Bake 52 Week 4: Light Cheesecake

Ok so I am all about cutting calories if you can and it doesn't ruin the flavor. This week I made a cheesecake. A whole cheese cake. Bad decision. Yes, it is light, but that doesn't mean Tyler and I should eat it all ourselves. The texture was just fine, not as creamy as normal cheesecake, but not bad either. The taste was just a tad bit off, but nothing that bother me too much, I liked it. My problem was with the crust. I know in the past I admit that I skip steps or rush things, but I promise I didn't do that on this recipes because I know how temperamental cheesecake can be. So when it said wait for the crust to be completely cool before adding filling, I did exactly that. My result anyway...a soggy crust. I was pretty bummed. I mean my cheesecake cracked too, but that didn't bother me like this does. And just so you all know, I have made cheesecake before from scratch and it turned out how it was supposed to. So after reading Amanda's blog where she said it is only 60 calories less, I think I'll go with a smaller slice of traditional full calorie cheesecake. Thank you to Talesha for hosting this week you can find the recipe on her page. Maybe I should have done what Amanda did and made a smaller batch or made even smaller batch and put it in a cupcake tin and then freeze them and I could have mini cheesecakes whenever I want. Overall, if the crust was better it might have been a keeper.

Bake 52 Week 3: Boston Cream Cupcakes

Amanda decided to help ruin some people's New Year resolutions by picking this recipes out. But it was bound to happen sooner or later and I was sure glad to have these yummy treats last week. During this recipe, because there were many steps involved, I felt like it was spreading my wings in the baking realm. So it was a bit more effort than most recipes I deal with, but it was so worth it. I wish I could have FedEx one of these to each of my friends and family because I was so proud of them and I should have spread the calories around. I did take them to a BBQ, however, the queen bee also brought hers to the BBQ so not all of them got eaten, so Tyler and I ate the rest. We also did our best to run it off afterwards. I look forward to opportunities where I can make these again. If you would like to try them out go to Amanda's Blog, however, I hope you have some event to take them to because they are hard to resist.

Some unique things about these cupcakes:

• The cupcake is very dense while still being moist and somewhat fluffy.They puff up while cooking and then deflate and become flat on top. Also the recipes says to use 1/3 cup to fill the muffins, I would do 1/4 next time.
• The cream tastes just like Bird's Custard. A favorite of my family.
• The chocolate is the perfect texture and flavor and can be used on many other desserts. However, I did use semi-sweet instead of bittersweet chocolate. 

Bake 52 Week 2: Bran Muffins

So this week the recipes is Bran Muffins. To tell you the truth I've never had one before, but I generally like healthy carbs and I definitely like muffins, so I was excited. I however, wasn't excited about getting sick this week with a cold. So I am a bit late on posting, but I am so glad I ended up making this yummy/healthy treats. If you would would like the recipe you can get it here from Valerie's blog. I think she made a good choice because so many of us are trying to eat healthier right now. We will see what we will be baking at the end of this year ;)

So I cheated a bit in two ways. First, I got to see what others had written about the bran muffins before I baked them and second, because I had read others people's reviews I put chocolate chips in them, which I know for certain to be cheating. However, I did make 4 of them plain, but that made me realize I was glad I put chocolate chips in the rest. You see I don't like raisins, but they help make the bran muffins a bit sweeter, so chocolate chips did the trick for me. But the important thing is that we will eat them and still get our fiber out of them. I was also pleasantly surprised to find them soooo moist, I just normal don't think of bran muffins as being moist. But there is quite a bit of yogurt in them which is great. I am very happy that I made these healthy treats.

Bake 52 Week 1: Quiche

 

From The America's Test Kitchen: Family Baking Book

Quiche 
p. 72-74

There are many different ways to do quiche, which is why I picked it for the first post. Like I said before: "The reasoning(of why I choose this recipe)...I like quiche, not very many people make it, and it is so versatile." Therefore, there are many recipes to choose from. 
I chose Broccoli Cheese Quiche.
And I used Easiest Ever Press-In Single-Crust Pie Dough on p.363 and let me tell you it was the easiest pie crust I have ever used, the only thing that I noticed was it was on the sweet side, not that there is anything wrong with that.


