Marble Pound Cream Cheese Cake

If there are cream cheese on sale I sure grab as much as it's allowed.Unconsciously I didn't realised I spare almost 10 boxes of cream cheese in the fridge.Well, since parisable have expiration date on it,I better use it as fast as I can before it's goes bad. I looked for a cream cheese cake recipe at my baking book but all I can find is only cream cheese pie.I would like to try butter or pound cake style cream cheese cake not crust type cream cheese cake.At last I found one recipe at joy of baking but I adapted the recipe to Marble Cream Cheese Cake.Hubby almost finish 1/2 of this pound cream cheese cake himself..That mean this cake is really good,right?

Ingredients:(Adapated from Joy Of Baking Cream Cheese Pound Cake)
3 cups (420 grams) all purpose flour

1 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups (340 grams) (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

1-8 ounce (226 grams) package cream cheese, room temperature

3 cups (600 grams) superfine or castor sugar

6 large eggs, room temperature

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

Zest of a lemon or orange (optional)


3 tbsp coco powder or 6 oz melted chocolate
Method:

1:Preheat oven to 350F (177 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven. Butter and flour a 10 inch (25 cm) bundt pan or your desired pan.(I lay parchment paper after spray with butter)

2:In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

3:In the bowl of your electric mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the butter and cream cheese until smooth.

4:Add the sugar, in three additions, beating well after each addition. Continue beating on medium-high speed until light and fluffy (about 3 - 5 minutes). Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add the vanilla and lemon zest, if using, and beat until incorporated.

5:Add the flour mixture and mix just until incorporated.Scoop 1/2 of the batter into another mixing bowl,mix coco powder into the batter,mix well.Pour the vanilla batter into the center first the follow by the coco batter.Repeat the same procedure until batter finish .Do not mix the batter with spatula.The batter will form itself to marble design in oven when baking.

6:Bake for 1 to 1 hour 15 minutes or until the cake is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

7:Remove the cake from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool for about 20 minutes. Remove the cake from the pan and cool completely. (The cake is cooled in the pan first for about 20 minutes so the cake has time to set. The cake may collapse if you try to remove it from the pan too early.)

Serves 10 - 12 people.

Note:
Will keep several days well wrapped at room temperature and over a week when refrigerated. Can also be frozen.

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Pineapple Coconut Spritz Cookies

Another Christmas cookies entry here.Well,hope it's not too late but who care as long as the cookies taste good and delicious,right? Actually this Spritz cookie recipe is from Wilton's cookies presser booklet and I adapted it to suit my convenience and taste. Since I can't operate my new cordless cookies presser,I used pipping bag to shape this cookies.Well, the result of using pipping bag to shape this cookies is not bad at all..I just need to decorate icing on the cookies after baking but I'm too lazy to do it since the cookies is really miniature small,it's take alot of time which I don't have at that precious time at that time.Hope you enjoy this recipe:)

Ingredients:

3 cups all purpose flour

1 cup unsalted butter,softened

1 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

3/4 cup shredded coconut,finely chopped

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 pineapple juice

1 tsp pineapple extract*optional*

Method:

1:Preheat oven to 375 F. Sieve flour,baking powder in a bowl,set aside.

In a large bowl,cream butter and sugar with mixer until creamy and well combined.Prepared 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

2:Beat in egg ,coconut ,vanilla ,pineapple extract and pineapple juice.

3:Slowly mix flour and baking powder into the creamy mixture until well combined.

4:Use a desired pipping tip and pipping bag or cookies presser to shape the dough onto ungreased baking sheets.

5:Bake 10-12 minutes or until edges are lightly browned.Cool 2 minutes on cookies sheets on rack.Remove from cookies sheets and cool completely on rack.

Yield about 6-7 dozen cookies.

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Banana Coffee Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

I baked this cake for hubby on his Birthday 3 weeks ago.I almost forget to post this entry..Well, as they said better late than never,right? I mixed half of the flour with cake flour and the other half with all purpose flour.And the outcome of the cake texture is really soft and fine.Since I have few ripe banana on the counter I might as well use it to make the cake more favourable and pretty..Well,I like to icing decorate the cake I baked even though it's not professional decoration but I still like to try and practise with the pipping to make myself better in future . Hope you like it:) Enjoy!!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cake flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
4 eggs ,separated,at room temperature
1 cup un-salted butter,room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 cup milk
2 tsp instant coffee + 2 tbsp warm water
4-5 ripe banana,sliced







Method:

