I don't know about you, but whenever I make something I think is extremely delicious I state, "This is so good, I should marry myself". A little dramatic/crazy but it doesn't happen all the time. I think this moment happens when I've baked an item enough to know how to do it very well, don't make any errors, and follow the recipe perfectly. Sometimes things get cray in the kitchen but I find that my food comes out better when I'm relaxed, organized and I follow directions fully.
This cheesecake was one of those things. It was so light, sweet, creamy, delicious. Ugh, I had two pieces in one day, which is not good because I'm lactose-intolerant but I couldn't help it! And I almost never eat what I bake. I'll snack and taste, maybe eat a piece but nothing like this. I'm obsessed with cheesecake.
I just finished taking an ice cream, custards, and soft desserts class and let me just state this: after the first day I really disliked the class. However, I came to enjoy making most of the projects in class and became more inspired to make those types of desserts at home. In class we had to make two cheesecakes, one as a group and one individually. This was fun except you had to make your own cookies for the crust. You couldn't bring in graham crackers or vanilla wafers, you had to bake them in class. But they were delicious. And I loved/hated making cheesecake. It's really hard to tell when it is done and if you over bake it, it becomes more cake-like instead of being silky. No bueno.
What I did learn was that all custards are done at 180* and they won't always look done; they will be jiggly. Which is very frustrating if you like baking cakes because you never want to take out a jiggly cake. Mmm and cheesecakes are too delicious. So silky, smooth, and simple. The simplicity is the best part if you aren't exactly comfortable with baking just yet!
This cheesecake recipe is from my reader in the SRJC culinary program. :)
Place cookies in a food processor and pulse until it resembles coarse sand
Add the butter and the sugar and pulse until combined
Press into the bottom of your pan and up the sides.
Cheesecake:
30 oz cream cheese
1 1/4 cup of granulated sugar
5 eggs
1 tbsp vanilla (I used vanilla bean paste)
To make:
Preheat oven to 325* If you have convection, put the fan on low.
Cream the cream cheese and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer until smooth
Add in the eggs one at a time and be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl and paddle as you go.
Add vanilla and beat the mixture until smooth. Make sure there are no lumps. Don't over mix.
Pour the mixture into your pan lined with crust and place in the middle rack of your oven.
Bake until an instant read thermometer reads 180* let cool at room temperature then put into fridge to chill.
Cheesecake should be cut the day after it is made, not the day it was baked.
When you are ready to cut the cheesecake remove it from the pan and remove the metal bottom. Place on a cardboard circle. Be near a sink or have a large container filled with hot water. Also have a serrated knife, chef knife, and clean towel. It's a lot, but it is super important.
Wet the serrated knife then wipe with clean towel.
Cut directly across cheesecake. Wet knife and wipe with towel.
Cut the cake into quarters.
Take the chef knife, wet and wipe with towel
Cut each quarter into 3 pieces. Wetting and wiping the knife between each slice
Important: You MUST wet the knife and wipe clean after each cut because if you don't you'll break up the cheesecake and get nasty, rough edges and crumbs everywhere. Nobody wants that.
Tips:
There are many important things you should know about baking cheesecake: do not use a spring foam pan if you can help it. They are not as good. Sometimes the bottom or sides become warped and don't attach properly later on. Instead use a pan with a removable bottom like a tart pan. You do not need a water bath. Do not cut the cheesecake on the metal bottom, it will scratch it up and make future desserts not come out the same. It is also handy because you'll never bring a cheesecake to a party or gathering and lose the metal bottom forever! If you can bake it in a convection oven even better. And BAKE IT TO 180, no hotter, no cooler.
"For what it’s worth: it’s never too late to be whoever you want to be. I hope you live a life you’re proud of, and if you find you’re not, I hope you have the strength to start over again."
I am one semester away from getting my pastry and baking certificate which is super crazy. Time went by so fast and I'm sad it's almost over. I met some some amazing people and had great teachers. I think tarts and pies was my favorite class other than intro to baking. Here's a little sneak peek into what I made in the last two weeks! I will be posting the recipes to some of these tarts and pies!