Easiest Ever Press-In Single-Crust Pie Dough 

• 1.25 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons of sugar
• .25 teaspoons salt
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 2 ounces cream cheese, softened

1. Grease a 9 inch pie plate. Whisk the flower, sugar, and salt together in a medium bowl. 
2. In a large bowl, beat the butter and cream cheese together with an electric mixer on medium/high speed until completely combined, about 2 minutes. Reduce the mixer speed to medium/low and beat in the flower mixture until it resembles course crumbs, about 20 seconds. Increase the mixer speed to medium/high and beat until the dough begins to form large clumps, about 30 seconds.
3. Transfer 3 tablespoons of the dough to a small bowl. Turn the remaining dough clumps out onto a lightly floured counter, gather into a ball, and flatten into a 6 inch disk. Transfer the disk to the prepared pie plate.
4. Follow the photos below, press the dough evenly over the bottom of the pie plate using the heel of your hand. With your fingertips, continue to work the dough over the bottom of the plate and up the sides until evenly distributed.
5. On a lightly floured counter, roll the reserved 3 tablespoons of dough into three 8-inch long ropes. Arrange the ropes around the top of the pie plate, leaving small gaps between them. Squeeze the ropes into the crust to make a uniform edge. Following the photos on page 362, crimp the edge of the dough. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and place in the freezer until the dough is fully chilled and firm, about 30 minutes, before using.


Broccoli Cheese Quiche

• 1 recipe single-crust pie dough, fitted into a 9-inch pie plate and chilled

Filling:

• 5 large eggs
• 2 cups half-and-half
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh chives
• .25 teaspoon salt
• .25 teaspoon pepper
• 4 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded (1cup)

1. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 375 degrees. Following the photos on page 363, line the chilled crust with a double layer of foil and fill with pie weights. Bake until the pie dough looks dry and is light in color, 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer the pie plate to a wire rack and remove the weights and foil. Adjust the oven rack to the lower-middle position and decrease the oven temperature to 350 degrees. (the crust must still be warm when the filling is added.)

2. FOR THE FILLING: Whisk the eggs, half-and-half, chives, salt, and pepper together in a large bowl. Stir in the cheddar until well combined. Transfer the filling to a 4-cup liquid measuring cup.

VARIATION
Do not substitute frozen broccoli here.
Bring 4 cups bite-sized broccoli florets, 1/2 cup water, and 1/4 teaspoon salt to a boil in a covered 12-inch skillet and cook until the broccoli is bright green, about 3 minutes. Uncover and continue to cook until the broccoli is tender and the water has evaporated, about 3 minutes. Pat the broccoli dry with paper towels, then sprinkle it over the warm pie shell before adding the egg mixture.


3. Place the warm pie shell on a rimmed baking sheet and place in the oven. Carefully pour the egg mixtures into the warm shell until it reaches about 1/2 inch from the top edge of the crust (you may have extra egg mixture).

4. Bake the quiche until the top is lightly browned, the center is set but soft, and a knife inserted about 1 inch from the edge comes out clean, 40 to 50 minutes. Let the quiche cool for at least 1 hour or up to 3 hours. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature.

Review:
I loved the crust,  I forgot to only partially bake it so it came out a bit more brown and I didn't chill it before cooking because well I wasn't patient enough, however, it was still way good. I didn't have half and half but I had something better: heavy whipping cream. I did some math and mixed the WC with milk to make half and half. I over cooked the broccoli as well, but it didn't make a difference really, and I don't really like my broccoli under cooked, so it all worked out. Tyler and I did not wait the hour after it was down cooking to eat it, we were starving! I think I should have varied from the recipe and added onions and garlic and maybe some more spices because it seemed a little plain. So I made a ton of mistakes and it still was really good. I hope everyone else had similar or even better experiences than me. Here are some pics:

Happy Husband! That's the goal.