Blue ribbon apple pie

2016-03-23 17.45.09

This is one of my favorite desserts and possibly one of my favorite foods. I do think that apple cakes should be a separate food group. I found the recipe in one of Anna Olson’s tutorials; this is a type of pastry I have not made before, a kind of a cross between a rough puff pastry and shortcrust pastry. My small contribution to the recipe was topping it with heart cutouts because… I could. I also adapted the recipe to the Boyfriend’s taste by using only cinnamon as spice and adding a small amount of raisins.

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Cherry swirl cheesecake

cherry-sheesecake

I got rave reviews for this one. Cheesecake, what else would you expect? Along with a few modifications, I made one shortcut with this cake, but I do not think it compromised the quality: instead of making my own cherry mixture, I used store-bought jam. The original recipe is from the BBC goodfood website, and I am including my own modifications here.

There is very little skill needed to execute this recipe, and despite my mention of a KitchenAid, a whisk, a spoon, and a strong hand are all you need in terms of equipment. The one crucial element with all cheesecakes is that you do not shock it with a change in temperature: if you leave the cheesecake to cool in the oven, it will not have any cracks.

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