Mini tarts with passionfruit curd, raspberry curd and chocolate rum pastry cream.
One of my favorite things to do with Joe is go to Davis. I love it there. Joe went to UC Davis and wanted to take me there to show me around and we both fell in love. It's such a nice town and atmosphere. You'd think that since it's a college town it would be crazy or wild but it's the opposite. I've never been to a town that I thought was perfect to live. When I think of my future I think of Davis.
They have a year-round farmers market on Saturdays and Joe and I have gone to two so far this spring. I am overwhelmed and overexcited each time we go. Sometimes I even think of driving over to Davis just to see the market and relax. They have food, fresh/local veggies, fruit, pastries, meat, honey, juice, nuts, plants, flowers, and other cool knick knacks. It's absolutely wonderful. This is a glimpse into what we saw today!
Super tasty berries!
We bought yukon gold potatoes, leeks, apple juice, a bear claw, and cheddar jalapeño bread
These things were so beautiful in the wind! I wish I knew how much they were and I wish I had a place for one at my house because they were so cool and fun to look at
If my parents hadn't already bought three tomato plants I would've gotten some from here!
The carrots were super sweet and delicious, and this is coming from someone who does not like raw carrots.
Our view from the blanket in the field next to the market
I've been MIA because of school but I'm hoping to get back into the groove of things. I've made countless blogs in the past and tend to give up after 5 posts but I'm determined not to do that with this blog. I took a two week long cake and cake decorating class and it was an amazing experience. There were so many tips and tricks I learned about baking and decorating that I couldn't have learned any other way. My teacher owned and operated an amazing bakery close to my town and now works at an extremely successful bakery. The bakery he owned is one of my favorite places to get cake. Anyways, here are some of the cakes I've made since school started. I plan on making a post about how to make a princess cake, which is my favorite cake on earth. Also I'm going to re-do my strawberry shortcake and perfect it before making a blogpost about it as well.
Princess Cake
Strawberry Shortcake
Making a wedding cake was one of the most exciting/challenging things I've ever done. It took so much time and effort and there were times I just wanted to sit down and cry and times I wanted to drive back to school to work on my cake. I learned a lot from making this cake. I had always feared making a tall multiple tiered wedding cake but I realized this was the perfect opportunity to practice. I still have so much to learn and I'm extremely excited to practice my skills in school.
Bottom Layer: Chocolate cake
Top Layer: Vanilla cake
My next set of classes being on the 22nd and I'll be taking a tarts and pies class followed by an ice cream and soft desserts class. I plan on posting what I create in class on here and also include any recipes I loved!
Spring is finally here! The sun is shining, days are longer, and flowers are blooming. The weather in California has been beautiful lately! It's been warm and sunny all week and it's gotten me really inspired. I kept saying "I'm going to bake cupcakes. I'm going to bake cookies. I'm going to make ice cream". None of that happened. I make a lot of excuses but today I knew I wanted to bake a cake. I was thinking chocolate then strawberry then vanilla. But ultimately I thought lemon blueberry would be the perfect thing for a Sunday evening. The cake is lemony and decadent, the blueberries are a nice surprise when you take a bite! And the frosting is perfectly lemony without being too sweet or too sour. The ingredients are things that you would normally have in your house, most likely you'll only have to buy the blueberries and lemons. This recipe is also pretty simple to execute. I followed the recipe made by Sweetapolita, but I did a few things differently! If you want to learn how to make a delicious lemon blueberry cake then keep on reading. :)
The ingredients you will need are:
2 cups and 6 tbsp all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup greek yogurt (I used vanilla, it said to use plain but who cares)
1/2 cup milk
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice (about one lemon)
2 tbps lemon zest (I used one giant lemon)
2 tsp vanilla
2 sticks (one cup) butter (room temp)
1 1/2 cup sugar
4 eggs
6 oz of fresh blueberries
To begin, pre-heat oven to 350* and butter two 9 inch pans, line with parchment and then re-butter
Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl, set aside
In a separate bowl mix milk, yogurt, lemon juice, lemon zest and vanilla extract together, set aside.
