Sugared Cranberry White Chocolate Cheesecake (Gluten Free)

Believe it or not, I’m already in the holiday spirit.  Basically, if your local Macy’s Department Store were a person, that person would be me.

It may be a little too early to start thinking of Christmas, but I think that anything decorated with these sugared cranberries would be delightful not only for Thanksgiving, but Christmas too.  They’re such a beautiful rich red tone, kissed with a light frost of sugar.  And they’re SO easy to make.  

In addition to the sugared cranberry garnish used in this recipe, I used a beautiful and tasty fresh cranberry curd to top the cheesecake.  And I have a funny story about this cranberry curd recipe.  


Well, it’s funny depending on who you are in the story… The curd recipe is from Nigella Lawson’s book “How to be a Domestic Goddess,” which I do not own, but still was able to utilize the recipe due to the wonders of the internet.  My husband used to watch Nigella Lawson’s show when he was a younger, single guy because she’s easy on the eyes.  He made the mistake of telling me an old story about his brother trying to take the television from him at their parent’s house to watch sports, accusing him of only watching her show because he thought she was “hot.”  Anyway, it was a mistake of him to tell me this because I can get crazy jealous at times.  I completely admit it. 

Case in point- directly proceeding his re-telling of this story, I set about to point out every Nigella Lawson cookbook we saw at bookstore (accompanied by a glare that said “what do you think about this?  You better not want to look at it!), told him about every Nigella Lawson interview I heard on NPR, and glared at him when he nervously informed me that Nigella Lawson was a guest star on Top Chef Masters a few seasons ago (Mr. Pixie Crust works for the company that composes the music for the Top Chef series).  I know, I know…I realize I’m nuts.  And he truly is the sweetest, most patient man.


Anyway, in true “me” fashion, I sheepishly told him that I was using her cranberry curd recipe for this cheesecake and he had a good time teasing me.  He also asked if I was going to post a picture of her, so…

And now onto the recipe...this particular dessert is a white chocolate cheesecake topped with cranberry curd and encased in a gingersnap crust. 

For the White Chocolate Cheesecake:

Gingersnap Crust:

2 cups finely ground store bought gingersnap cookies (Trader Joe’s has a really good gluten free option, which I used)

1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted

Pre-heat oven to 330 degrees.  Lightly butter the sides and bottom of a 9-inch spring form pan.  After gingersnaps have been finely ground in food processor, process 2 cups of the crumbs with butter until incorporated and mixture is similar to wet sand.  Press crumbs at the bottom of a 9-inch spring form pan.  Set aside and begin making filling.

White Chocolate Cheesecake Filling (Adapted from Food Network)

4 (8 oz) blocks of cream cheese, softened

4 whole eggs

2 egg yolks

8 ounces good-quality white chocolate (I used Ghiradelli baking chips and it turned out great)

1/2 cup, plus 2 tbsp granulated sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

½ tbsp sorghum flour*

½ tbsp potato starch*

**For non-gluten free readers, the original recipe calls for 2 tbsp AP flour, instead of sorghum flour/potato starch

Beat cream cheese with an electric mixer at medium speed until fluffy, then beat in sugar. Add whole eggs and yolks, one at a time, beating well at low speed and scraping down bowl after each addition.  Melt chocolate in a double boiler or a large metal bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water, stirring until smooth, and remove from heat.  Beat in flour and vanilla until just combined, then add melted chocolate in a slow stream, beating until filling is well combined.  Bake in middle of oven until cake is set 3 inches from edge but center is still wobbly when pan is gently shaken, 45 to 55 minutes.  Run a thin knife around edge of cake to loosen, then cool completely in pan on a rack. (Cake will continue to set as it cools.) Serve at room temperature or chilled.

