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Posts Tagged ‘vanilla’

Neapolitan Zebra Cheesecake

Posted in Cake, Cheesecake/Dairy Desserts, Dairy, Dessert, Holiday, tagged , , , , , , , , on May 20, 2013 | 18 Comments »

neapolitan zebra cheesecake on Overtime Cook

Every now and then, a person is lucky enough to come up with an idea that’s pure genius. I consider myself endlessly lucky to have a platform, both here on the blog and in my magazine column, where I can share my occasional stroke of brilliance with a couple of folks.

Well this one was one of my most incredible strokes of genius. Ages ago, I posted this Zebra Cake. Then I took it a step further with this ever popular Zebra Bundt Cake. And ever since then, the concept of zebra cakes and such have been in my head constantly.

I wanted to create a zebra cheesecake, but plain chocolate and vanilla has been done so many times, and I wanted to do something a little more extraordinary. That’s when I came up with the idea of this Neapolitan Zebra Cheesecake. It’s gorgeous, it’s impressive, and the flavors are simply awesome together. After all, who doesn’t love this amazing flavor combination?

The recipe was published recently in my magazine column, and it might have been my most popular recipe ever. Facebook blew up with my amazing readers posting pictures of this gorgeous cake, so I knew I had to share it with my lovely blog readers.

Next time you want to impress, make this cheesecake. It’s not as complicated as it looks. It’s a matter of making three quick batters, then spooning them in carefully. Go ahead. You know it’s worth it!

neapolitan zebra cheesecake 2

Zebra Neapolitan Cheesecake

By Miriam Pascal, OvertimeCook.Com

Originally published in my column in Ami/Whisk Magazine

Ingredients:

For the crust:

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs

1/4 cup sugar

6 Tablespoons butter, melted

For the Strawberry Layer:

8 ounces cream cheese

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs

1/4 cup flour

1/2 cup strawberry purée*

1 teaspoon strawberry extract (optional, but strongly recommended)

A few drops food coloring (optional but recommended)

*(blend frozen strawberries that have been defrosted in your food processor to make the purée.)

For the chocolate layer:

8 ounces cream cheese

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup milk

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1/4 cup flour

For the vanilla layer:
8 ounces cream cheese

1/2 cup sour cream

2 eggs

1/2 cup sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/4 cup milk

1/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons flour

Instructions:

To prepare the crust:

Mix together the graham crackers, sugar and melted butter until combined. (It will have the texture of wet sand.) Press along the bottom and up the sides of a 9 inch springform pan. Press a round measuring cup along the edge to smooth it out. Place the crust in the freezer while you prepare the batter.

To prepare batter: combine all ingredients for strawberry mixture in a bowl. Whisk until smooth. (You can do this with an electric mixer or a whisk.) Set aside. Repeat to make chocolate and then vanilla batter.

To assemble the cheesecake: 

Remove the crust from the freezer. Place a small scoop (*see note) (about 2-4 Tablespoons) of the vanilla batter in the center of the crust.
Next, place a scoop of the chocolate mixture in the center of the vanilla. This will cause the vanilla mixture to spread out. Then, place a scoop of the strawberry mixture in the center of the chocolate, again, this will push the chocolate mixture out towards the edge.

Repeat with the remaining batter, alternating between the colors. (Note about the size of the scoop- the smaller the scoop, the more impressive your cheesecake will look, but the longer it will take. Just make sure the scoops are the same size for each flavor.)

Bake the cheesecake at 350 for 65 minutes. To prevent cracks, turn the oven off and leave the cheesecake in the oven to cool slowly for at least an hour.

If you don’t want to make your own crust, divide the batter between two pre-made graham cracker crusts and bake for 40-45 minutes.

*Note: I heard from many readers who used squeeze bottles and piping bags to place the batter in neat, even circles. This might also make the process easier.

neapolitan zebra cheesecake alt

Thanks everyone for stopping by! And come back soon for some more delicious recipes! -Miriam

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Soft Frosted Vanilla Sugar Cookies and a Review and Giveaway of Pure Vanilla

Posted in Cookbook Reviews, Cookies, Dessert, Giveaways, Holiday, purim, tagged , , , , , , on February 14, 2013 | 144 Comments »

Frosted Vanilla Sugar Cookies 2

I know it’s been a while since I did a book review, but this one is super fun, and I love this recipe for Purim (or pretty much any time. Ever.) The frosting is vanilla flavored, but add in some food coloring to match your color scheme and you’re all set.

Scroll down to the bottom of the post for a giveaway of this book!


