Birthday Cake Oreo White Chocolate Cheesecake

Last Thursday was my (and my twin sister Genevieve's!) birthday and I had a fantastic day being spoiled by my fiance, who took me to my first NHL playoff game that evening, which was really exciting even though the end result of the game didn't turn out quite how we'd hoped!

On the weekend I celebrated with my family, which meant that I got to choose a birthday dinner, but I made my own cake as usual because I look forward to it every year!  For dinner, my parents made a somewhat Mexican-themed meal with sangria, chips and guacamole, and caramelized pineapple and chicken quesadillas with a strawberry salsa - it was all amazing!

And for dessert, I made this festive birthday cake Oreo white chocolate cheesecake! 

As I mentioned in my last post, I'm not a huge fan of the typical white birthday cake with super sweet frosting, but cheesecake is a different story - I love any and every kind of cheesecake!

My older sister had just brought back birthday cake flavoured Oreos for us from her trip to the US, so I decided to incorporate them into a birthday cheesecake!  I don't think I've seen these Oreos anywhere in Canada but I could be wrong - if someone knows if they're available, let me know!  If you can't find them, you can still make this with regular Oreos, it just won't smell as much like birthday cake :)   I didn't have quite enough birthday Oreos to use throughout the cake by the time I got around to grabbing the package, so I just used half regular Oreos which worked fine!

This cheesecake has an Oreo crust, with the birthday cake Oreos chopped up and mixed throughout the cheesecake batter, along with some sprinkles (necessary for anything birthday themed, of course) and melted white chocolate chips to enhance the sweet birthday cake flavour. 

I also made a quick buttercream frosting, which I don't particularly like but in this case I needed it to stick some Oreos on top for decoration.  I mixed in some sprinkles and Oreo crumbs to the frosting which ended up turning the frosting into a somewhat unappealing grey colour, so if you want to avoid my mistake just leave the Oreos out of the frosting, there's plenty of Oreos elsewhere in the cake anyway!

I have a tendency to overbake my cheesecakes because I'm always paranoid about them not being cooked all the way through and haven't quite mastered the art of knowing when a cheesecake is done yet, so as you can see mine was a tad overdone, but everyone still loved it! 

I loved how festive it looked, and it smelled and tasted just like a birthday cake but with the creamy texture of cheesecake - like a grown-up version of a kid's birthday cake to help make this getting older business a lot easier :) 

Birthday Cake Oreo White Chocolate Cheesecake

Note: Recipe adapted from this Philly Oreo cheesecake recipe and this white chocolate raspberry cheesecake recipe

Makes one 9” cheesecake; serves around 12

Ingredients:

For the Crust:

16 Oreos – I used regular Oreos for the crust

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

For the Filling:

2 cups white chocolate chips

1/2 cup half-and-half cream

3 (250g or 8oz) bricks of cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup sugar

3 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

14 ‘Birthday Cake’ Oreos, chopped (I chopped each one into about 6 pieces)

2 tablespoons sprinkles

For the Topping (Optional):

1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup icing sugar

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 teaspoons milk

6-8 Oreos

Sprinkles

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Crush the 16 Oreos for the crust in a food processor or blender until they form crumbs.  Stir in melted butter with a fork and mix until combined, then transfer Oreo mixture to a 9” springform pan, and press evenly to cover the bottom in a thin layer.

In a metal bowl placed over a small saucepan of simmering water on the stovetop, melt white chocolate chips and half-and-half, stirring occasionally until melted and smooth.  Remove from heat.

In a large bowl or bowl of a stand mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth, 2-3 minutes.  Add eggs 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each addition.  Add vanilla extracte and melted white chocolate mixture and beat just until smooth.  Gently fold in the chopped Oreos and sprinkles with a flexible spatula.  Pour batter over prepared crust and gently tap the pan against the counter a few times to remove any air bubbles. 

Bake in preheated oven for 50-55 minutes, until center is almost set.  My cheesecake had some butter drip out the bottom of the pan, which is an issue with my pan, but in case you have the same issue, be sure to place a baking sheet on the rack below the cheesecake to catch any drippings.  You could also use a water bath if you prefer to bake your cheesecakes that way.  Once done, I turn off the oven and let my cheesecake cool in there for about 10-20 minutes or more, then remove transfer it to a wire rack.  Run a knife around the edge of the pan to loosen the cake so it doesn’t crack as it cools.  Let cool at room temperature for at least an hour, then refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight.

