Posted By Lindsay on November 21, 2011
Goat cheese cheesecake. I mean, why not, really? Cream cheese and goat cheese aren’t all that different. I think, when I first envisioned a goat cheesecake I really intended something like this, not the savory tastes-like-a-cheese-dip version I actually made. Lesson learned. Because this version is as tangy and sweet as it is rustic and beautiful.
I was originally going to do a strawberry basil flavor combination (yes, yes, months later I’ve still got basil on the brain), but after tasting the heavenly almond biscotti (from Trader Joe’s) that I chose to use for the crust, I decided that the basil flavor would be lost in the midst. And that strawberry almond was equally as enticing.
The filling itself is a swirl of plain almond and strawberry. Just a word of warning that baked strawberry does not stay delightfully pink, rather, turns more of an off shade of mauve. If you want pink (and next time, I think the pink would be much prettier), add a few drops of red food coloring to the strawberry batter.
The strawberry flavor, however, comes through loud and clear, tasting like a grown up strawberry milkshake with hints of almond and a slight tang from the goat cheese; however goat cheese skeptics just know that it is very mild and I doubt anyone would guess there was goat cheese in it if they didn’t know. Try it. I think you’ll like it and it might just convert you to the light side.
Strawberry Almond Goat Cheese Cheesecake
Yield: 1 9-inch cheesecake
Total Time: 12 hours
Ingredients:
For Crust:
2 cups finely ground almond biscotti (from about 8 ounces whole cookies), or substitute 1 3/4 cup vanilla wafer crumbs and 1/4 cup almond meal
1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted
For Filling:
12 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
11 ounces (1 log) goat cheese, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup sour cream
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
pinch salt
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
10 ounces whole fresh or frozen strawberries, thawed and drained if frozen
Directions:
Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
To prepare crust, mix together cookie crumbs and melted butter in a small bowl until evenly moistened. Butter and line the bottom of a 9-by-2-inch deep cake pan with parchment paper; butter parchment (alternatively, you can use a 9-inch-round springform pan if you like). Press crumb mixture into the bottom and 1-inch up the sides of prepared pan and set aside.
To prepare filling, combine cream cheese, goat cheese, sugar, and sour cream, flour, and salt in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until completely smooth and creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, pulsing once or twice after each addition until just incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl to make sure there are no large chunks and that all ingredients are incorporated. Stir in vanilla and almond extract.
Pour half of the filling into prepared crust.
Purée strawberries until smooth. Add to remaining filling in food processor and pulse to combine. Pour on top of plain filling in a decorative swirly pattern. Use a butter knife or skewer to create additional swirls in the top of the cheesecake.
Bake for 55 to 65 minutes or until the top is just barely jiggly. Remove from oven and run a thin knife or spatula around the edge to release the cake from the sides of the pan. Turn off the heat and return cake to the oven for another 15 minutes to finish baking. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack; let cool completely to room temperature, then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
In the mood for your own holiday baking? Goat cheese or not, you’ll need supplies. Lucky for you, Chavrie® has so generously provided a beautiful Holiday Baking Gift Set to one L&OO reader, which includes the gorgeous white Crate & Barrel sweets pedestal pictured above, as well as a set of C&B white nesting mixing bowls, magnetic measuring cups and spoons. AND a whole bunch of free goat cheese, recipes, coupons, and more!
****GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED!****
Congrats to comment #14, Vivek, who was randomly selected as the winner!
To Enter:
Simply leave a comment on this post with the answer to this question:
How would you use goat cheese this holiday season?
Entries open through Friday, November 25 at 11:59 CST. I’ll be selecting the winner via random number generator on the morning of Saturday, November 26th. Prize will be shipped directly to the winner by Chevre®. Because of the perishable nature of this prize this giveaway is open to U.S. Residents ONLY.
Want Extra Entries?
Increase your odds of winning! In addition to the main entry comment, leave a separate comment for each bonus entry.