Pure Vanilla by Shauna Sever is a super fun and creative book that aims to change your impression of vanilla from a minor side ingredient to a star of the show. Here’s what I thought of it.
At a First Glance:
I never thought of vanilla as such a starring ingredient before. To me, vanilla means no other flavor. But this book spotlights it in the most amazing ways! There’s a breakfast section, a cake section, a cookie section and a candy section. Pretty much every kind of sweet treat…highlighting vanilla!

Some Features I Liked:
This book features lots of recipes, but also tips, tricks and even history surrounding the amazing flavor of vanilla which I enjoyed reading.
This is a beautifully done, hard covered book with clearly laid out recipes and gorgeous pictures. It’s an all-around pleasure to read and enjoy!
Most importantly, this book has an astonishing variety of recipes featuring vanilla in all it’s forms.

Some Recipes I Can’t Wait To Try:
Twinkie Bundt Cake: we all know that I adore bundt cakes, but the cream filling on this one is calling my name…loudly!

Ultimate Vanilla Cupcakes: because there’s no such thing as “good enough” when it comes to a vanilla cupcake!

Vanilla Bean Marshmallows: I’ve been wanting to try my hand at marshmallows for a while -and these look fabulous.

Vanilla Cloud Cake: the author says everyone who tastes this cake proclaims it’s the best they’ve ever had. How can I not try it for myself?

Who This Cookbook is For:
This is a really fun book with lots of great ideas for anybody who enjoys baking and being creative in the kitchen.
And while everyone can enjoy these delicious recipes, this book is especially good for anyone who doesn’t like (love?) chocolate. For the rest of us, yes. People like that exist. I’ve met them.

Who This Cookbook isn’t For:
Firstly, people with special dietary needs such as gluten or sugar free will not find many suitable recipes in this book.
Also, if you’re looking for an all-around dessert cookbook, this isn’t your best option. While there’s a wide variety of ideas, they mostly have the same flavor.

What I Didn’t Like About this Cookbook:
As I’ve written so many times in the past, this is a niche cookbook, which by default means there are limitations. In this case, (obviously) everything is vanilla flavored.
Another thing (which I know I’ve mentioned many times before as well) is that many of the recipes don’t have pictures. Call me spoiled, but especially with some of the more visual recipes that’s important to me.
Lastly, while I’m okay with it, some people may not find these recipes very easy or quick.

Lastly, many of the recipes in this book use forms of vanilla which are either hard to get, expensive, or both. The author does include a substitution chart, but for some recipes she specifies that subs aren’t a good idea.

Conclusion:

This book is fun, interesting, creative and most importantly, has a bunch of great looking recipes! If you love to bake, consider purchasing it …or buy it for the baker in your life as a gift!

And here’s a recipe from the book. I am not sure what to say about this other than it’s delicious. And it so elevates the “plain” sugar cookie with all of the intense vanilla flavor!

Frosted Vanilla Sugar Cookies 3

Big Soft Vanilla Sugar Cookies:

Adapted from Pure Vanilla

Ingredients:

3 1/2 cups cake flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine

2 Tablespoons vanilla extract

1 1/3 cups granulated sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 eggs

2 Tablespoons corn syrup

Instructions:

Whisk together the flour, salt and baking powder in a small bowl. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter/margarine and vanilla until creamy. Add the sugar and beat on high until fluffy, about 2 minutes.

In a small bowl, whisk together the oil, eggs and corn syrup until blended. Reduce mixer speed to medium and beat in the oil mixture. Beat until fully combined.

Reduce the mixer speed to low and gradually mix in the flour, beating until just combined.

Cover the dough and refrigerate until firm, at least two hours (up to overnight).

When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 325. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper and bake as follows (depending on the size cookie you desire.)

For extra large cookies: scoop the dough onto the cookie sheet using a 1/4 cup measuring cup. Bake 3 per sheet for 15-17 minutes, until the cookies are just turning pale gold around the edges.

For regular sized cookies (pictured here) : scoop the dough using a medium cookie scoop. Bake 9 cookies per sheet for 12-14 minutes, until the cookies are just turning pale gold around the edges.

Remove cookies from the oven and set aside to cool.

Vanilla Frosting:

Ingredients:

1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine

4 cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup milk or soy milk

1/8 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste*

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Instructions:

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together all ingredients until fluffy. Frost the cooled cookies. Top with sprinkles or colored sugar, if desired.

*Note: if you don’t have vanilla bean paste, you can sub additional vanilla extract, though the taste won’t be quite the same. You may need to reduce the milk by a teaspoon or two to make up for the extra liquid.

Frosted Vanilla Sugar Cookies 1

And now, the giveaway!

For your chance to win a copy of Pure Vanilla:

Please note: Each entry requires its own comment! Multiple entries in one comment will only be counted once!

Entry #1 – Leave a comment on this post telling me what flavor you would like to see an entire cookbook of!