If you wish to decorate the cheesecake as I did, you can prepare a simple buttercream frosting to stick Oreos on to the top of the cake.  To make buttercream, beat 1/4 cup butter for 2-3 minutes until smooth and creamy.  Add 3/4 cup icing sugar slowly and mix on low speed until incorporated.  Mix in 1/4 teaspoon vanilla and 1 to 2 teaspoons milk until smooth.  If the frosting's too thin you can add more icing sugar; if it’s too thick you can add more milk.  I also stirred in 2 teaspoons of sprinkles and 1 crushed Oreo but this can alter the colour of the frosting (mine came out kind of grey) so I might recommend leaving those out and just adding sprinkles on top, or at least just leaving out the Oreos.  Pipe buttercream onto spots of the cake where you want to attach Oreos and stick Oreos into the frosting (see pictures). Keep cake refrigerated until ready to serve.

Valentine's Mug Hugger Espresso Shortbread Cookies

I just returned from a trip to Seattle (which I hope to share some details of soon, as there was so much amazing food and beer there!), which means I didn't have much time to think about Valentine's Day until I returned yesterday and got straight to work making a heart-shaped recipe!

I know a lot of people aren't fans of the holiday and are sick of seeing heart-shaped things, but I think they're adorable, and whether you share heart cookies with your significant other, your family, friends, coworkers, or even just treat yourself, I think that making time for love, sharing, and cookies is a good thing!

I originally got the idea for "mug hugger" cookies from Red Path Sugar, and loved that you can hang a cookie on your mug!  And because my mug is usually full of (strong, black) coffee, I decided to make espresso shortbread cookies instead of sugar cookies (also because I love shortbread).  And because it's almost Valentine's Day, I had to dip them in chocolate and cover them in red and pink sprinkles, of course!  The chocolate actually helps add some sweetness to an otherwise not-so-sweet cookie, so don't skip that step!  You can skip the sprinkles if you really want, but why would you want to?!

In order to make these "mug huggers", you just have to cut a little slot in the cookie, preferably as soon as it comes out of the oven while it's still soft, then hook it onto your mug!  To be perfectly honest, these cookies might not stay on your mug too long; mine tended to fall off every few minutes as I was taking photos, which often resulted in broken cookies.  You can easily forget the mug hugger part and just make these as regular cookies if you want, which will be just as good, but if you serve someone their morning (or afternoon) coffee with one of these guys attached, you're sure to brighten their day!

Heart-Shaped Espresso Shortbread Cookies

Shortbread recipe adapted from Fine Cooking

I got around 1 dozen cookies with a 3” heart-shaped cookie cutter; I’d recommend using a 2” cutter instead, which would result in around 2 dozen cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/4 cup sugar

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon instant espresso powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

~1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Red/pink sprinkles, if desired

Directions:

Cream butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer (using paddle attachment) on medium speed until combined, about 1-2 minutes.  In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, espresso powder, and salt.  With the mixer on low, add the dry ingredients on low speed, scraping the bowl frequently, until just incorporated.  Add the vanilla and mix until just incorporated again, and the dough has just started to come together.  Don’t overmix.

On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough to about 1/4 inch thick.  Use a heart shaped cookie cutter to cut out shapes, rerolling the dough until it is all used up.  I used about a 3” cookie cutter which is a bit big for a mug; I’d recommend using a smaller cookie cutter if possible.  Arrange the cookies carefully on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and refrigerate the baking sheet until dough is chilled, at least 30 minutes.  Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 325°F.

Bake the cookies in preheated oven for about 18-20 minutes, until golden on bottom.  Remove from oven, and if you want to make these "mug hugger" cookies, now is the point where you would cut little slits into the cookies so they can hang on a mug.  If you do this before the cookies bake, they will puff up over the cut-out, and if you wait until they have cooled, the cookies will break when you try to cut them.  While they are still soft from the oven, use a sharp knife to cut a slit in the edge of a cookie just long and wide enough for it to fit over a mug (see pictures for an idea).  Let cool on baking sheet for about 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Melt chocolate chips in a double boiler or a small heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water.  Transfer to a small container and dip the edges of each cookie in the chocolate.  Try to only dip the top half of the cookies and keep the chocolate layer thin so it won't end up overpowering the cookie.  Immediately sprinkle the chocolate covered portion with sprinkles, if using.  Set cookies back on parchment paper until chocolate is set, about 2 hours.  Then keep covered in a container.

