Mini Pumpkin Cheesecakes

Cheesecake mixture

Graham cracker mixture

Making their big debut at the TRG chili cook-off

Each year at work the re-touching department at The Richards Group which is referred to as CBN has a "Chili Cook-Off" you can enter your homemade chili or you can bring a dessert or side of your choice. There is a panel of judges that judge each chili and name a winner each year. It is a lot of fun and people really get into it which makes it an event to look forward to each year.

I thought about making chili this year but who was I kidding, dessert is my thing so I am sticking to it. As I mentioned in the last post, pumpkin is my favorite fall ingredient so I decided to not just highlight it in one dessert, but two. The first one was a mini pumpkin cheesecake recipe that I found while surfing the wonderful world of baking blogs. I had thought about making a large pumpkin cheesecake so when I found these I was thrilled. They were a huge hit at the cook-off. I think people really enjoy the small cupcake size since it is easier to handle then a full piece of cake. Not to mention the taste is out of this world. The only down side to this recipe is that you have to keep them in the fridge overnight before you can enjoy them :-)

Check back in a few days and I will post the second pumpkin dessert - mini pumpkin whoopie pies with maple cream cheese frosting - yummy

Original recipe adapted from Gingerbread Bagels (she has lots of great photos of the process and I suggest you check them out)

***NOTE: CHANGE IN RECIPE*** My Mom tried making these today and informed me that the amount of cheesecake batter the recipe makes is only enough for about 10 cupcakes... After thinking back on the day I made these I doubled the cheesecake portion of the recipe, so I didn't notice at the time. However, the amount of pumpkin mixture is plenty if you are doubling the cheesecake. So, if you need more than 10 servings I would go ahead and double the cheesecake portion of the recipe. Hope this helps! - K

Crust:

• 7 graham cracker sheets
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Cheesecake mixture:

• 1 pound cream cheese, softened (two 8 ounce blocks)
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 eggs, at room temperature lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup sour cream

Pumpkin mixture:

• 1/3 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 2 tablespoons + 1/2 teaspoon all purpose flour

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Line your cupcake pan with liners, set aside.
2. In a food processor, place the graham crackers and pulse till they are a sandlike texture. Place the graham cracker crumbs in a bowl, add 1/2 tsp of cinnamon and 2 tablespoons of sugar. Melt the butter and add to the graham cracker mixture. Put 1 tablespoon of the mixture into the bottom of each cupcake liner. Press down the crumbs with your finger and set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl fitted with the paddle attachment mix the cream cheese on medium speed for about 3 min until it is smooth without any lumps. Add in 2/3 cup of sugar and 2 tsp of vanilla extract. mix until just combined.
4. in a separate bowl, crack the eggs and lightly beat. Slowly add in the eggs and mix. Add in the 1/2 cup of sour cream and mix until the cheesecake mixture is smooth, making sure to scrape down the sides as you go.
5. To make the pumpkin mixture, combine all the ingredients listed above under "pumpkin mixture" add in 2/3 cup of the cheesecake mixture and mix until the two batters are completely combined and there are no lumps.
6. Fill each cupcake liner with 1 1/2 scoop fulls of the cheesecake batter (using a small ice cream scoop) each liner should be filled almost to the top. Now place 3 dots of the pumpkin batter onto each of the batter filled liners. I used a 1/4 teaspoon to scoop the pumpkin in. Use a toothpick to swirl the two batters together.
7. Bake in the oven for about 27-30 min. Rotate the pan half way through the baking time. Once they are done backing, cool them completely in the fridge overnight - Keep them in the pan
8. ENJOY!

Here are some of my photos from the cook-off while the judging was going on before the masses of chili seekers hit...

The Mast Brothers

I came across this video from Cannelle et Vanille, who recently tweeted about it. I was touched by the video and completely inspired to be better. I hope you guys like it and find it as inspirational as I did. Below is taken from the Vimeo link... Please CLICK HERE to watch the video.

The life of a mariner is one given over to wanderlust—the quest for adventure, crossing unseen horizons to secure precious goods—only to bring them back to their home port. This same love of adventure and curiosity defines the brotherhood of Rick and Michael Mast. They share a fiercely independent spirit, leaping into the unknown and trusting that they’ll find the answer through endurance and dedication to their craft.