1. Follow @loveandoliveoil on twitter and tweet the following:
I just entered to win a holiday baking gift set from @loveandoliveoil and @chavrie! Enter here: http://bit.ly/s6BsJS
2. Like Love & Olive Oil on Facebook (or if you are already a fan just say so!)
Be sure you enter a valid email address, because if your name is drawn and I can’t get a hold of you within 48 hours, I will choose an alternate winner. You may also want to add me to your address book (lindsay AT loveandoliveoil DOT com), as I’d hate for your congratulatory email to end up in the spam folder.
The fine print: No purchase necessary. Giveaway open to US residents only. Void where prohibited. I was provided with an identical gift set and cheese by Chavrie®, however all opinions written are purely my own.
Posted By Lindsay on November 13, 2011
I really love making cakes. I jump at any celebration or occasion that calls for cake. Which makes the fact that most of our family lives on the other side of the country rather hard: I see it as a lot of birthdays and missed opportunities for cake. Sure you can mail cards and gifts, but cake? Not so much.
So when my parents happened to be in town for a visit on my Dad’s birthday, well, let’s just say I’ve been planning this cake since July.
I told you I like cake.
The cake itself is a chocolate stout cake, made using an entire bottle of stout beer. But even the beer-adverse (myself included) will love this cake, which has a slight hint of malty flavor, but mostly just comes across as rich, chocolatey, and incredibly dense and delicious, almost brownie-like.
I elected to add a layer of gooey dulce de leche in between the buttercream, hoping to accent the caramel notes in the beer and provide a rich contrast to the chocolate and vanilla. It worked. And my Dad commented that the dulce de leche really elevated the cake to extraordinary heights (well, to be fair, his precise words were more like, “Is this dulce de leche? It really… mmmm… nomnomnom… yeah”). Yep. I agree.
This is one cake where the outside is as charming as the inside is delightful. Frosted with green buttercream turf, and topped with an edible golf ball made of white chocolate. The hole is actually a shot glass sunk deep into the layers of the cake. It’s a novelty theme cake that’s cute and classy without being kitschy.
It went over quite well. I mean, how could it not? It incorporates beer and golf, two of his favorite things, together in one cake. The only way it made sense, really, since a grass-flavored cake in the shape of a beer bottle wouldn’t have been nearly as appealing.
Chocolate Stout Cake with Dulce de Leche and Vanilla Bean Buttercream
Yield: 1 8-inch layer cake
Ingredients:
For Cake:
1 1/2 cups (1 bottle) stout or dark beer
1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, cut into cubes
1 cup dark or dutch-process cocoa powder, sifted
3 cups all-purpose flour
3 cups granulated sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs, at room temperature
2/3 cup sour cream, at room temperature
For Filling & Frosting:
2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter, softened and cut into cubes
3 3/4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 vanilla bean, scraped
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
pinch of salt
3/4 cup dulce de leche, room temperature
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter three 8-inch round cake pans or two 9-inch round cake pans. Line bottoms with parchment paper circles, then butter parchment. Set aside.
Place the stout and butter in a large, heavy saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally until the butter melts. Remove from the heat, and whisk in the sifted cocoa powder until smooth. Pour into a heatproof bowl and let cool.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the eggs and sour cream on medium speed until smooth, about 3 minutes. Pour in the cooled cocoa mixture, and mix on medium speed until combined, about 1 minute.
Slowly add the dry ingredients, a little bit at a time, and mix on low speed until incorporated, scraping the sides and bottom of bowl to be sure that all the dry ingredients are incorporated.
Divide batter evenly among prepared pans, using a kitchen scale if possible to be sure the layers are even. Place cake pans on middle oven rack about 2? apart (if using three pans space over two racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven), and bake until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, about 35 to 40 minutes.
Remove from oven and place on a wire rack until cool enough to handle. Run a small knife around the edges of each pan, then gently invert onto wire racks. Cakes should come out cleanly. Allow to cool completely. At this point, the cakes can be frozen until ready to use, up to 1 month. Simply wrap each layer individually in a double layer of plastic wrap and then store inside a large zip top bag. Personally, I always make my cakes a few days in advance and freeze them. I find the frozen cake to be much easier to level and frost than fresh cakes.