For the Cranberry Curd Heavily adapted from Nigella Lawson’s “How to be a Domestic Goddess"

·  1/2 pound fresh cranberries

·  1/2 cup, plus 1 tbsp water

·  3 1/2  tablespoons unsalted butter

·  3/4 cup, plus 1 tbsp sugar

·  3 large eggs

Combine water and cranberries in a small sauce pan.  Cover and place over low heat until cranberries are softened and “popped.”  Pour cranberry mixture in blender and puree.  Once fully pureed, pour through a fine mesh sieve back into sauce pan (you will need to rinse it if there are chunks of cranberries leftover.”  Add eggs, butter, and sugar to cranberry puree.  Turn heat on low and stir continuously, watching carefully so that the eggs do not cook and “scramble.”  Continue to heat and stir until mixture has thickened enough to coat back of spoon.  Remove from heat and allow to cool on stovetop.

For the sugared cranberries (From Cooking Light Magazine):

2 cups water

2 cups granulated sugar

2 cups fresh cranberries

3/4  cup superfine sugar (you can make your own by processing regular sugar for a minute in a food processor)


Combine sugar and water in a small saucepan over low heat, stirring mixture until sugar dissolves. Bring to a simmer; remove from heat. (Do not boil or the cranberries may pop when added.) Stir in cranberries; pour mixture into a bowl. Cover and refrigerate 8 hours or overnight.


Drain cranberries in a colander over a bowl. Place superfine sugar in a shallow dish (I used a glass pie plate). Add the cranberries, rolling to coat with sugar. Spread sugared cranberries in a single layer on a baking sheet; let stand at room temperature 1 hour or until dry.


Note: The steeping liquid clings to the berries and helps the sugar adhere.  Store in an airtight container in a cool place for up to a week.

For the Whipped Cream Topping:

2 cups heavy whipping cream

1/2 cup granulated sugar

Beat whipping cream using stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment.  Once cream begins to thicken, slowly add sugar.  Continue beating until whipping cream is fully thickened.  Place whipping cream in pastry bag fitted with large star tip and decorate as desire.

To Assemble:

Tip:  Make the cheesecake and cranberry curd the night before the cheesecake will be served.  Allow the cranberries to steep overnight as well.

Allow cheesecake to cool and fully set for at least one hour after baking.  Pour cranberry curd onto cheesecake, moving pan or spreading with offset spatula to create an even layer.  Cover and refrigerate overnight. 

The next morning, make the whipped cream topping and coat the cranberries in sugar. 

Decorate the cheesecake by piping with whipped topping and finishing with groups of sugared cranberries placed on top to garnish.

Simple Banana Cupcakes with Honey Cream Cheese Frosting (GF)

I’m not one to get up on my soap box about food issues. Don’t get me wrong, bring up most other social and political subjects and you might not be able to shut me up... food has just never been one of them. When Mr. Pixie Crust and I first embarked on our gluten free and (temporarily) dairy free diet, we started to become more and more interested in watching documentaries that discuss raw food and organic produce and animal products. I think it was one of those things where we felt better about not being able to eat (delicious) processed junk food when we convinced ourselves how much healthier we would be.

One particular documentary that we enjoyed is called Vanishing of the Bees. It focuses on Colony Collapse Disorder, which is a phenomenon impacting more and more honeybee colonies in the U.S. Essentially, bees are dying off from pollinating crops that are treated with pesticides because of the impact of the chemicals on honeybees’ immune systems. In addition to the use of pesticides, many beekeepers feed bees processed sugar and water, instead of natural plant nectars, which extenuates the problem of weakened levels of immunity.

All this is to say that bees are integral to humanity’s ability to maintain a proper diet of fruits and vegetables and they are currently being hurt by the very people who need them. To try to do my part (as teeny tiny as it is) I’ve decided to buy carefully sourced organic, raw honey from now on. The particular honey used in this recipe is from Trader Joe’s and is from a part of India where the beekeepers actually climb the trees to collect the honey. Cool, huh?

In addition to buying organic honey, I’ve been trying to remember that bees are important social creatures and not just scary insects out to sting me (I’m a wuss with any and all types of bugs).

Anyhow, you are going to love these banana cupcakes- they are not only simple to make, but are perfectly moist and rich. You would never guess that they are gluten free.

