TWD : The Tart Is Too Picky And Made Cookies Instead

There’s no getting around it, I wussed out this week. Ain’t really a picky eater, but there are some combinations that make my taste buds start threatening guerrilla warfare and screaming cliche revolution slogans. Nobody wants that. Add to that a budget that was giving me dirty looks at the mere mention of buying ingredients we don’t usually use, and it wasn’t happening this week.

Dorie has got me addicted to her though, and I needed to bake something by her! A quick chat with Laurie (ok, so none of my chats are ever quick) and Chocolate Chip Cookies were on the table! Y’all, let me be the first to say that I’m stubborn when it comes to recipes I love. The chocolate chip cookie recipe I’e used for years was my fav and nothing could compete… Oh Dorie, how you’ve humbled me!

They’re everything a chocolate chip cookie should be. A little crunchy, a little chewy and soft. Buttery and easy to work with, they didn’t spread too much on the pan and they turned the right colour. Easy means easy, I made the dough before the oven could even preheat while fighting a fever and playing a video game with D! They weren’t greasy in the slightest, they formed into little scoops and snuggled on to the parchment paper with a cheerfullness you don’t usually find in a baked good.

Ain’t it sad that I couldn’t get through taking a pic without biting one?

Y’all should follow the recipe to be sure, but let me tell you how easy these handled. The things I didn’t do were : Mix the dry ingrediants together first, beat for 1 minute between eggs, add the dry ingrediants together in thirds, cool the sheet between batches, rotate the baking sheets midway, bake them to brown (they were golden on the edges and paler in the middle because I prefer them softer), or let them get to room temperature before eating one. To be honest, I dumped the eggs in all at once and did the same with the dry ingrediants. The cookies were very happy to be treated so callously. They like it rough cutie.

“My Best Chocolate Chip Cookies”

2 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. baking soda
2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 c. sugar
2/3 c. (packed) light brown sugar
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
12 oz. bittersweet chocolate, chopped into chips, or 2 c. store-bought chocolate chips or chunks (I used dark chocolate chips)
1 c. finely chopped walnuts or pecans (I didn’t use them)

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone mats.

Whisk together the flour, salt, and baking soda.

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter on medium speed for about 1 minute, until smooth. Add the sugars and beat for another 2 minutes or so, until well blended. Beat in the vanilla. Add the eggs one at a time, beating for 1 minute after each eggs oes in. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingrediants in 3 portions, mixing only until each addition is incorporated. On low speed, or by hand with a rubber spatula, mix in the chocolate and the nuts. (The dough can be covered and refridgerated for up to 3 days or frozen. If you’d like, you can freeze rounded tablespoons of cough, ready for baking. Freeze the mounds on a lined baking sheet, then bag them when theyre solid. There’s no need to defrost the dough before baking - just add another minute or two to the baking time.)

Spoon the dough by slightly rounded tablespoonfulls onto the baking sheets leaving about two inches between spoonfulls.

Bake the cookies - one sheet at a time and rotating the sheet at the midway point - for 10 - 12 minutes or until they are brown at the edges and golden in the center; they may still be a little soft in the middle and that’s just fine. Pull the sheet from the oven and allow the cookies to rest for 1 minute then carefully, usuaing a wide metal spatula, transfer them to racks to cool to room temperature.

Repeat with the remainder of the dough, cooling the baking sheets between batches.

 

TWD : The Most Extraordinary French Lemon Cream Tart

It ain’t a surprise that I was looking forward to this one, it’s my name! Y’all are free to throw in the extraordinary part when talking to me all ya want. There was even prancing as I went to get the lemons and grate the zest from them like I’ve gotten good at!

 Y’all quit staring at the lemons, they’re nekkid!

The recipe was easy, lemons and sugar and eggs and all I had to do was stir!

And stir…

 and stir…

and stir…

Ok, this is downright silly. For all the sweating (standing over a steaming pot and hot cream in Florida when it’s humid and sticky allready ain’t fun) and effort, it never got up to 180 F. Mind you, I ended up getting up to 100.2 F, but that’s a different story and why I’m writing this from on the couch grumbling.