Entry #2 – Follow @OvertimeCook on twitter and leave a comment on this post telling me that you did.

Entry # 3- Like Tales of an Overtime Cook on Facebook and leave a comment on this post telling me that you did.

Entry # 4 – Follow @OvertimeCook on Pinterest and leave a comment on this post telling me that you did.

Entry # 5 – Subscribe to OvertimeCook via email (link is on the right sidebar of the blog). and leave a comment on this post telling me that you did.

Note: if you already like/follow etc, that’s fine. Just leave a comment letting me know that!

Giveaway Details:

Giveaway ends at 11:59 PM on Thursday, February 22nd. A valid email address or twitter profile must be provided.

Prize can be shipped within the US and Canada.

Giveaway is sponsored by the publisher.

Disclaimer: this book was sent to me for review by the publisher. All opinions are my own. There are affiliate links within this post.

Thanks all for stopping by! Good luck with the giveaway and enjoy the cookies! Have a fabulous weekend and come back soon! Next week I have some super delicious treats to share with you all! -Miriam

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Vanilla Glazed Red Velvet Cream Cheese Cookies

Posted in Cookies, Dessert, tagged , , , , , , , on January 17, 2013 | 19 Comments »

vanilla glazed red velvet cream cheese cookies on overtimecook

I feel like this post needs to start with an apology.

I mean, first there’s the whole repetitive thing. I know that I posted a red velvet cake recipe last week, so it’s a little soon for another red velvet recipe. And then there’s the whole “being too trendy for my own good thing.” I mean, January is ending, which means that food blogs are about to get overloaded with red velvet in preparation for valentine’s day. So while this post may seem like my desperate attempt at getting ahead of the game, and getting traffic at the same time, I assure you, that isn’t the case.

Let’s blame this post on my brother-in-law.

You see, my brother-in-law hates chocolate. Or so he thinks. Insane. I know. Moving on. So whenever my sister and her family come for a visit, or I visit them, I find myself enormously challenged to come up with non-chocolate desserts. And while some of my favorite and most popular recipes were inspired by this very restriction, I came up with an interesting discovery. If said brother-in-law doesn’t know that an item has chocolate, he’s totally cool with eating it.

Which brings us right back to red velvet. And why I made them this week. I’m going to be spending the weekend at my sister’s, and I, of course, am bringing the dessert. This dessert. Let’s see how he loves it!

No, my brother-in-law doesn’t read this blog. Why do you ask?

Now let’s talk about this recipe. And how it’s so good that I totally won’t apologize for it.

I invented it at 11:30 last night, after being completely unhappy with the results of my google search. All the red velvet cookie recipes that I found were either made from a mix, or they were basically chocolate cookies with red food coloring. I wanted to get the proper red velvet texture, so I made these. And then I decided that topping them with cream cheese would be nice, but why not dump the cream cheese right into the batter? Genius. I know. And then, in an effort to be somewhat less cliche, I opted for a vanilla glaze. Don’t look at me like that. There’s cream cheese in the dough!

Anyway, how successful were these? Well, one coworker said “I just died and went to heaven.” Another was even more enthusiastic. “Let’s both quit our jobs,” he proposed, “and go into the business of selling these together.”

Yep, they’re that good. Now let’s see what my brother-in-law has to say about them.

red velvet cookies 3

Red Velvet Cream Cheese Cookies:

Ingredients:

1/4 cup milk or soy milk

1/2 teaspoon white vinegar

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine

8 ounces cream cheese or tofutti cream cheese

1 cup sugar

2/3 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 Tablespoon red food coloring

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 3/4 cups flour

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

In a small bowl, combine the milk and vinegar and set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together the butter/margarine, cream cheese, sugar and brown sugar until creamy.

By this time, the milk should appear somewhat curdled. Add it to the mixer and beat to combine.

Add the egg, food coloring and vanilla, beating to combine after each addition.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder and baking soda.

With the mixer on a low speed, slowly add the dry ingredient mixture and beat until just combined.

Use a small cookie scoop to drop the dough onto prepared cookie sheets.

Bake at 350 for 8-9 minutes.

Remove from oven and set aside to cool completely before glazing.

Vanilla Glaze:

Skip the glaze if you don’t want the extra step, but it sure is pretty!

Ingredients:

1 cup powdered sugar

1 teaspoon oil

4 teaspoons milk or soy milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions:

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir until combined. The consistency should be thick enough for the glaze to hold it’s shape. (Add a bit more powdered sugar, if needed. )

Drizzle glaze over cooled cookies. Use a plastic squirt bottle for an even and neat look.

Enjoy!

red velvet cookies 2

Thank you for stopping by! Come back soon- I have something exciting to share with you! -Miriam

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