For the Banana Cupcakes (Gluten Free)
Makes 2-dozen cupcakes

3/4 cup superfine sweet rice flour
2/3 cup sorghum flour
1/4 cup almond flour
3/4 cup potato starch
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/4 tsp xanthan gum
3 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 stick butter, unsalted at room temperature
3 tbsp canola oil
3 large eggs
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups mashed very ripe banana (about 3-4 bananas)
1/4 cup water

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Line two 12-cup muffin tins with cupcake liners, set aside.

Measure and sift together flours, starches, xanthan gum, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. Using a stand or hand mixer, cream together butter, oil and sugar. Add vanilla. Add 1/2 of the dry ingredients and mix until incorporated. Add water and 1/2 of the mashed banana. Add the rest of the dry ingredients, mix and add the rest of the banana. Continue mixing until well combined. Be sure to scrape the sides of the bowl and mix for a few seconds before using batter.

Fill cupcake liners about 2/3 full and bake for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees.

For the Honey Cream Cheese Frosting:

3 sticks cold butter, unsalted
1 8 oz block cream cheese
2 1/4 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup honey

Using a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat butter and cream cheese together. Once well combined, add honey. Lastly, add vanilla and confectioner's sugar. Frost cupcakes as desired.

I frosted my cupcakes by using a large round pastry tip and applying round mounds of frosting, small mounds on top of larger mounds. I then cut out a hexagon shaped piece of black fondant, dabbed with water, and dipped into black sanding sugar. The yellow center is a large yellow sprinkle.

Chocolate Dulce de Leche Cupcakes for Dia de Los Muertos

Happy Dia de Los Muertos! To celebrate Day of the Dead, I made these chocolate dulce de leche cupcakes topped with fondant sugar skulls.

The dulce de leche recipe is a bit of work, so feel free to buy dulce de leche, or try to brave the old "can of condensed milk in a pot of boiling water" method...I tried this once, but it did not go well for me! I wish I could say that this recipe is my grandmother's, but it's Alton Brown's. What can I say, the guy is definitely not Latino, but I love his recipe since it's literally milk and sugar simmered together until caramelized.

For the Chocolate Cupcakes (Gluten Free)

2/3 cup superfine sweet rice flour
1/3 cup sorghum flour
1/4 cup pre-sifted almond meal
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup, plus 2 tbsp potato starch
1/2 cup cocoa
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
2 1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 stick butter
3 eggs
1 cup brown sugar
1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
5 oz bittersweet chocolate
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup sour cream
1 cup hot water

Line two 12-cup muffin pans with cupcake liners and pre-heat oven to 350. Sift together flours, starches, and xanthan gum and set aside. Using a stand or hand mixer, cream together butter and sugar. Add in eggs one at time, then add in vanilla extract. Melt chocolate in double boiler or microwave and add to mixture, mixing well. Add baking soda and salt. Add dry ingredients in two additions, alternating with sour cream. Once fully mixed, add 1 cup hot water and hand stir to incorporate evenly. Bake for about 20-22 minutes, until cupcakes spring back to the touch.

*Readers who are not "gluten-free" may use this cake recipe

For the Dulce de Leche Filling (courtesy of Alton Brown):

Ingredients
1 quart whole milk
Approximately 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
2 tsp vanilla bean paste or extract
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

*NOTE: You may need to make 1 1/2 or two times the original recipe to have enough dulce de leche to fill each cupcake and use the remaining candy in the frosting.

Directions
Combine the milk, sugar, and vanilla in a large, 4-quart saucepan and place over medium heat. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally, until the sugar has dissolved. Once the sugar has dissolved, add the baking soda and stir to combine. Reduce the heat to low and cook uncovered at a bare simmer. Stir occasionally, but do not re-incorporate the foam that appears on the top of the mixture. Continue to cook until the mixture is a dark caramel color and has reduced to about 1 cup, approximately 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Strain the mixture through a fine mesh strainer. If not using right away, store in refrigerator in a sealed, airtight container.