 Y’all don’t even want to know what kind of contortions I had to go through to get pics of the stirring while at the same times never stopping the motion. The cat now thinks I’m weird, which is saying something.

 Yeah. here they are, little lemon cream tarts. Everybody who reads my blog knows I ain’t never one to not speak my mind when it comes to my opinion on desserts, and this is no different. The results were silky and creamy and smooth… and boring. Utterly boring. While there ain’t a doubt in my mind that the chef who created this is a genuis, it was like licking a lemon flavoured butter stick to me. Loved the lemon mixture before the butter went it, afterwards it tasted like nothing but lemon flavoured butter to me and that’s with leaving out the 5 tbls. past the two sticks! The tart dough was bland, like a piece of kind cheap shortbread without any oomph.

The whole thing reminded me of something that might get served to a very unadventerous bridge club after a nice day of getting their hair tinged blue and powdering the poodle. Love the pic of the side I took though, it looks like it’s a golden tart!

Breakfast When I’m Whiney

There are mornings when I don’t want to eat any of the things I should. Oatmeal sounds icky, whole grains are annoying me and I don’t want any sugar. Bleh! Usually this happens when I ain’t snoozed well and I’m grumpy. Why anybody wouldn’t snooze easily with two cop cars flashing their lights outside the bedroom window and a police helicopter flying through your neighborhood on a man hunt at 2:00 a.m. I don’t know, what a picky girl I am. Mornings like today I end up making what my mom used to call concoctions. As a little girl, they were unspeakable but as I got older I started making things like this.

It doesn’t look nice in any kind of presentation way, and it doesn’t come from any recipe. It’s always a grumpy, muttering cooking session with as little effort as possible and whatever is on hand thrown in if I get the craving for it. Today’s was very easy. grabbed a little whole grain couscous and tossed that in a sauce pan with some boiling water. From the freezer I grabbed some shredded pork tenderloin that I roasted up and put back a few days ago, breaking off some frozen pieces into the pot. There were some canned turnip greens in the pantry to throw in, a little olive oil and sea salt ended up in there too. A few shakes of curry powder and a lime pepper mix perked it up, and a pinch of cinnamon made it all a little interesting.

It wouldn’t win any beauty contests and it ain’t gourmet. There ain’t a crumb left of it.

A Recipe From The AWOL Lemon

Half the week I was limping, the other half I had a tummy bug. Yes y’all, wussed out and didn’t blog at all which only made me feel worse. Feel free to yell at me next time I do that. To make it up to y’all, I offer this recipe that I came up with when I got to feeling good. It’s delicious, easy as anything and really healthy! That ain’t bad for a simple supper. The curry powder is optional, D doesn’t eat spicy so I leave it off his and use it in mine after it’s ready.

Chicken And Wild Rice

2 boneless chicken breasts
2 tbls. olive oil
3 stalks of celery, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 carrot, diced
1 c. wild rice mix
3 c. chicken stock
1 clove garlic
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. curry powder
1 tbls. corn starch
Sea salt
Pepper

Cook the rice according to the directions on your wild rice mix, about 50 minutes with the two c. of chicken stock.

Flatten the chicken breasts and cut into small pieces. Put 1 tbls. of olive oil into a large skillet, and throw in diced garlic and the chicken. Saute the chicken for a few minutes on each side, until it’s cooked all the way and browning slightly. Put the chicken on a plate, and throw the celery and onions and carrot into the skillet to soften a bit. Put the spices and the chicken back in the skillet and let them cook for a few, stirring a lot for 10 minutes. The rice goes on the plate in a round pat, and the chicken an veggies are put on top. While the pan is hot, pour in 1 c. of the chicken stock and the cornstarch (dissolved in a little water), and whisk constantly so it thickens up. Pour over the chicken and serve. For two or three people as a meal.

Yum!