They began their voyage in their apartment, using a homemade machine to process cacao beans. Over time they cultivated their creation, sourcing beans from family farms in Madagascar, Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, and Ecuador. Each bar is handmade with incredible reverence for the process and history of chocolate. They are bound in ornamental papers and golden foil like a collection of rare books. Each bar offers its own story of flavors, and no two are exactly alike.

The Mast Brothers are now planning to navigate the mighty Atlantic, sailing to the Dominican Republic in search of beans and a deeper connection with the folks who grow them. Before they begin the next chapter, The Scout spent time with Rick and Michael documenting their story. Photo by Mindy Best.

Lemon Blueberry Crumb Bars

sugar, flour, baking powder, salt, lemon zest, egg, and butter before it gets blended to be the crumble

Crumble mixture- half for the bottom of the pan, half for the crumble topping

Blueberry mixture

Pour your blueberries on your crust and spread evenly

Crumble your topping over the layer of blueberries, bake and you are done!

Look out it's blueberry season! That means I went on a blueberry baking binge. As you know I live in Dallas, Texas and some of you might have heard that Texas is known for it's fabulous blueberries. A few years ago a few friends of mine read about Blueberry Hill Farms in Edom, TX on Style/Swoon, the place looked like fun so we loaded up in the car and headed east to pick some blueberries. Little did we know that Edom turned out to be a great little town with fun shops and a great local cafe called The Shed- if you stop here I suggest you order either a piece or the entire Lemon Ice Box pie and take it home to enjoy all week.

Blueberry season lasts through the end of July, I recommend going early so that you don't bake in the Texas sun. I was able to pick a full basket and then I bought another pre-picked bag in the store to bring home and freeze so that I could use them all year. Freezing is easy, first lay your blueberries flat on a baking sheet on a paper towel don't cover and place in the freezer for a hour, remove the berries from the tray and place them in a plastic ziplock freezer bag and return to the freezer. I like to take a cup out at a time and let thaw in the fridge or on the counter to use in my cereal and oatmeal throughout the week. To kick off my blueberry baking binge I began with Blueberry Crumble Bars, these are amazing and super easy to make. I hope you enjoy them. You should be able to get about 36 small bars or about half of that if you do larger squares.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 3 cups of all purpose flour
• 1 cup cold butter (2 sticks)
• 1 egg
• 1/4 tsp salt
• zest and juice of 1 lemon
• 4 cups of fresh blueberries
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 4 tsp cornstarch

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 375 and grease a 9x13 pan.

1. In a medium bowl stir together 1 cup of sugar, 3 cups of flour, and baking powder. Mix in salt and lemon zest. Uses a for or pastry cutter to blend in butter and egg. Doug will be crumbly. Pat half of the dough into the pan.
2. In another bowl, stir together sugar, cornstarch, and lemon juice. Gently mix in the blueberries. Sprinkle evenly over the crust. Crumble the remaining dough over the berry layer.
3. Bake in the oven for 45 min, or until the top is slightly brown. Cool completely before cutting into squares.

These are great stored in the fridge and served cold as well.

Here are some of my photos from my visit to Blueberry Hill Farms...

Tillmans Table Side S'mores

So... I am guilty of visiting Tillmans Roadhouse in the Bishop Arts District of Dallas twice in one week. (Sorry all non-dallas readers) My excuse is that I went with two different friends who had never been before, so naturally I had to lead them on their adventure to the land of table side s'mores.

Not only does Tillmans have ridiculously good food, they have this delightful thing they call table side s'mores, They literally bring you a small fire pit with homemade marshmallows and semi-sweet chocolate chunks like you have never tasted before. The marshmallows are light and fluffy, they come in three flavors:

1. Maple
2. Mocha
3. Orange

All of these are great, I personally could take a plate of the maple and call it a day. They are full of cinnamon and sugar, with a woodsy background taste that brings a maple syrup taste into play. YUM.

My friend Kelly partaking in the roasting.

perfect burn

Sorry for the dark pictures-the other diners did not appreciate my flash.