1:Preheat oven to 350 F.Line 2 pans 8 x 8 x 2 inch round baking pan with parchment paper.
2:In a medium size bowl,sift together the flour,baking powder and salt.Set aside.
3:Beat egg yolks and instant coffee lightly in a small bowl,about 1 minute. Cream butter eggs and sugar in a mixer until fluffy and frothy,about 2-3 minutes.Add the egg yolk.Add the dry ingredients in two parts,alternating with the milk.
4:In a separate bowl ,on the high speed of an electric mixer,beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.Gently fold the egg whites into the batter.Batter will be thick and dough like.
5:Pour the batter into prepared pans.Bake 40-45 minutes or until a cake tester comes out with moist crumbs attached.Do not over bake.Allow to cool for 20 minutes before icing and decorate with sliced banana.


Check HERE for Cream Cheese recipe and Method!!

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Lemon Cream Cheese Poppy Seed Spritz Cookies

Christmas is around the corner.I started my baking project since last week.This year I like to try something new so I bought a set of cookie presser from Wilton. Well,this cookies presser is a big disappointment for me.I hardy can pump the dough out nicely without making mess and this cookies presser used battery not manual pumping.After few tried the pump work but the dough doesn't cut off it'self when the presser stop *sigh*. I end up throwing the cookies presser in the sink and decided to use icing bag with tip to shape the dough to save all the aggravation.Well,maybe the cookies presser is not really up to my expectation or maybe I'm impatient to experiment the cool gadget for now .I think I should try to used the cookie presser again in my own pace when time allowed later.Anyhow ,using icing bag with tip to create this miniature cookies is really easy,simply and not to said it's pretty!! Thanks to Gertrude of My Kitchen Snippets who present me the beautiful silver pearl sprinkle:)

Ingredients:

2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 cup unsalted butter,softened,(2 sticks)
1 package cream cheese(4oz) room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg,room temperature
3/4 tsp lemon extract
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp grated lemon peel
1 tbsp poppy seeds

3 tbsp milk
1/4 tsp salt

icing and pearl sprinkle for decoration
Method;

1:Preheat oven to 350 F.Prepare 2 baking sheet with parchment paper.
2:Cream butter and cream cheese together in mixer bowl ,then add sugar and mix well until fluffy and light.
3:Add egg,vanilla ,lemon extract,lemon peel ,milk and poppy seeds,mix well.
4:Gradually add flour and salt to creamed mixture.Prepared icing bag with desired tip,fill creamed mixture 1/2 bag full,pressed shapes onto ungreased cookies sheet.
5:Bake 12-15 minutes or until lightly golden brown.Cool on cookies sheet on cooling rack 2 minutes.
6:Remove from cookies sheet and cool completely on rack. To decorate the sprinkle,use butter icing and any desired color or shape sprinkle on it.

Yield 4 dozen cookies.

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Butternut squash Soup

Butternut squash available whole year round in US and A. The peak season is around Fall to winter where we used this type of squash to cook for our Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner.During this season the price of butternut squash is relatively cheap. I roasted the squash before scoop out to blend until fine before cooked.Butternut squash is a more watery squash and tastes somewhat similar to sweet potatoes. It has a bulbous end and pale, creamy skin, with a choice, fine-textured, deep-orange flesh with a sweet, nutty flavor.

Ingredients:

1 butternut squash,about 3-4 lbs

1 cup whole milk or half and half milk

1 liter chicken broth

salt to taste

ground pepper powder to taste

2 tbsp olive oil

Method:

1:Preheat oven to 425 F.Split butternut squash into half,rub with some salt ,ground pepper and olive oil. Roast butternut squash for 1 hour or until soft.Use a large scoop to remove the seeds away before scoop the flesh to blend.

2:Blend roasted butternut squash until fine.Heat chicken broth in medium stock pot at medium heat.Add in blended butternut squash and seasoning.When the soup is rolling boil,add in milk.Check the seasoning before dish out and serve warm.

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French Beans with Bacon and Fried Onion

I preferred crispy and green french beans but hubby likes overcooked and well done french beans if he have to take this vegetables.I guess American preferred well done french beans rather than green,crispy and crunchy one,right? Well,I cooked this french beans with bacon and onion for our Thanksgiving dinner. I guess some people called string bean if the bean is slightly longer and thicker.I bought a packed of frozen green beans from Trader Joe's,it's written as French Beans coz it's imported from French. The different it's this French beans has a thinner and slim body than the regular string beans in market.If you like well done green beans or french bean or string beans this caramelized dish is suitable for your family dinner.