DB : Julia’s French Bread And Why I Ain’t French

The best way to start this post off is by saying Julia Child is a genius. Not that it needs to be said, y’all knew that already. There ain’t nobody who can teach you how to put on your fancy France Pants and shake it in the kitchen like her! Therein lies the problem with me though, I ain’t French enough. Not even a little really, heavy butter and cream makes me run the other way and I ain’t fond of… to be honest… more crust than crumb. Y’all can tell this is going in a good direction already.

Making the bread was a good experience as far as the company goes! Anytime I get to do something with CB and Nikkiis the absolute best, and we found ourselves happily clucking away in a little hen’s nest Breadchick had pulled together to all do our thing at the same time. The Belles Of The Bread Ball were very helpfully, and there was much chatting, bad joke telling, and general nonsense as we tried to type with floury, oiled up hands.

The bread… y’all, I don’t like fussy recipes. French bread for me is usually a three hour affair and a simple shaping. This bread was very long, and my poor yeast seemed to be tired of the whole thing by the time I was because the third rising resembled my family after Thanksgiving. Kinda bloated and just laying there. The batard was making a half butted attempt to rise, but the first slash with a knife that I know to be razor sharp made it give up again and the poor thing deflated. It was, in my opinion, a rather wussy dough. Mind you, I’m used to doughs that are developed to be just fine with several toddlers hanging off your pants leg. Doughs that might punch you back when you punch them down and call you names.

The shaping directions and me didn’t get along at all, and that’s my fault. Y’all who can translate written words into spatially valid directions have my admiration, I gotta see and feel it to make it work. Long directions like that ain’t for us tactile learners. Somehow, it got rolled into a relatively oblong shape, and this is what happened to it afterwards. Hah!

These were epi rolls. Hush. Stop laughing, I can hear y’all from over here. They were really pretty before they kinda rose! Baking made them… y’all can tell from the pics.

This one was braided and covered with garlic and herbs. It wasn’t bad, as this failed attempt went. Ain’t got any pictures of the little round rolls, we ate those too quickly. The oven got pissy on me and they bottoms for some of the bread burned, which didn’t improve anything. In short, this recipe was too much crust and not enough bread for us. The French apparently like their bread this way. (crusty, not burnt) A round loaf was made too, and it came out the very best. It was overly salty to me, and got dry too quickly but it was edible. Then it gave us heartburn, as a little insult to injury. This house ain’t French. If y’all are, get the recipe here. Go look at the pics from people who had a success.

TWD : Pecan Sour Cream Biscuits

D loved these, and I ain’t arguing with him about it. Y’all, these are so tasty it ain’t even right! They were simple and friendly, the dough was so nice to work with and they were done before you could clean up after them. A few things I changed, walnuts instead of pecans and low fat buttermilk instead of whole milk. Wanna try these with whole wheat flour!

Now y’all, cutting in butter ain’t never been one of my favourite things to do. That’s why when I heard about this technique, I was really happy to try it! It’s worked out good, and this recipe was no exception. Using a cheese grater, very cold butter can be grated into your flour mixture instead of cutting your butter. Toss it with a fork a little, and you’re good to go! It’s a lot quicker, and you don’t have to worry about warming the butter up as you cut and rub it. Y’all won’t be disappointed with this trick. Y’all can tell I didn’t have a biscuit cutter, a star cookie cutter made these really cute!

A little apple butter is the perfect accompaniment to these tender guys. A cheerful fried egg and a biscuit was a great breakfast, and one that D says is a keeper. He’s the one who vetoes or approves the food around here. He’s a really good one to feed, he ain’t picky and he’s always encouraging me to try new things. Don’t ya love him (and these biscuits)?

Pecan Sour Cream Biscuits
 (Makes about 12 biscuits)

2 cups all-purpose flour (or 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour and 1/3 cup cake flour)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup (packed) light brown sugar
5 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 10 pieces
1/2 cup cold sour cream
1/4 cold whole milk
1/3 cup finely chopped pecans, preferably toasted

Getting Ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Get out a sharp 2-inch-diameter biscuit cutter and line a baking sheet with parchment or a silicone mat.

