Raspberry cheesecake

I am always surprised how advance technology has advanced but sometimes I am surprised we haven't advanced to The Jetsons technology yet. Do you remember The Jetsons? I always liked Rosey the robot. 

 The reason I thought about The Jetsons was because my family are big gamers. They play on the PS3 with other family members and friends. I choice to blog. The other day my sister was playing and she has a Bluetooth so she can talk during the game. Since she knew my husband was playing, my nieces said hi to him. My children heard their cousin,s voices and started to talk to the TV. Of course, my nieces couldn't hear them. Since my sister only lives within 20 minutes of me, I think we will pass when The Jetson's TV monitor comes out. Just picture this- I go downstairs in my pjs (which means my old t-shirts since they are comfy but I can't wear them out) and I am greeted full screen by someone I would rather not see me. It just isn't going to happen no matter how much my husband tries. No Jetson's TVs in this household. How about you? Would you get one? I am not talking about Skype either just the next level of Skype.

Raspberry Cheesecake 
1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
3 Tbsp. sugar for the crust

2 lbs. cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 eggs 
4 oz. fresh raspberries
2 Tbsp. sugar for the heart

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Place cupcake liners in a muffin tin.
3. In a small bowl, combine the graham crackers, the melted butter, and the 3 Tbsp. of sugar. Stir together until well combined.
4. Press 1 Tbsp of the graham cracker mixture in the bottom of each cupcake liner. 
5. Bake the graham cracker crust for 5 minutes and remove from oven. Allow to cool while making the filling.
6. In a medium bowl, beat the cream cheese until fluffy.
7. Add the 1 1/2 cups of sugar to the cream cheese and cream.
8. Add the salt and vanilla. Mix to combine.
9. Add one egg at a time and mix well before adding the next egg.
10. In a food processor, add the raspberries and 2 Tbsp of sugar. 
11. Process until smooth and then pour through a fine mesh sieve over a small bowl to remove the raspberry seeds.
12. To assemble: add 3 Tbsp of the cream cheese filling over the graham cracker crust. 
13. Top each cream cheese filling with 3 circles close together in the middle of each cupcake.
14. Take a toothpick and carefully work the raspberry juice to form a heart. (If you press to hard, a crack may form in your cheesecake heart.)
15. Bake for about 10 minutes and rotate.
16. Bake the cheesecake for another 12 minutes or until the filling sets.
17. Transfer to a wire rack to cool for at room temperature.
18. Refrigerate for 4 hours before serving. 

Recipe adapted from Annie's Eats.

Did you already know...
-The Jetsons cartoon was set in the 21st century.
-The cartoon debuted in 1962 and reruns can still be seen on cartoon network.
-There are 75 episodes of The Jetsons.

Raspberry Cream Sandwiches

I will admit my favorite way to eat raspberries are plain. I also love adding raspberries to my cereal. I add a little cereal and a lot of milk so I end up eating mostly raspberries with milk. What is your favorite way to eat raspberries? I know my daughters prefer plain.

 Since we normally eat the raspberries before I can make any recipes, I went raspberry picking twice this year. We probably will go again but it will be for some golden raspberries. Have you ever seen a golden raspberry? I saw this recipe at the beginning of the year and I bookmarked it. The cookie is a nice sugar cookie in which my daughter preferred with no filling. My husband saw me scrapping the vanilla bean and asked me what was I doing. I held out the vanilla bean and asked him to smell. He hesitated so my son did. My son looked up at his dad and said it is vanilla. My husband confirmed it was vanilla. I think my son spends a lot of time in the kitchen with me. Now, how do I get my husband in their more often is the question?

 Raspberry Cream Sandwiches
1 3/4 all purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
10 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 egg
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
1 vanilla bean, halved lengthwise, seeds scraped and reserved
1 1/3 cups fresh raspberries
1 Tbsp sugar, for the filling
7 oz. white chocolate, coarsely chopped
1/3 cup heavy cream

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. 
4. In another bowl, cream the butter and sugar together.
5. Add the egg, vanilla, and scraped vanilla seeds into the sugar butter. Mix until smooth.
6. Gradually add the flour mixture to the sugar butter mixture.
7. Scoop 1 inch mounds of dough onto the baking sheet spacing the dough 2 inches apart. 
8. Bake the cookies for 4 minutes and then rotate.
9. Bake the cookies for another 4 to 5 minutes or until the cookies are golden.
10. Allow the cookies to cool on wire racks.
11. In a food processor, puree the raspberries and the sugar to make the filling.
12. Pour the raspberries through a fine sieve to extract the juice and remove the seeds.
13. Melt the chocolate in a double broiler over simmering water.
14. Remove the melted chocolate from the heat and whisk in the cream in a slow, steady stream.
15. Add the raspberry mixture to the chocolate. Whisk slowly until pale about 3 minutes. 
16. Refrigerate the raspberry chocolate mixture for about 30 minutes.
17. To assemble the cookies by spreading 1 Tbsp of the raspberry chocolate mixture on the bottom of one cookie. 
18. Add another cookie to sandwich the filling in the middle.
19. Cookies can be refrigerated between layers of wax paper in an airtight container at room temperature up to 2 days.

Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart's Cookies.

Did you already know...
-Different types of raspberries include red, golden, purple, and black.
-It is believed raspberries originated from Southeast Asia.
-Raspberries have a hollow core. Blackberries are not hollow in the center.

