Mint Cheesecake with Chocolate Chip

I made this awhile back, so I'm afraid I lost the picture for it. It was such a good photo too! Anyway, as St. Patrick's Day is coming up, I thought I'd get my green on with mint cheesecake. Mint and chocolate are just the perfect combination for desserts.

Also, whose pumped for the Flash coming back this Tuesday?! I'm not really a big TV person, but the Flash has gotten me hooked, and I am so excited to find out what happens next with the time travel.

"Drink the Night Away" by Gaelic Storm

Ingredients

Crust
30 fudge mint cookies, crushed (1 3/4 cups)
2 tbsp butter, melted

Filling
4 oz semisweet baking chocolate
3 8 oz packages of cream cheese
1 cup sugar
4 eggs
1/3 cup creme de menth (substitute 1/2 tsp of peppermint extract)

Directions

Heat oven to 300°F. Wrap foil around bottom and side of ungreased 9-inch springform pan. In large bowl, mix crust ingredients with fork until crumbly. Press in bottom and 1 inch up side of pan. Bake 12 minutes. Cool 30 minutes.

In small microwavable bowl, microwave chocolate on High 45 to 60 seconds, stirring once halfway through microwaving, until melted. If necessary, continue to microwave on High in 15-second increments, stirring until smooth. Set aside.

In large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar with electric mixer on medium speed, scraping bowl frequently, until smooth and creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until smooth after each addition. Stir in liqueur. Pour filling evenly over crust.

Drop 8 to 10 tablespoonfuls melted chocolate randomly onto filling, allowing chocolate to sink into filling. With table knife or small spatula, cut through chocolate and filling to swirl for marbled design.

Bake 1 hour 10 minutes to 1 hour 20 minutes or until set 2 inches from edge of pan. Remove from oven; run knife around side of cheesecake to loosen. Return to oven; turn oven off and open door slightly. Cool cheesecake in oven 1 hour. Remove from oven to cooling rack; cool at room temperature 1 hour. Refrigerate 3 hours. To serve, remove side of pan.

OPTIONAL: Spoon whipped cream into decorating bag with large star tip; squeeze bag to pipe cream around top edge of cheesecake. Garnish with Andes mints.

Cucumber-Watermelon Salad

 

Simple and good. The perfect combination of sweet and tart.

If you're looking for a recipe to help you cool off, you've found it.

The watermelon and lemon juice combined with the cucumber and mint make a perfect flavor. 

 

"West Coast Friendship" Owl City

Ingredients:

1 medium cucumber, peeled and diced

2 cups of watermelon, cubed

2 tbsp. lemon juice

fresh mint leaves 

Directions: 

Combine ingredients.

Chocolate Whoopie Pies with Peppermint Filling

Just a warning - these things are addictive!

I've already had oatmeal cookies, a blowpop

 (not a sucker- no sucking forces in nature),

and I still have had two!

There just too good!

On a more personal note, I've had the best day ever!

I aced a history in-class essay on my favorite subject!

 (2nd industrial rev and strikes)

I translated Vergil and Caesar to perfection on my Latin test.

And to top it off the big finale (drumroll please!)

I got a 5/5 on a reaction quiz for the first time in chem!

I've also heard some of the best Valentine's Day wishes involving puns.

I've had my ion you!

If you're still looking for a Valentine card, check out Sierra Club's ecards.

Vance Joy "Riptide"

This is from One Girl Cookies by Dawn Casale and David Crofton. (Great book check it out!)

Ingredients:

Whoopie Pies

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon table salt
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 3 large eggs

Filling

• 4 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups confectioners' sugar, plus more if needed
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Whoopie Pies

         In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.

         In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the granulated sugar, brown sugar, yogurt, oil, eggs, and vanilla for 3 minutes on medium speed. Thoroughly scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. With the mixer running on low speed, gradually add the flour mixture for a total mixing time of 30 seconds. Carefully scrape down the bowl. Refrigerate the batter for 30 minutes.

         Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

         Using a pastry bag fitted with a large plain tip (the hole should be about as large as the tip of your ring finder), pipe 2-inch diameter circles onto the prepared baking sheet, leaving 1 1/2 inches between them. Be careful to keep your pastry bag comletely vertical to achieve nice circles. 

         Immediately put the baking sheet in the oven. Bake for 9 minutes, without rotating the baking sheet, until the whoopie pies spring back when touched. Let the whoopie pies cool completely.

          To fill the whoopies, turn half of them over so that they are bottom-side up. Using a pastry bag, pipe a small dollop of peppermint filling onto each whoopie bottom. Top with the remaining whoopies

Filling

         In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the creamcheese and butter on medium speed until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Add the peppermint and salt, and mix for 30 seconds on low speed

         With the mixer running on low speed gradually add the confectioners' sugar and then beat for 1 minute. Scrpae down the bowl. If the filling is too soft to hold its shape, add more confectioners' sugar, a tablespoon at a time, until you reach the desired consistency.

        Store in the refrigerator, in an airtight container with plastic wrap pressed onto the surface fo the filling, for up to 5 days.