Whisk the flour(s), baking powder, salt, and baking soda together in a bow. Stir in the brown sugar, making certain there are no lumps. Drop in the butter and, using your fingers, toss to coat the pieces of butter with flour. Quickly, working with your fingertips (my favorite method) or a pastry blender, cut and rub the butter into the dry ingredients until the mixture is pebbly. You’ll have pea-size pieces, pieces the size of oatmeal flakes and pieces the size of everything in between– and that’s just right.

Stir the sour cream and milk together and pour over the dry ingredients. Grab a fork and gently toss and turn the ingredients together until you’ve got a nice soft dough. Now reach into the bowl with your hands and give the dough a quick gentle kneading– 3 or 4 turns should be just enough to bring everything together. Toss in the pecans and knead 2 to 3 times to incorporate them.

Lightly dust a work surface with flour and turn out the dough. Dust the top of the dough very lightly with flour, pat the dough out with your hands or toll it with a pin until it is about 1/2 inch high. Don’t worry if the dough isn’t completely even– a quick, light touch is more important than accuracy.

Use the biscuit cutter to cut out as many biscuits as you can. Try to cut the biscuits close to one another so you get the most you can out of the first round. By hand or with a small spatula, transfer the biscuits to the baking sheet. Gather together the scraps, working with them as little as possible, pat out to a 1/2-inch thickness and cut as many additional biscuits as you can; transfer these to the sheet. (The biscuits ca be made to this point and frozen on the baking sheet, then wrapped airtight and kept for up to 2 months. Bake without defrosting– just add a couple more minutes to the oven time.)

Bake the biscuits for 14-18 minutes, or until they are tall, puffed and golden brown. Transfer them to a serving basket.

Whole Wheat Crackers

Is it a big box of fish? Cat food? A chicken for Pi?

Awwww, poor Pi. It’s a bunch of whole wheat flours and grains I got from Hodgson Mill. Been waiting for these to make some recipes from my new cook book Peter Reinhart’s Whole Grain Breads. D gave it to me for Valentine’s Day, and I’ve been fidgeting to make something.

The recipes are very long and can be a bit complicated at first. A lot of it reads like a chemistry text book, which I love but it ain’t for the totally new to baking people. He teaches some new techniques, and I love learning them. The first thing I tried I wanted to be on the simpler side, and I was feeling inspired by  Bread Baking Day #7 - Flatbreads which led me to try to make crackers! Thin Wheat Crackers.

As always, this tiny little bit of counter is where I do all of my cooking. There’s something I really like about how everything fits in front of the book.

At first I was worried that I wasn’t gonna be able to tell which one I’d added rye flour too. This was a very silly worry. Y’all can tell right?

          

Ain’t they cute, all nestled under their blankie?

Taken out in my tiny garden, the arugula and lettuce seedlings are in the back waving at the camera.

Thin Wheat Crackers

1 c. Whole Wheat Flour (you can mix in other grains, try to keep the ratio about 65% to 70% whole wheat flour and 30% to 35% other flours)
1/2 tsp. salt
6 tbls. Milk, Buttermilk, Yogurt, Soy Milk, or Rice Milk
1 1/2 tbls. Honey or Agave Nectar or 2 tbls. Sugar or Brown Sugar
4 tbls. Vegetable Oil or Light Olive Oil
Extra Whole Wheat Flour for adjustments
1 tbls. Kosher Salt or Sea Salt dissolved in 1/2 c. water for salt water wash

Combine the 1 c. flour and the salt, milk, honey, and oil in a bowl and mix until the ingredients come together to form a ball of dough. Ass extra flour or milk as needed to make a firm but tacky dough.

Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead for 3 minutes, adjusting the flour or liquid as needed; the dough should feel like modeling clay and have a satiny surface. It should not be soft and sticky or crumbly.

If baking the crackers immediately, preheat the oven to 350 F. Cover the dough with a cloth towel or plastic wrap and let rest for 20 minutes, then move on to the next step. If holding the dough overnight form it into a ball, place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover loosely with plastic wrap, and leave at room temperature overnight.

