Our friends Scott and Jess provided an amazing spread of food for the day, and I'm salivating just thinking about it again. The menu included: Lamb kabobs with tzatziki sauce, beef tenderloin, ham, cheesy potatoes, corn souffle, deviled eggs, and grilled veggies. YUM.
I brought the desserts, which were my first attempts at New York Cheesecake and Rum cake with the recipes that my mom uses. Let me just say that 1. I had no idea how much work goes into these...not quite as easy as cake out of a box, 2. I had no idea how expensive fresh vanilla beans were, and 3. I had no idea how UNhealthy these cakes were (hence, why they taste so good).
I did a test run of the cheesecake recipe on Wednesday, and it was, shall we say... less than successful. It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't nearly as good as it should have been. This is unfortunate for the folks at my office who ate the test cheesecake.
The second attempt was almost perfect. Rich, creamy, vanilla-y decadence. Upon Luke's request, I added a layer of white chocolate and strawberries on top of the cheesecake. The rum cake was fairly simple in comparison, but man was it tasty. I highly recommend both of these recipes.
The Cheesecake Recipe (without white chocolate and strawberry topping):
Ingredients
- 1 cup graham cracker crumbs
- 2 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar, plus 1 1/2 cups
- 2 1/2 pounds cream cheese, softened
- 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 5 eggs
- 2 egg yolks
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped from inside of pod and reserved
Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Butter the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan. In a mixing bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs, butter, and 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar and mix well. Press onto bottom of springform pan and bake until golden, about 8 minutes. Set aside to cool. When completely cooled, butter the sides of the pan.
Lower oven temperature to 350 degrees F.
In a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer, combine cream cheese, 1 1/2 cups sugar and vanilla and beat until light and creamy. Add the flour, then the eggs and yolks 1 at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add the sour cream, vanilla bean seeds and mix until smooth. Pour mixture into prepared pan. Wrap the pan in foil and place in a roasting pan. Fill the roasting with enough hot water to come half way up the sides of the pan. Bake for 1 1/2 hours.
Transfer cake to a cooling rack and let cool
And...
The Rumcake Recipe:
1 cup chopped pecans
1 pkg. yellow cake mix
1 small pkg. vanilla instant pudding mix
4 eggs
1/2 cup cold water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup Myers or dark rum
1 pkg. yellow cake mix
1 small pkg. vanilla instant pudding mix
4 eggs
1/2 cup cold water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup Myers or dark rum
Grease and flour a Bundt cake pan. Sprinkle half of the nuts over the bottom of pan. Combine all remaining ingredients and remaining nuts. Pour batter into pan over nuts.
Bake for 50 minutes at 325°F.
Cool and then invert onto plate; prick top of cake with a fork.
Glaze:
1 stick butter
1/4 cup water
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup rum
1/4 cup water
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup rum
Melt butter in a saucepan. Stir in water and sugar. Boil for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; cool slightly and then stir in rum.
Mix well and drizzle glaze over cake. This makes a large amount, so use scant measurements for the glaze.
Cake improves with age.
1 comments:
Those both look freaking amazing!
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