Ingredients:
2 lbs French Beans,or Green Beans or String Beans,washed and cleaned( I used frozen French Beans which is all cleaned,just thawed at room temperature)
4 cloves garlic,peeled and sliced
2 large onion,peeled and sliced + 2 tbsp all purpose flour
1 cup chicken broth
1 tbsp ground black pepper
5-6 strip fried bacon,chopped
5-6 tbsp oil to fry onion
Method:

1:Heat deep skillet with oil at medium heat,when it's hot enough add in onion coated with flour,fried until crisp and lightly brown.Then dish out and set aside.
2:Use the same skillet ,add in some bacon grease and garlic,fry until lightly brown or fragrant.Add in french beans and chicken broth .Sauteed ingredients until cooked and soft,about 15 minutes or longer.
3:Add fried onion into french beans ,cook for another 10 minutes.Check the taste before dish out and sprinkle cooked bacon on the top.
4:Serve warm as side dish.

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Classic Dinner Rolls

I make this Dinner Roll for our Thanksgiving dinner.I adapted this Classic Dinner Rolls recipe from my monthly subscription of Better Homes and Gardens by Chef Scott Peacock's.This dinner roll is light as air yeast,buttery brown outside,flavorful inside and not to said you don't have to knead! But for me I just dump everything in bread maker and let's it do the job! Mine method is kind of lazy and time efficient method but it's work well for me during the time when I was busy prepare Thanksgiving dinner.. If you're dinner roll lover,you should try out this recipe.

Ingredients:

4 cups all purpose flour(not bleached)
1 cup whole milk
6 tbsp butter (room temperature)
1 tbsp instant active yeast
1/4 cup warm water (105 F to 115 F)
3 tbsp sugar
2 eggs ,beaten lightly
1 tbsp salt
melted butter or softened butter
Method:
I used bread maker,just dump everything in the BM)
But here is the right step step according to the original recipe:



1:Heat the milk to 120 F to130 F:add the butter and set aside to cool to room temperature.Meanwhile,in a large bowl dissolve yeast in warm water.Add cooled milk,eggs and sugar to dissolved yeast and stir to blend.
2:with a wooden spoon stir in 2 cups of the flour and the salt:stir until smooth.Add 2 cups of remaining flour,1 cup at a time,stirring vigorously for 3 to 5 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic and only slightly sticky.(Only if needed,after 3 minutes of stirring and dough is overly wet,stir in 1 tbsp flour at a time)
3:Cover the surface of the dough with lightly oiled plastic wrap.Cover the top of the bowl with a second piece of plastic wrap.Let rise until doubled(1 to 2 hours)
4:Lightly butter 24 muffin cups.Gently press the dough to deflate.With lightly buttered hands pinch off generous 1 inch pieces of dough.Fold the dough over,turning and tucking the edge to form a ball.
5:Pinch the seam together together to seal.Dip in melted butter and arrange three dough balls in each muffin cup.Let rise until fully doubled(about 1 hour)
6:Heat oven to 400 F.Bake rolls for 20 to 25 minutes or until well-browned.If needed,to prevent over browning,cover the balls with foil during the last minutes of baking.Remove from oven.Brush with softened butter.Return to oven for 1 to 2 minutes.
7:Remove rolls immediately from cups to a wire cooling racks.Let cool about 5 minutes before serving.

Makes 24 dinner rolls

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Butter Shrimp with Almond Slices

I make this dish Butter Shrimp with Almond on Thanksgiving dinner. I'm a seafood lover, shrimp is one of my favourite beside other seafood..I prefer to use shrimp with head on bcoz I love the flavor of the succulent and crisp of the head contains.If you're shrimp lover like me,this Butter Shrimp with Almond is right for you!

Ingredients:

1 lb large shrimp on the head,washed and trim

3 cloves garlic,peeled and chopped

1 large onion,peeled and cut

2 tbsp butter

1/4 cup corn flour

1 tsp salt or to taste

1 tsp ground black or white pepper powder

1/2 cup roasted almond slices or more

1/2 cup oil for frying

some scallion (optional)

Method:

1: Heat aluminium skillet with oil at medium heat. Coat shrimp with corn flour,shake the excess flour away,then put in the hot oil for frying about 1 minute or cooked or lightly crispy.

2:Dish cooked fried shrimp out from skillet ,place on a paper towel to drained the excess oil away.Remove frying oil from skillet.

3:Use the same skillet add in butter and garlic,sauteed for 30 seconds,then add in cooked shrimp,salt,pepper,onion,almond slices and scallion.Toss the skillet for 1 minutes or until all well combined
4:Dish out and serve warm

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