When you are ready to bake the crackers, prepare a sheet pan by lining it with parchment paper or a silicone mat. Mist the work surface lightly with pan spray or wipe it with just a touch of oil on a paper towel. This makes it easier to lift the dough later. Transfer the dough to the work surface and, working from the center of the dough out to the four corners, roll it out into a rectangle, dusting the top of the dough with flour only if needed to prevent sticking. Roll the dough out as thinly as it will allow, about 1/4 inch. If the dough begins to spring back, let it rest for a few minutes, then continue rolling until the rectangle is about 1/8 inch thick. Brush the top of the dough with the salt water wash.

Use a pizza roller or a pastry scraper to cut the dough into whatever sizes and shapes you desire (small rectangles are suggested). Use the pastry scraper or a metal spatula to transfer the individual crackers to the prepared sheet pan. They should not touch, but they can be close together. Bake for 10 minutes, then rotate the pan 180 degrees and continue baking about 10 minutes longer, until the crackers begin to turn a rich brown on both the top and the underside.

Let the crackers cool on the pan before serving. They will crisp up as they cool.

One Of Those Days

Everybody has them. Those days where everything you tried to do refused to work right, none of your plans worked out even close to what you had intended. Your sinuses are acting up, you’re cramping and even your hair hurts. You’d go out to eat if you could stand the idea of dealing with other people in public, but all you want to do is curl up on the couch and not do a lick of anything useful. Donna Reed would disapprove (the dishes alone would make her cry!)

This supper is for days like that.

The Most Basic Chile Ever

1 package of ground turkey meat, about 2.5 lbs.
1 onion
1 large can tomato sauce
1 large can diced tomatoes
1 can tomato paste
2 cans dark kidney beans
2 cans light kidney beans
2 cloves garlic, chopped
Cumin
Chile Powder
Sea Salt
Pepper

Brown the ground turkey. To be honest, was feeling so lazy I didn’t even thaw the meat first. If you put it in the pot frozen and stir occasionally, you can cook it on low to medium and it will thaw and cook up fine. Turn it a few times to get it thawed all over. Throw in the onion all chopped, and when it starts to brown the bottom of the pan put the tomato sauce and tomatoes in there. Put the beans in, and the garlic and spices and stir. Leave it simmering on medium for as long as you like before eating. Usually it’s a few hours, giving you time to do whatever.

The biscuits were nothing but ol’ Bisquick biscuits. Kneaded them a little and cut them in squares, then put them in a greased muffin tin because the baking sheet was in the sink and I wasn’t feeling up to doing dishes.

TWD : Almost-Fudge Gâteau

Oh y’all. What can a girl say when a recipe like this gets chosen but that? The more people talked about it, the more I was almost jumping out of my chair to make it! Around here, we wait until Saturdays for the baking (that way I can unload leftovers on people at the Saturday family dinner), but this one almost made me break my rule! A few people said the cake was too dark, and that this household drool even more.

Saturday took it’s sweet time getting here, but that morning I was ready to get to work.

Aint got a double boiler, but a metal bowl on top of a sauce pan worked fine. This part was so easy, I mixed it with running outside a few times to watch D try to wrestle an old push lawn mower into submission. It was good timing! Got to try to push it around, but any real work was gotten out of by pointing out my chocolate was gonna burn.

Ain’t this neat? Who knew folding egg whites into chocolate would look like pics from the Hubble telescope? This is even better than the Milky Way!

  

This cake was so fun to make. Ain’t a bit harder than an average ol’ cake you throw in quick for unexpected company, and it came together so nicely you could. Ain’t a person that would be disappointed to be served this either (unless they’re one of those odd people who don’t like chocolate, but we don’t talk about them in polite company), and it’s sure to get you lots of compliments.

Tried to make my first ganache for this one, and it couldn’t have been simpler. A little hot cream over some chopped up chocolate did the trick, we didn’t have any corn syrup for the glaze Dorie had and I ain’t partial to corn syrup.

The neighbours are convinced I’m odd, as well as the pierced and eyeliner caked teenage boy who wandered by as I was crouched down in the front lawn taking pics. Ain’t it pretty? The reflections of light made me feel like I had done something right.