To prepare frosting, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter for on medium speed until very pale & creamy, about 8 minutes. Add powdered sugar, a little at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add cream, vanilla bean, and vanilla extract and beat until light, creamy, and fluffy, about 6 minutes more.
To assemble, level each cake layer by cutting of the domed top with a long serrated knife. Leveling the cakes is an important step for creating a beautiful layer cake. Not to mention eating the scraps is the best part.
Place one layer, flat side down, on a cake stand or serving platter. To keep the platter clean while frosting, place 4 small strips of parchment or waxed paper just under the edges of the cake. This will allow you to frost the cake and then remove these strips cleanly later.
Spread half of the dulce de leche evenly over top of layer, followed approximately 1/2 cup of buttercream. Position second layer on top and press to adhere. Repeat with remaining dulce de leche, another 1/2 cup of buttercream, and final cake layer, flat side up.
Cover the entire cake with a thin layer of buttercream. This "crumb coat" will make frosting the cake easier. Refrigerate for about 15 minutes to allow this crumb coat to set. At this point if you will be coloring the remaining buttercream, add your food coloring to the mixing bowl and beat until color is smooth and uniform.
Remove cake from refrigerator and frost with remaining buttercream, reserving some if necessary for piping decorative details or grass if desired.
Posted By Lindsay on November 7, 2011
This was an interesting one, that’s for sure. I’m not sure why it caught my eye to begin with, it’s definitely not a recipe I’d typically pick out of a lineup. But I saw the words fennel and pine-nut and kind of got excited. It sounded… I don’t know, fancy. Don’t tell me warm pine nut dressing doesn’t sound like something special?
I admit, I had my doubts. Mainly the fact that the main ingredient in the dressing is porcini mushroom juice, the pungent liquid left over after rehydrating dried mushrooms. It does not smell good. But somehow, it all came together, stinky mushroom juice and all.
I particularly liked the fennel puree, which could serve as a substitute for mashed potatoes in just about any situation. Though I am always slightly disappointed that the fennel flavor almost always cooks out, it’s never as potent as I would’ve liked. Maybe next time I’ll add in some fennel seeds at the end to really bring that flavor to the forefront.
Trout with Warm Pine-Nut Dressing and Fennel Puree
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients:
1 medium fennel bulb, cut into thin wedges
6 garlic cloves, peeled
1/4 cup plus 2 teaspoons canola oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup dried porcini mushrooms (about 1/4 ounce)
1/2 cup boiling water
1/4 cup pine nuts, preferably Italian
1 1/2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
4 trout fillets, about 4 ounces each, pin bones removed
2 ounces mesclun or baby spinach
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 425ºF. Arrange the fennel wedges and 5 of the garlic cloves on a 12-inch sheet of foil and drizzle with 1 tablespoon of the canola oil. Fold the foil into a packet and roast for about 45 minutes, until the packet is sizzling and the fennel and garlic are tender. Transfer the fennel and garlic to a food processor and puree until smooth; season with salt and pepper.
Meanwhile, in a microwave-safe container, combine the dried porcini with the boiling water. Microwave on high power for 2 minutes, until the porcini are plumped. In a medium skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil. Add the pine nuts and the remaining 1 clove of garlic and cook over moderate heat until the nuts are golden, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and strain the porcini liquid into the skillet, stopping before you reach the grit at the bottom. (Reserve the porcini for another use.) Add the balsamic vinegar and simmer over moderate heat until the liquid is reduced to 2 tablespoons, about 5 minutes; discard the garlic. Add 2 tablespoons of the oil and season the dressing with salt and pepper.
Heat the remaining 2 teaspoons of oil in a large nonstick skillet. Season the trout fillets with salt and pepper. Add one fillet at a time to the skillet, skin side down; press with a spatula to flatten for 30 seconds. Repeat with the remaining fillets until the pan is full. Cook over moderately high heat until the trout is browned on the bottom and nearly cooked through, about 3 minutes. Flip the fish and cook for 30 seconds longer.