In a stand mixer cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy
Add eggs one at a time and then scrape down the sides of the bowl.
Put one third of the dry mixture into the mixer, then half of the liquid ingredients, add another third of the dry then the rest of the wet ingredients followed by the rest of the dry ingredients
Before the batter is completely combined take the bowl off the machine and fold the batter by hand
Wash and dry the blueberries, then gently fold into the batter
Evenly divide the batter between the two pans and put into the oven. Bake for 25 minutes or until the top is set and lightly golden.
Let the cakes cool for 15 minutes out of the oven then remove from the pans and place onto a wire rack.
Lemon buttercream
2 sticks of softened, unsalted butter
5 cups of sifted powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp lemon zest
1 tbsp lemon juice
a splash of milk, half+half, heavy cream
yellow food coloring (optional)
To make the frosting
Cream the butter until light and fluffy
Slowly add the powdered sugar one cup at a time until fully combined
Add the vanilla, lemon juice, and lemon zest and mix until fluffy and delicious
This cake was so delicious! Light and lemony. Hint of blueberry. It would be perfect for after dinner, a midday snack and even something to eat with tea in the morning. This recipe also makes delicious cupcakes with or without the blueberries. If you try this recipe out let me know!
If you've never been to a beach in California, you're missing out. I went out to Dillon beach on Saturday with my boyfriend and it was fantastic. The beach is a little over an hour away from San Francisco but from where I live it takes a little over a half hour. The nice thing about this beach is there is always parking and it's only $8 for the whole day. The beach is open until sunset but sadly there is no overnight parking or beach camping there. There's also a market right before the beach so if you forgot snacks, water, sunscreen or anything else you can buy it right there!
Poor crabby got flipped over by waves after I took his photo :(
Joe and I left around 4:30ish and stopped to get some food from a local market before heading out. The weather has been in the 80*s here but the beach isn't always as warm. Okay, I've never been to the beach near where I live and have it been 80* that I can remember. Or if it was close to 80* it was completely overcast. But when we went Saturday it was beautiful out! I was worried because when we got into the Bodega area it became really foggy and we had wanted to see the sun set while we were there. Luckily it was perfectly clear at the beach and not windy at all. :)
♡
We were at the beach for a few hours, running in the waves, taking photos and collecting seashells. We walked for a long time down the beach and I didn't even realize how far we had gone until we had to make the trip back to the car. I tried taking photos with these birds and tried having Joe take a photo of me and these little birds but every time I went near them they ran even while they were looking for food. They were so cute and short and they ran to the waves when they were being drawn back into the ocean and then running away when a wave came in. I gave up when we had to go back to the car. But we saw the crab and that made up for it. The drive home was just as fun because we laughed and sang "No One" by Alicia Keys and "I Would Walk 500 Miles" by The Proclaimers even though we only knew the choruses.
This beach trip was exactly what I needed to get back into a happy, relaxed state of mind. I've been feeling really stressed and not my best for a few weeks now and it hasn't been easy for me or Joe. He has been nothing but loving, supportive and patient with me which is important in any relationship, but it means so much to me. I don't want to get too personal or say too much but I also feel like I could fill up a book with how much I love and appreciate Joe. I'm just happy we both got to step back and forget about the stresses of every day life and enjoy an evening at the beach. Saturday was the first day in a long time that I laughed as hard as I did and smiled as much as I did. I can't stop looking through all of the photos we took and wishing that I had a few more hours or that I could spend each day like that. This beach trip was the most amazing day I've had all year and I was so happy to be spending it with my best friend. :)
"Those who love you are not fooled by mistakes you have made or dark images you hold about yourself. They remember your beauty when you feel ugly; your wholeness when you are broken; your innocence when you feel guilty; and your purpose when you are confused."