Here’s a few pics of the crumb. It was dense, but I didn’t think it was as dense as some of the other people were saying. D declared it similar to a really good brownie, and I agreed. That’s high praise around here.

Almost-Fudge Gâteau

5 large eggs
9 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 cup of sugar
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into chunks
2 tablespoons coffee or water
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
Pinch of salt

For the Glaze (optional)
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
½ cup heavy cream
2 teaspoons light corn syrup

Getting Ready:

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.  Butter a 9-inch springform pan, line the bottom with parchment paper, butter the paper, dust the inside of the pan with flour and tap out the excess.  Place the pan on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat.

Separate the eggs, putting the whites in a mixer bowl or other large bowl and the yolks in a small bowl.

Set a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and add the chocolate, sugar butter and coffee.  Stir occasionally until the chocolate and butter are melted; the sugar may still be grainy, and that’s fine.  Transfer the bowl to the counter and let the mixture sit for 3 minutes.

Using a rubber spatula, stir in the yolks one by one, then fold in the flour.

Working with the whisk attachment of the mixer or a hand mixer, beat the egg whites with the pinch of salt until they hold firm, but glossy peaks.  Using the spatula, stir about one quarter of the beaten whites into the batter, then gently fold in the rest.  Scrape the butter into the pan and jiggle the pan from side to side a couple of times to even the batter.

Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, or until the cake has risen evenly (it might rise around the edges and you’ll think it’s done, but give it a few minutes more, and the center will puff too) and the top has firmed (it will probably be cracked) and doesn’t shimmy when tapped; a thin knife inserted into the center should come out just slightly streaked with chocolate.  Transfer the pan to a cooling rack and let the cake rest for 5 to 10 minutes.

Run a blunt knife gently around the edges of the cake and remove the sides of the pan.  Carefully turn the cake over onto a rack and remove the pan bottom and the parchment paper.  Invert the cake onto another rack and cool to room temperature right side up.  As the cake cools, it may sink.

To Make the Optional Glaze:

First, turn the cooled cake over onto another rack so you’ll be glazing the flat bottom, and place the rack over a baking sheet lined with parchment or wax paper to catch any drips.

Put the chocolate in a small heatproof bowl.

Melt the chocolate over a pan of simmering water or in a microwave oven – the chocolate should be just melted and only warm, not hot.  Meanwhile, bring the cream to a boil in a small sauce pan.  Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and stir very gently with a rubber spatula until the mixture is smooth and shiny.  Stir in the corn syrup.

Pour the glaze over the cake and smooth the top with a long metal icing spatula.  Don’t worry if the glaze drips unevenly down the sides of the cake – it will just add to its charms.  Allow the glaze to set at room temperature or, if you’re impatient, slip the cake into the refrigerator for about 20 minutes.  If the glaze dulls in the fridge, just give it a little gentle heat from a hairdryer.

TWD : Brown Sugar Apple Cheesecake

A water bath? There it was, mocking me and my rather incomplete set of baking pans and dishes. Where in the world was I gonna get a pan big enough to hold even my smallest springform pan? Oh sure, there was one at the store, but with no room in the budget to spare this month, no way was I gonna make a case for getting a pan for the sole purpose of holding a cheesecake, hah! Right then… ya know, on Myth Busters the other day they made a balloon out of foil, why not a roasting pan? Try to follow the logic here…

You can’t really use tape on something you’re gonna put in the heat, but if we scrunch the layers of foil up the right way (of course they ain’t the wide foil, ugh) and put it on the baking sheet… It managed to hold the water well enough, and the cheesecake was on!

It ain’t the fanciest food processor, but it does manage to have two speeds and a blade, so the gingersnap crumbs got all nice. Y’all love me, which is why we ain’t gonna speak about how I read it wrong first and ended up with 20 gingersnaps and two sticks of melted butter. Ew. Beating the dyslexia back with a whip and a chair, I figured it out and made a nice little crust. Most of the gingersnaps made it into the crust, only a few brave little ones sacrificed themselves to my gingersnap obsession.