For the Dulce de Leche Frosting:
1/3 cup Dulce de Leche
3 sticks unsalted butter
2 tbsp cream cheese
2 tbsp milk or cream
2 cups confectioner's sugar
2 vanilla extract

Combine butter and cream cheese in bowl of stand mixer. Using paddle attachment, mix together until combined. Add dulce de leche and mix well. Add 1 cup confectioner's sugar, 2 tbsp milk, and then the other 1 cup of confectioner's sugar. Add food coloring as desired.

To Assemble:

Using a small paring knife, remove the center of each cupcake, without touching the bottom of the liner. Once all cupcakes are cored, fill pastry bag with dulce de leche (no tip necessary) and fill each cupcake. Lastly, frost and decorate as desired.

To Make the Sugar Skulls:

I simply found a drawing of a Dia De Los Muertos skull that I liked, sized it appropriately, and printed it. I then cut it out, place it on a piece of rolled white fondant and used a paring knife to create the skull shape. Lastly, I let the fondant dry for a bit (this makes it easier to draw on) and drew the faces with edible food pen.

Jack Skellington Cupcakes

Nightmare Before Christmas is one of my favorite Halloween AND Christmas movies. In the spirit of the season, I thought it would be fun to make some Jack Skellington cupcakes. They were surprisingly easy to make. Rolling out, cutting, and drawing Jack's face on the fondant is a bit time consuming, but definitely not very difficult since his features are pretty simple.

I simply cut out this template of Jack's face (you will need to adjust the size) and laid it out on each circle of fondant. Because I don't trust my own drawing skills, I then traced Jack's features with the end of a thin paintbrush. After the features are impressed on the circle, I filled them in with a black edible food pen. If you don't have a circle cutter, I would suggest investing in one- it makes it much easier to create clean shapes.

The actual cupcakes are a simple chocolate cake with vanilla bean frosting. These are not gluten free because I haven't created a fabulous chocolate cake in the Pixie Crust test kitchen yet.

For the Chocolate Cupcakes (makes 24):

2 1/4 cups sifted cake flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
1 cup granulated sugar
1 1/4 cups brown sugar
1 stick unsalted butter
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 eggs
3 oz unsweetened baking chocolate
1 cup hot water
1 cup sour cream

Line two 12-cup cupcake pans with paper liners and pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Sift cake flour and salt together. Set aside. Cream together butter, sugar and eggs. Once light and creamy, add vanilla extract using a stand mixer. Melt baking chocolate in microwave or double boiler. Add chocolate to mixer. Add dry ingredients in two additions, alternating with sour cream. Once fully combined, add hot water and stir to mix.

Bake for 20-24 minutes until cupcakes spring back to touch.

For the Vanilla Bean Frosting:

3 1/2 sticks unsalted butter
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 tbsp vanilla bean paste
2 tbsp cream cheese (for taste and texture to cut the sweetness a bit)

Cream butter and cream cheese together. Add in powdered sugar. Mix until light and fluffy. Add vanilla bean paste and food coloring.

To assemble:

I like to place fondant decorations over the icing so that the frosting still peeks out. That way, someone could choose to remove the fondant topper and still have a good frosting: cake ratio.

Frost cupcakes with pastry bag fitted with star tip, don't pipe frosting on too high. Add Jack head to the top of each cupcake.

Pumpkin "Trick or Treat" Cupcakes (GF)

It feels so nice to be posting again. I've had a really busy couple of weeks, including a work conference (for my 9-5 job, which is not nearly as interesting as pastry) in Palm Springs.

In addition to being busy, I've been feeling a bit like a scientist in the kitchen now that I've switched over to exclusively gluten free baking. It's so exciting, but so different! And so frustrating! I made about 4 attempts yesterday at the perfect GF yellow cupcake and have yet to have succeeded. Luckily, these pumpkin cupcakes turned out beautifully.

