Chocolate Cheesecake Redux: How About You?

I made my favorite chocolate cheesecake in my new silicone springform pan and it turned is superb!  The best part?  The springform just slid right away from the cake when I unhinged it!  I'm so pleased with easy my silicone bakeware makes baking!

I made a few ingredient adjustments to the Kraft recipe so I've included the altered recipe below.  You can access the original Kraft Chocolate Cheescake recipe, too.

To paraphrase, "I like chocolate cheesecake cold, how about you?"  So please take a listen to the classic Frank Sinatra tune, "How About You."

CHOCOLATE CHEESECAKE

CRUST:
2 cups crushed Oreo Cookies, about 24 cookies
4 Tbl. melted butter

CAKE:
3 packages of cream cheese (8 oz. each)
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
3 eggs
8 oz. semi-sweet baking chocolate, chopped

Prepare a 9-inch metal springform pan by lining bottom and sides with parchment paper.  If using silicone, spray vegetable spray on bottom and sides.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Combine crumbs and melted butter in a medium bowl and mix.  Press evenly onto the bottom of the springform pan.  Bake for 15 minutes.

In a microwave safe bowl, melt the chopped chocolate in the microwave on power 4 for 45 seconds.  Stir.  Put in for another 45 seconds.  Stir.  Microwave until the chocolate is melted.  Let cool on the counter.

Whip the cream cheese until smooth and shiny, for 2 to 3 minutes.  Add sugar, vanilla, and eggs and beat just until incorporated.

Add the cooled chocolate to the cream cheese and whip until completely mixed.  Pour on top of the baked crust.

Bake at 325 degrees for 55 to 60 minutes.  Center should be set, but may jiggle.  Don't over bake or cheesecake will be very dense and heavy.

Let cool in springform pan.  If in a silicone pan, let the cake cool and remove the silicone ring before placing in fridge or freezer.  Refrigerate for 4 hours or freeze for 2 hours before slicing and serving.

Just in Time for Torte!

Chocolate Raspberry Torte

As I looked for recipes to try in my new silicone bakeware, I came across a recipe for Chocolate Raspberry Torte.  I love chocolate and raspberries, so I had to try it!

And the silicone bakeware worked magnificently!  The cakes literally just slid out of the pans!  Perfect cakes without the hassle of sticking and breaking!

Time is very important in baking, perhaps even more-so than in cooking.  Over bake and cakes dry out.  Under bake and cakes are, well, not done.  So today's song is "Just in Time" sung by Dean Martin.

The recipe below is my adaption of a Cook's Illustrated recipe.

CHOCOLATE RASPBERRY TORTE

CAKE
4 oz. semi-sweet baking chocolate, chopped
4 oz. unsweetened baking chocolate, chopped
12 Tbl. butter, cut into pieces
2 1/2 tsp. vanilla (real, not imitation!)
2 cups sliced almonds, toasted
1/4 cup flour
1/4 tsp. salt
5 eggs
3/4 cup sugar

FILLING
12 oz. frozen raspberries, thawed
1/3 cup seedless raspberry jelly, heated until runny

GLAZE
4 oz. semi-sweet baking chocolate, chopped
1 oz. unsweetened baking chocolate, chopped
1/2 cup and 1 Tbl. heavy cream

GARNISH
16 full raspberries, set aside

Preheat oven to 325 degrees and put the oven rack in the middle.  Line two 9-inch round pans with parchment paper and grease the paper.  If using silicone pans, spray with vegetable spray.

Melt the 4 oz. of semi-sweet and 4 oz. of unsweetened baking chocolates in the microwave for 1 minute and 30 seconds on power 3.  Take out and stir.  Put in for another minute and 30 seconds.  The chocolate should be mostly melted.  Add the butter and put in microwave for another 30 seconds.  Stir the butter and chocolate together.  When combined, add vanilla.

Pulse 1 cup of sliced almonds coarsely in a food processor.  Set aside.

Put the rest of the almonds in the food processor and grind finely.  Add flour and salt until combined.  Put in a small bowl and set aside.

Put eggs in food processor and turn on for 2-3 minutes until light in color and slightly frothy.  Add the sugar and whip until combined.  Remove food processor bowl.  Hand whisk the almond-flour mixture and chocolate mixture together.

Evenly divide the batter into the prepared cake pans.  Bake for 14 minutes.  Let cool, in pans, on wire rack.

If using metal pans, loosen cake sides from pan with a knife.  Flip one cake onto the backside of a plate.  Then flip the cake to be right side up on the wire rack.  Put waxed paper under the rack.

To make the filling, mash the raspberries and add the liquified jelly to the mixture.

Spread the raspberry filling on the top of the first cake.  Flip the other cake directly onto the top of the first cake and filling.

To make the glaze, put the rest of the chocolate and heavy cream in a small saucepan.  Melt over medium-low heat, stirring constantly.  Be careful not to scald the cream or burn the chocolate.  Once combined, pour and spread over the cake, being sure the sides are covered by letting the chocolate go over the sides of the cake.

Using the remaining coarsely chopped almonds, pat onto the sides of the torte.

Place the 16 raspberries on top of the cake around the edge.

Throw away waxed paper under the cake rack.  Place the rack with the cake on a jelly roll pan.  Put in the freezer.

Everything Baker

By now you know I love to bake!  And you also know that my family loves to celebrate.  Some of my belated graduation presents included a set of silicone bakeware and silicone baking sheet!

Two months ago after using a silicone bundt pan--which ironically is one-third the price of a metal bundt pan--I wondered if it were possible that other silicone bakeware could be superior to metal bakeware.

Fast forward to yesterday,  I just couldn't bring myself to make a chocolate cheesecake because the springform pan was completely rusted and even though I line the entire springform pan with parchment paper, I couldn't use it.  Plus, it was a bit bent and I was afraid it would leak.  So I looked online and found out that silicone springform pans exist!  They really do!

So I ordered one that will arrive tomorrow.  I'll let you know how well it works.

Now to this afternoon, I came downstairs to find the beautiful arrangement of silicone bakeware waiting to be discovered by me!  A graduation surprise!

I'm in heaven selecting recipes to try out in the new silicone bakeware!

Seriously, if I could do an infomercial for silicone baking products, I would.  I would also write a catchy jingle...!

For now, here's a treat of a song, "Everything Happens to Me" sung by the jazz trumpeter Chet Baker in honor of the "baking" mood.  Chet Baker is more known as a trumpeter but as a great musician he puts emotion in his vocals, too!