the rolling pin again, roll dough around and ease pastry into pie plate, being careful not to stretch pastry. Add apple filling, mounding in middle a bit. Loosely wrap top pie crust around rolling pin and gently place over the filled bottom crust.
8. Trim all but 1/2 inch of the dough overhanging the edge of the pie plate.  Press the top and bottom crusts together, tuck edges underneath, and crimp together around the pie plate with fingers or fork.
9. Brush top crust with egg white and sprinkle with sugar. Cut slits to allow steam to escape. Place pie on heated baking sheet (or stone), reduce oven temperature to 425 degrees, and bake until the crust is golden, about 25 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 375 degress, rotate the baking sheet, and continue to bake until the juices are bubbling and the crust is deep golden brown, 30 to 35 minutes longer. Cool on a wire rack to room temperature, about 4 hours.

 Makes 8 servings.