I cannot believe it is almost the end of February. Part of me feels like we are way further than nine weeks into the year and the other part cannot believe two months have already gone by. I thought I'd share the things I loved this month and the reasons why! I'll list the prices and the places to purchase some of these items if you are interested. I also included an important thing I've learned this month at the end of the post.
#1 thing I bought this month was Beyonce's album! I remember everyone on Tumblr freaking out when she released her album in December but I never looked into it until I saw all of these GIFs and short video clips people were posting from the album. I watched her Vevo videos that explained her ideas and inspirations behind the album and I knew I needed to buy it. I bought the entire album off of iTunes and a hard copy from Walmart but I was unaware the hard copy is censored and therefore no bueno for me. They were both around $16 and you get 14 songs and 17 music videos. I love all of it. Her music makes you feel completely empowered and confident, like nobody can mess with you. I play the album every time I'm in the car, at the gym, or hanging out on the computer. My favorite songs are XO, Partition, and Jealous! I give the album 2 thumbs up, 5 gold stars and every award on the planet.
I love Swiss Miss in the normal packages but I always hated how I could never completely dissolve all of the powder and then my parents bought a Keurig for Christmas. And then for my birthday my dad gave me two boxes of hot chocolate and in about a month my mom and I have finished an entire box. What's cool with the Keurig too is that you can choose the cup size so you can control how strong or weak your drink is! You can buy these at Target for $12 and you get 16 little cups.
Another Target purchase was this day planner. I have been feeling really overwhelmed with the ridiculous amount of free time I have until school starts. I had multiple people suggest that I start using a day planner to set up my days so that I'm not just sitting around not sure of how to spend my time. It's been really refreshing to be able to write down my plans and organize my days so that I am more productive. I like the idea of having a hard copy of my calendar because using my phone doesn't help me and I often forget what I've put into my calendar. I think this was around $8 to $10 and it comes with monthly and weekly calendars, contact sections, and notes sections. This will definitely come in handy when school starts again too.
Lemon bars! I've made 4 batches in the last week so clearly I have an unhealthy obsession. I made a test batch and didn't like them and then I found the best recipe ever. Mel's Kitchen Cafe is where I found the perfect lemon bar recipe that I will use for the rest of my life. The recipe is pretty straight forward and will only take about an hour to prepare and it is totally worth it. And most of the ingredients are things people normally have in their house anyways!
I love this show. Why does the UK have so many great shows that I can't watch here in the US? So unfair. Once again Tumblr was how I found out about this show. I kept seeing photos and GIFs then finally someone posted a link to all of season one and the first episode of season two and I watched them all in one night. It's nice being able to relate to a show that doesn't have famous actors and actresses done up in makeup and hair and living some unrealistic life. The show will make you laugh a lot, cry and at times make you want to throw the remote at the screen. I hope they continue to create more seasons and become easily available to people in the US.
My sister told me about how every girl in our town was using some great mascara and how it was making all of their eyelashes super long. This is the Loreal Voluminous® Butterfly Mascara. My sister went out and bought it and I tried it out and instantly fell in love with it. It lengthens your lashes but doesn't clump them or make them spidery. I often use this mascara first before layering on two different mascaras. It is the perfect base. The only issue I have is if you don't wipe off excess product before applying it it will clam your lashes together and it's a bit of a pain to remove the clump. But as long as you remember to do that you're good to go! I bought this at Target for $8.
I used to use this Shea Moisture coconut & hibiscus body wash all of the time in the fall but once it ran out I just never repurchased it until this month. My skin had not been doing well for multiple reasons at the beginning of this year. It's probably rained twice in the last 3 months so it's been extremely dry out here in California. I noticed my skin was rough, dry and ashy in some parts and I knew right away I had to start taking care of my skin better. I bought this at Target and lucky for me it was buy one get one 50% off so I bought two of them. The original price was about $10 each and a little goes a long way. You only need a quarter shape amount on a loofa or your hand because it lathers up like crazy. My skin has been feeling and looking so much better thanks to this body wash and the lotion I'm about to talk about.