Raspberry Phyllo Tarts

Since I really didn't think you had enough berries recipes already, I will (just for you) post a few raspberry recipes. Oh, your welcome. You don't have to thank me. My children have been thanking me lately. They must be my children since they aren't complaining yet.

If you couldn't tell by now, I love berries. So, I was looking up raspberry recipe in Cooking Light Annual Recipes 2008 cookbook and noticed a raspberry Phyllo tart recipe. It looked easy. It looked quick and I totally changed it besides a few ingredients. All of my tarts were gone within the hour. So, here is my inspired recipe from Cooking Light.

Raspberry Phyllo Tart Recipe
1 (2.1 oz.) package of mini phyllo shells
4 oz. reduced fat cream cheese, softened
2 Tbsp honey
1/4 tsp almond extract
1/2 cup chopped almonds, toasted
1/4 cup raspberries
Crushed almonds and additional raspberries for garnish


Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Place shells on a baking sheet.
3. In a medium bowl, combine the cream cheese, honey, and almond extract.
4. Stir in 1/4 cup of the chopped almonds and the 1/4 cup raspberries. Mix until well combined.
5. Spoon in about 1 tsp of the cream cheese mixture into the Phyllo shells.
6. Bake the shells for about 5 minutes and rotate pan.
7. Bake the shells for another 5 minutes or until the cream cheese mixture is firm.
8. Remove the shells from the oven and allow to cool for about 5 minutes.
9. Top the shells with crushed almonds and raspberries if desired.

 Recipe created by Jen of Sweet Morris.

 Did you already know...
-Another name for phyllo is filo or fillo. 
-The largest producer of phyllo products is Athens Foods.
-Phyllo dough has been produced since the Ottoman Empire but Athens foods have been producing it for over 50 years.

Chock Full of Nuts Cookies

I love nuts in my cookies. So, I was very glad this recipe was not previously picked the members of The Project Pastry Queen. If you take a cookie and add four different types of nuts to it, this is the cookie you would have. Any other type of nuts can easily be substituted to your taste but why mess with perfection. Please check out the other members to see if they substituted different nuts in their cookies.

The hardest thing about making this recipe was keeping my children away from the toasted macadamia nuts. Alright, I will admit I did sample a couple of them but it was only for quality purposes. I did half the amount of the almond extract but added the omitted extract to the vanilla extract. 

Chock-Full-of-Nuts Cookies
3 cups pecan pieces
1 1/2 cups chopped macadamia nuts
1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts
1 1/2 cups slivered blanched almonds
1 1/2 cups butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
3 large eggs
1 1/2 Tbsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp almond extract
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour 
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. On a baking sheet, arrange the nuts in a single layer and toast them for 7 to 9 minutes or until golden brown.
3. Allow the nuts to cool for 5 minutes.
4. Chop the nuts into smaller pieces.
5. Line the baking sheet with parchment paper.
6. In a large bowl, cream the butter and both sugars until light and fluffy.
7. Add the eggs, vanilla extract, and almond extract. Beat for 1 minute.
8. Add the flour, baking soda, and salt. Beat for about 30 seconds or until the ingredients are thoroughly mixed.
9. Stir in the nuts until combined.
10. Scoop the dough about the size of a gold ball onto the baking sheet about 2 inches apart.
11. Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes and the cookies are golden brown around the edges with no raw looking dough in the middle. 
12. Allow the cookies to cool for 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.

The 6 1/2 dozen cookies will keep for 3 to 4 days in an airtight container or frozen well wrapped for up to 1 month. 
Recipe adapted from The Pastry Queen by Rebecca Rather. 

Did you already know...
-Hawaii grows 90% of the macadamia nuts worldwide.
-The macadamia nut is not native to Hawaii.
-A macadamia nut tree was first planted around 1881. 
-The macadamia nut originated from Australia.

Berry Lemonade

My favorite drink is Sweet Tea. Oh, today's blog isn't about Sweet Tea but my second favorite drink: the great, the tangy, lemonade. Yea! My favorite friend asked if I still had some blueberries left. My supply is slow diminishing but don't worry I am going to freeze the rest.

Some children have their Dad build them tree houses. My oldest daughter had her Dad build her a lemonade stand. It turned out pretty good. My youngest children have already been trying to talk me into letting them put up the stand. Then I would have to share my lemonade and that is pretty hard. Now, the sweets I make I have no problem sharing but lemonade is a different problem.

Berry Lemonade
2 cups water for the sugar syrup
2 cups sugar for the sugar syrup
3 cups water
2 cups freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
2 cups of fresh berries (I used blueberries and raspberries.)
3 cups ice cubes

Directions:

1. In a medium saucepan, combine 2 cups of water with the 2 cups of sugar to make the sugar syrup.
2. Heat the water and sugar over medium heat and boil for 10 minutes.
3. Allow the sugar water to cool and refrigerate for about 30 minutes or until ready to use.
4. In a large pitcher, combine 2 cups of the chilled sugar syrup, 3 cups of water, lemon juice, and lime juice.
5. In a small bowl, add 1 cup of the fresh berries and smash for about 20 seconds.
6. Add the smashed berries and the remaining 1 cup of fresh berries to the pitcher. Stir well.
7. Add the ice cubes and serve.

Recipe adapted from The Pastry Queen by Rebecca Rather.

Did you already know....
-One lemon will produce about 2 to 3 Tbsp of juice.
-According to Guinness World Records, the largest lemon weighed  11 lbs. 9.7 oz.
-The largest lemon was grown in Israel in 2003.