*Note: I did try to cut some cookies into mug huggers after they had cooled; many broke, but if I cut only a tiny bit at a time and was very gentle, I could cut out a slot just big enough so the cookie could fit on a mug.  In the pictures, the cookie in front was cut out right from the oven and the cookie in behind was cut after it had cooled.

Easter Egg Cheesecake Bars

Happy long weekend!  I’m headed home today to spend time with my family and boyfriend over the next few days, and after a stressful week and a while since my last visit, I’m so looking forward to it!  I also can’t wait for a delicious Easter dinner with all my family, especially since I won’t have to make any of the main dishes so I can enjoy everyone else’s amazing cooking!

Since I don’t have to make anything on the actual holiday, I made these egg-shaped cheesecakes a little early.  I came up with this idea last Easter but never got around to making them, so I was determined to try them this year before Easter quickly passed again!

Now the problem when you’ve been planning a recipe for over a year is that it becomes so perfect in your mind that it's going to be very hard to live up to the picture in your mind when you actually make it in real life.  These were not as easy to make as I’d envisioned, but they still turned out great in the end, and I can give you some tips to make your experience go easier than mine!

1. Make these in a 9x9 inch pan instead of an 8x8 like I did (I corrected this in the recipe below). An 8x8 pan was a little too deep and made the egg shapes hard to cut out with a cookie cutter. There's still plenty of crust and filling to fit a 9x9 pan and you’ll have an easier time cutting out the eggs than I did.
2. If you still have a hard time cutting the eggs, try cutting out rectangles first and then using your cookie cutter, that way you don’t ruin all the surrounding cheesecake trying to push down on the cutter (like I did once).
3. Wait until the cheesecake is completely cooled before you try cutting it – even after a few hours, it still wasn’t quite ready, but it was so much easier in the morning. I ruined a piece trying to cut too early!
4. Don’t use those malted Easter eggs as the chocolate inside! I chopped mine up and added them to the batter, but when it was done, I noticed little pockets of wetness throughout the cheesecake. It turns out that the malted filling of the chocolate eggs just melted during baking. It still all tasted great, but next time I’d just use mini eggs or something more sturdy like that.
5. If you don’t have time to make all the cheesecake into eggs, just use about half the cheesecake to make eggs and cut the other half into squares – your display will still look as pretty with alternating eggs and simple squares!

Despite some of the problems I had along the way, these still turned out just as pretty as I’d pictured them in my mind, and I probably don’t need to tell you that they tasted fantastic – it’s cheesecake, what’s not to love! I brought some to school to share with my coworkers yesterday and I got lots of feedback that people loved them, which made it all worth it!

Hope you all have a happy Easter, or just a great long weekend!

Easter Egg Cheesecake Bars

Makes one 9x9-inch pan, about 10-15 eggs depending on size of cutter

Ingredients:

For the Crust:

1-1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

For the Cheesecake:

2 bricks of cream cheese (250g each), softened

2/3 cup sugar

2 large eggs

1/4 cup sour cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup chopped Easter chocolate such as mini eggs

Sprinkles and coloured melting wafers for decorating

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325°F.  Line a 9x9-inch pan with aluminum foil and spray with non-stick cooking spray.  Mix graham cracker crumbs, salt and butter until thoroughly combined.  Pour into prepared pan and press firmly into an even layer.  Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes, then set on a wire rack to cool.

In a large bowl or bowl of an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth, about 3 minutes.  Beat in the sugar and mix until well combined, about 1 minute.  Beat in eggs one at a time, followed by the sour cream and vanilla, and mix just until combined.  Stir in the chopped chocolate.  Pour mixture over cooled crust and spread evenly.  Bake in preheated oven for 35-40 minutes, until edges are set but middle jiggles slightly when you shake the pan.

Place pan on a cooling rack and let cool to room temperature for about 2 hours.  Refrigerate for at least 3 hours, or preferably overnight.  Use an egg shaped cookie cutter to cut shapes out of cooled cheesecake.  Depending on how deep your cutter is, you may not be able to press it all the way through the crust cleanly.  I found it easiest to cut rectangles (the size of my cutter) out first, then press the cutter through the piece of cheesecake and use a knife to cut through the crust using the cutter as a guide, then gently push the cheesecake out of the cutter.  You will end up with scraps of cheesecake leftover, but I had no problem eating those!  Decorate cheesecake like Easter eggs using melted chocolate wafers and sprinkles, if desired (you could just use melted chocolate chips too).  Keep refrigerated.