Spread the fennel puree on plates and top with the trout. Drizzle half of the dressing on top. Add the greens to the remaining dressing in the skillet and toss to coat. Mound the greens on the fish and serve.
Posted By Lindsay on November 4, 2011
Shipping cookies is not like shipping books or other gifts. Cookies require a bit more care and thought. And seeing as the 1st Annual Food Blogger Cookie Swap (psst! Have YOU signed up yet?!) is turning into something epic, I thought I’d offer a few tips and suggestions for getting your cookies to their final destination in one delicious piece.
Choose your recipe. Of course, shipping cookies starts with, well, the cookies. Not every cookie is suited to shipping (that means that no matter how good they are, your delicate little tuiles are probably not the best choice). Choose a cookie that is sturdy to begin with and you’re well on your way.
Have cookies will travel. Additionally, depending on how far your cookies have to travel, consider choosing a recipe that tastes just as good 3, 5, or even 7 days later. Cookies may dry out during the journey, which makes things like biscotti or gingerbread perfect candidates. Softer cookies should be packaged in airtight bags or containers to preserve as much moisture as possible. While express shipping is obviously a bit excessive, choosing USPS Priority Mail (over, say, parcel post), will give your recipient a few extra days of freshness.
Of course, baking your cookies is just the beginning, you still have to find suitable packaging.
Pack it right. Choose a container for your cookies. Again, an airtight container is probably going to be preferable as it will preserve moisture. That’s not to say you can’t put your cookies in an airtight bag first and then inside a cute gift box or tin. Last year, for example, I mailed my holiday cookies in gloss white gift boxes. Inside, the cookies were sealed inside polka dot cello bags, with layers of waxed paper separating the cookies and also crumpled into the empty spaces in the corners.
Pack it tight. Pack your cookies carefully inside your chosen container. Whether that means layering parchment or waxed paper between them so the cookies don’t stick together (if they are frosted, for example), or bagging them individually, or arranging them just right so they don’t shift in transit. Just be sure that whatever materials are touching the cookies are food safe (so that neon green tissue paper is better used to package grandma’s new socks).
Get creative. Gift boxes, cookie tins, treat bags, mason jars, baking pans, mailing tubes… they all will hold cookies. But ultimately what matters is the safety and well-being of your cookies. And whether that means a plain old plastic container or an elaborate decorated gift box, as long as the cookies arrive in one piece, you’ve succeeded. That’s what’s really important.
Box it up. Choose a sturdy corrugated shipping box that allows for 2 to 3 inches of padding on all sides. This will give your cookies another layer of protection. My white boxes were just the right size to fit inside a 7x7x7 Priority Mail box padded with a double layer of bubble wrap (bubbles on the outside, always!). Packing peanuts, crumpled newspaper, even (unbuttered) airpopped popcorn are all suitable padding materials.
The USPS offers free shipping boxes for Priority Mail. Consider the 7×7 cube box, shoe box, or medium flat rate box. For heavier cookies going across country, the flat rate box may be the most efficient solution as you could fill it with 2lbs of cookies or 30lbs of lead and it’d still cost the same to send. Depending on where your recipients are located you may want to price the cost beforehand, the flat rate box isn’t always cheaper, especially if the recipient is in your general region. You can calculate shipping costs and even print labels online directly from the USPS website.
It may be worth pricing UPS/Fedex as well. For heavier boxes it may be cheaper than the USPS. Though do pay attention to transit times as Ground shipments can often take 5 days to get there, compared to the average 2-3 days for USPS Priority Mail. Do note that PO boxes and APO address will not accept UPS/Fedex and will need to be shipped USPS.
Supply Resources & Ideas:
Share Your Tips & Ideas!
For those of you out there who have shipped cookies before, what tips can you offer? What creative packing solutions have you come across? Please share!
If you haven’t already, be sure to sign up for the Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap! We’re accepting signups through November 15th, and we’ve already got 450 food bloggers on board. That’s a heck of a lot of cookies! Check out the original post for more details
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