These cupcakes are pumpkin with brown butter frosting. They are inspired by a "trick-or-treat" pumpkin basket and when you look at them, you can't help but get nostalgic. I love Halloween and today I spent a full day of child-like fun with Mr. Pixie Crust painting pumpkins to put outside of our apartment. He is a true artist! I'm so impressed by his raven pumpkin!

Mr. Pixie Crust and I had a conversation today about Halloween and what we used to dress up as. Neither of us have ever had the inkling to dress up as anything too spooky. In fact, I pretty much only wanted to be "pretty" characters growing up- a princess, a fairy (I was a fairy probably about 7 times), a mermaid, Cleopatra, a ballerina, etc. I guess some things never change!

For the Pumpkin Cupcakes:
*For non-gluten free readers, you can try this recipe I used for my Harry Potter cupcakes.

1 cup superfine sweet rice flour
1/2 cup sorghum flour
1/4 cup superfine brown rice flour
1/4 cup almond flour
1/2 cup potato starch
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/4 tsp xanthan gum
3 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice
2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 sticks butter, unsalted at room temperature
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups pumpkin puree
1/4 cup water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line two 12-cup muffin tins with cupcake liners. Set aside.

Sift together the flours, corn/potato starches, xanthan gum, baking powder, salt, pumpkin pie spice, and cinnamon. Set aside. Cream together brown sugar, white sugar, and butter. Add in vanilla extract. Add in eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Combine dry ingredients with wet ingredients in two parts, alternating with water and pumpkin puree. Mix for 2-3 minutes.

Fill liners about 2/3 full and bake at 350 for about 20 minutes.

For the Browned Butter Frosting
1 stick butter, room temperature
2 sticks browned butter (see below)
2 1/4 cups powdered sugar (or more, depending on how sweet you like your frosting)
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tbsp Wilton Orange food coloring gel

Slice two sticks of unsalted butter and place in 1 qt sauce pan. Melt over medium heat, stirring occasionally, and continue to heat until bubbly and light brown (about 4-5 minutes). Be very careful in this step- the butter browns quickly and can burn if you don't watch it carefully.

Set melted browned butter aside to cool completely (I put mine in the freezer for a couple of minutes to speed the process).

Once completely cool, combine browned butter and one stick of regular butter with powdered sugar in a stand mixer. Mix on medium speed until fully smooth and creamy. Add food coloring and mix until fully combined.

To Decorate:
Tools/Ingredients
-pastry bag
-small round tip (I used a Wilton 3 tip)
-Mini-sized candy of your choice (I used Nerds, Tootsie rolls, and Mini Reese's Cups)
-Small amount of orange or black fondant
-Orange sanding sugar

To decorate the cupcakes like pumpkins, I used this tutorial from the Hello, Cupcake! book.

To make the pumpkins, place a generous amount of frosting on each cupcake and smooth into a rounded top. Pour orange sanding sugar onto wax paper or a paper plate and gently roll each cupcake into it. You can sprinkle sugar onto any bare spots. Next, use a toothpick to mark indents on pumpkin and use a pastry bag fitted with small round tip to pipe lines onto indents.

Once you've made the pumpkins (minus the stems, unless you make them all into plain pumpkins, which is still adorable-see photo below for proof), cut out the pumpkin face from a piece of rolled out black or orange fondant. Use a bit of frosting to glue each piece on.

Next, place the candy on the top of each cupcake. Put the largest item as far back as you can and then add the smaller items in front. Use a whole piece of licorice for the basket handle by arching over cupcake and pushing each end into it.

Spun Sugar Spider Web Flourless Chocolate Cake (GF)

Flourless chocolate cakes are one of my new favorite things to make. They're so simple to put together. I love that they use such few ingredients and take hardly anytime at all to mix up and bake. Plus, you don't even need to frost them since they're so decadent!

For this version, I decided to make it more festive by adding some spun sugar "webs" and fondant spiders.