Another skin favorite. I bought this back at the end of November as a recommendation from a girl I went to school with. My hands were taking a beating from washing them so much throughout the day and then using my hands in flour and hot water and soap. I bought this Hempz Original Herbal Body Moisturizer from Ulta for $23 and I have been in love with it since the day I bought it. It smells so delicious, it's sweet smelling but not perfumey which is what I needed. I apply this right after I shower to my hands, legs, and arms and it makes my skin feel so moisturized but not oily. I use this every day and it is something that I would re-purchase over and over again.
I love greek yogurt. I wasn't a big fan of yogurt when I was growing up because I hated and still hate chunks of fruit in my food. And then when I was in junior high I found out I was lactose-intolerant and I stopped eating anything dairy all together, except ice cream. Who can say no to ice cream? Anyways, I was taking a food and nutrition class at school and learned that some people who are lactose-intolerant can eat greek yogurt! So I went out and bought some and have been eating it for almost 2 years now with no side effects. I was eating the Dannon Oikos vanilla non-fat greek yogurt for the longest time until this month. I became obsessed with key lime and lemon and I saw that they had those flavors in the traditional style so I tried those out. Again, I love this yogurt. It's really thick and creamy and it doesn't have an artificial or overly sweet lemon taste. It's nice to snack on when you crave something sweet! I usually buy these from the grocery store but only when they're on sale for $1 or less.
My last obsession for the month is listening to white noise when I go to bed at night. But not just any white noise, I listen to the sound of rain. I had been having a lot of trouble falling asleep at night. I wasn't going to bed until 2 or 2:30am and once in bed I was constantly getting up and moving around the house because I felt so restless. My doctor recommended I listen to white noise and focus on my breathing and it's been helping me out so much. It makes me so relaxed and it's all I focus on. This video is 10 hours long too so you get an entire nights sleep to the sound of rain. I usually play this on my laptop and put the screen on black and the noise level as low as it can go or on my phone on the lowest volume. Each time I listen to it my phone or laptop only plays for 30-60 minutes but by that time I'm fast asleep. If you have any difficulty sleeping or relaxing in bed I would try this out!
♡
I wanted to end this post with an important thing I've learned this month. And what I've learned is it is okay to ask for help. I know that sounds silly or simple but it's something I've never liked doing. In elementary school I refused to ask for help because I thought it meant I was stupid. Instead I would do whatever I could to figure out things on my own and sometimes I never found out the right way to do things. This carried on into junior high and high school and into college as well. I started asking for help in culinary school so I could get everything I wanted out of class. I did not want to be wrong. And sometimes I thought I knew the answer but I still asked so that I was entirely sure. And I made mistakes in class but I always asked why and received help when I needed it.
I've always embraced my independence. I always tell myself I need to be able to do or say things because if I won't do or say these things for myself then who will? I love being independent and I dislike being dependent. But I had no choice in January because I had surgery that resulted in me not being able to do much except eat, sleep, walk around and go to the bathroom. And that was frustrating. It was beyond frustrating. I disliked it all. And I had to ask for help for almost everything I did. And at first I fought it, I was determined to not ask for help. But I ultimately told myself I needed help and it was okay to ask. And now I don't feel bad or stupid or annoying when I ask for help. I feel like I'm being mature and responsible for being able to step back and look at a situation and say, "I need to ask for help" or "I can't do this on my own". Being able to ask for help has made life a lot less stressful and I feel like I've learned so much more than if I had just kept my questions to myself. And the other important thing to remember is that there are people in life who want to help and don't mind helping. Your family and friends and teachers like to help. There is no shame in asking for help. It took almost all of the stress and pressure I had placed on myself off. Here are two quotes about asking for help that I love:
"Asking for help does not mean that we are weak or incompetent. It usually indicates an advanced level of honesty and intelligence.”- Anne Wilson Schaef
“The strong individual is the one who asks for help when he needs it.”- Rona Barrett