The batter was so easy to make, it was like a little cheesecake party! What had me fearing I was gonna be stressed, ended up being fun. Ain’t it pretty?

D ain’t a big fan of cooked apples in pies and such, so I used the apple butter variation. It ain’t nothing, you put some apple butter in the batter after it’s in the pan, and swirl it around with a knife. The apple butter is heavy, so you gotta swirl and hope for the best really.

It looks like a cheesecake don’t it? It’s the first one I ever made, and I couldn’t be more proud. It’s very tasty, and I’m doing a dance to know I can make cheesecakes now! The only crack in the cheesecake was a little one when my thumb poked it too hard taking it out of the oven. Who knew, the redneck water bath worked! Could eat half of this cheesecake by myself. Dorie Greenspan, I love you!

Brown Sugar-Apple CheesecakeFor the Crust
30 gingersnaps (or a scant 2 cups graham cracker crumbs)
2 tbsp light brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon (optional)
1/2 stick (4 tbsp) unsalted butter, melted

For the Apples
1/2 stick (4 tbsp) unsalted butter
3 large Golden Delicious or Fuji apples, peeled, cored and cut into eighths
2 tbsp (packed) light brown sugar

For the Filling
1 1/2 pounds (three 8-ounce packages) cream cheese, at room temperature
3/4 cup (packed) light brown sugar
6 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp apple cider
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 tsp ground cinnamon
3 large eggs
3/4 cup sour cream
1/3 cup heavy cream

Apple jelly, for glazing, or confectioner’s sugar, for dusting (optional)

To Make the Crust: Butter the bottom and sides of a 10-inch springform pan.

Put the gingersnaps in a food processor and whir until you have crumbs; you should have a scant 2 cups.  (If you are using graham cracker crumbs, just put them in the food processor.)  Pulse in the sugar and cinnamon, if you’re using it, then pour over the melted butter and pulse until the crumbs are moistened.  Turn the crumbs into the springform pan and, using your fingertips, firmly press them evenly over the bottom and up the sides of the pan as far as they’ll go.  Put the pan in the freezer while you preheat the oven.  (The crust can be covered and frozen for up to 2 months.)

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Remove the pan from the freezer and wrap the bottom tightly in aluminum foil, going up the sides.  Place the pan on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes, or until the crust is set and lightly browned.  Transfer to a rack to cool while you make the apples and the filling.  Leave the oven at 350 degrees F.

To Make the Apples: Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  When the foam subsides, toss in half of the apple slices and cook, turning once, until they are golden brown, about 3 minutes.  Sprinkle the apples with 1 tablespoon of the sugar and cook them, turning, just until coated, another minute or so.  Scrape the apples onto a plate, wipe out the skillet and repeat with the remaining apples.  Let the apples cool while you make the filling.

Getting Ready to Bake:  Have a roasting pan large enough to hold the springform pan at hand.  Put a kettle of water on to boil.

To Make the Filling: Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the cream cheese on medium speed, scraping down the bowl often, for about 4 minutes, or until it is velvety smooth.  Add the sugars and beat for another 2 minutes.  Beat in the cider, vanilla, and cinnamon.  Reduce the speed to low and beat in the eggs one by one, beating for 1 minute after each egg goes in.  Finally, beat in the sour cream and heavy cream, beating just until the batter is smooth.

Pour about one third of the batter into the baked crust. Drain the apples by lifting them off the plate with a slotted spoon or spatula, and spoon them into the pan.  Cover with the remaining batter and, if needed, jiggle the pan to even the top.  Place the springform pan in the roasting pan and pour in enough boiling water to come halfway up the sides of the springform pan.

Bake the cheesecake for 1 hour and 30 to 45 minutes, covering the cake loosely with a foil tent at the 45-minute mark.  The cake will rise evenly and crack around the edges, and it should be fully set except, possibly, in the very center–if the center shimmies, that’s just fine.  Gently transfer the cake, still in the pan, to a cooling rack and let it cool to room temperature, then refrigerate it for at least 6 hours; overnight would be better.

Run a blunt knife around the edges of the pan to loosen the crust, open the pan’s latch and release and remove the sides.