Day off baking
I have the day off, and couldn’t stand just sitting around doing nothing, and I was going through some bookmarked pages and decided to make some cheese crackers and red velvet cheesecake. I found the cracker recipe a while ago and the red velvet cheesecake recipe after making the cookie dough cheesecake. It’s another baked cheesecake and I want to keep trying to get better at them, because I never seem to be able to bake them correctly. I’m not sure how its going, it hasn’t been in the oven for more than 20 mins, so we’ll see (finger’s crossed!)
The crackers are a little spicy, I think the red pepper flakes need to be scaled down, but next time I can do that. I also didn’t roll them out flat enough, so some of them are a little soft, but still very good.
Cheese Crackers
(originally from http://kathdedon.wordpress.com/2010/09/10/melt-in-your-mouth-homemade-cheese-crackers/ )
1½ cups (6 oz) grated extra-sharp Cheddar cheese
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened and cut into pieces
¾ cup (90 g) flour, plus more for dusting
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon milk
- Preheat the oven to 350.
- Put everything into the food processor except the milk. Pulse until the dough is coarse crumbs.
- Add the milk and and process until the dough gathers into a ball.
- Roll the dough so it is 1/8 in thick. Cut into squares and poke a hole in each one with a skewer. Place them on a cookie sheet and bake 12-15 mins until they are just starting to brown. Remove from oven and cool completly before removing from sheet.
Red Velvet Cheesecake
(originally from http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/red-velvet-cheesecake-10000001023804/)
1 1/2 cups chocolate graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup whole buttermilk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar
2 (1-ounce) bottles red food coloring
1 (3-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Stir together graham cracker crumbs, melted butter, and 1 tablespoon granulated sugar; press mixture into bottom of a 9-inch springform pan.
- Beat 3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese and 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar at medium-low speed with an electric mixer 1 minute. Add eggs and next 6 ingredients, mixing on low speed just until fully combined. Pour batter into prepared crust.
- Bake at 325° for 10 minutes; reduce heat to 300°, and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until center is firm. Run knife along outer edge of cheesecake. Turn oven off. Let cheesecake stand in oven 30 minutes. Remove cheesecake from oven; cool in pan on a wire rack 30 minutes. Cover and chill 8 hours.
- Beat 1 (3-ounce) package cream cheese and 1/4 cup butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth; gradually add powdered sugar and vanilla, beating until smooth. Spread evenly over top of cheesecake. Remove sides of springform pan.
Ramblings of the Culinary Addicted 
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