For the Cake (Recipe adapted from Givers Log):

Tools/Equipment:
-9-inch springform pan
-Offset rubber spatula
-2 large mixing bowls (an additional large mixing bowl if you use a stand mixer to whip the egg whites)
-A fork (for spinning sugar)
-Parchment paper
-Non-stick cooking spray

Ingredients:
-12.5 oz good quality chocolate (I use a mix of bittersweet, dark, and milk)
-5 eggs, separated
-1/4 cup granulated sugar
-1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature and cut into cubes
-1 tsp vanilla extract
-1/4 tsp cream of tartar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line the bottom of the springform pan with an 9-inch circle of parchment paper. Spray the sides of the pan and parchment paper with non-stick cooking spray.
Set aside.

Chop chocolate and melt by heating in microwave in 45 second-1 minute intervals. Stir well after heating. Once the chocolate is fully melted, add in the cubed butter and stir until melted and fully combined. Set aside to cool.

Whisk egg yolks and vanilla extract together until pale yellow and creamy looking.
Pour egg mixture over chocolate and mix until fully combined. If bowl containing chocolate/eggs is not large enough to contain whipped egg whites, transfer to larger mixing bowl.

Using stand mixer with a clean bowl, whip egg whites until foamy. Add cream of tartar. Once soft peaks start to form, add in sugar little by little. Continue whipping until egg whites form stiff peaks.

Add 1/3 of the egg white mixture to the chocolate mixture and fold until combined. Add in the rest of the whites and continue to fold until combined (it's better to leave few white streaks than to over mix or take the air out of the whites).

Spread batter into springform pan and smooth the top. Bake in the center of the rack for 19-23 minutes.

For the Fondant Spiders:

I used leftover store bought gum paste (you could also use fondant or marshmallow fondant) to create these little critters. I colored my gum paste with AmeriColor Royal Purple food coloring.

Directions:

Roll enough medium sized balls (about the size of a gumball) for the number of spiders you want to make. Next, roll the same number of smaller balls sized about 50% of the larger balls. Combine the two balls to form the body. Form legs by rolling small logs and placing underneath body. Shape legs to 45 degree angles. Allow spiders to dry/stabilize for a few hours or overnight.

For the spun sugar web, I used the recipe and tutorial from Sprinkle Bakes. One extra tip, you REALLY need to watch the sugar as it begins reaching high temperature. I overcooked mine slightly, but luckily, the sugar still spun okay.

Pumpkin Spice French Macarons

When I say that I love pumpkin, I mean it! There are likely to be several more pumpkin recipes on the way, but for now, I'm posting the recipe for these delicious Pumpkin Spice Macarons. I was surprised how pumpkin-y these tasted, given that they don't have any actual pumpkin (only pumpkin pie spice) but they are completely Fall worthy.

 UPDATE 11/01/2013:  Check out the pumpkin spice French macarons on my new blog, Sprinkle Liberally.

Macaron cookie shells (makes approximately 46 shells, depending on size)

1 cup plus 2 tbsp almond meal
1 ½ cups confectioner’s sugar
1 scant tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
3 egg whites (aged 24 hours at room temperature)
Pinch of cream of tartar
¼ cup plus 2 tbsp caster sugar (also called “baker’s sugar”)
Orange gel food coloring

Sift almond meal and confectioner’s sugar together two times in a large bowl. Sift in pumpkin pie spice. Set aside dry ingredients.

Using a stand mixer, whisk egg whites on medium-low setting. Once foamy, add pinch of cream of tartar. When egg whites have soft peaks, slowly add in castor sugar. Increase mixer speed slightly and add gel food coloring. Continue whisking until whites form stiff peaks. Using an off-set rubber spatula, gently fold almond flour/confectioner’s sugar mixture into egg whites until no more lumps remain and mixture ribbons off the top of the spatula.
Place mixture in pastry bag and pipe into circles onto parchment paper lined baking sheets. Bake at 275 degrees for about 15 minutes. Rotate cookies 10 minutes into baking time.

Vanilla Bean Swiss Meringue Buttercream:
2 egg whites
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 sticks butter
1/2 tbsp vanilla bean paste

Once macarons have fully cooled, pipe a dollop of buttercream onto the center of one shell and gently press the other shell on top.