Come in, sit back, take a bite.. and enjoy!!
Looking for a good and fun idea for a dessert for Father’s day?? Then I have just the treat for you! These hamburger cupcakes are fun to make with or without the kids! They are so adorable you almost won’t want to eat them! Notice I said ALMOST! They are so yummy and if you cook up some sugar cookie french fries they are even better!!
For the recipe click here! I apologize for the photos… I am not that talented but I have come a long way in my short blogging time.
Well when I bought that spring form pan a few weeks ago I only had one thing in mind… MAKE CHEESECAKE! My sister Tiffani shared a recipe with me that she has adapted for cheesecake and she swears by it. I have not made a cheesecake since I helped my mom in like middle school! She must have been making it for mine or Tiffani’s birthday because we both always picked cheesecake for our birthday cake! Any-who it was perfect timing when she called me with that recipe because I had been craving some cheesecake and so was Jason!!
New York Style Cheesecake
For the crust
First things first… as you will see through my mishaps here that… well my sister forgot to tell me that this is really enough for two cheesecakes or 1 cake and then cupcakes! I should have noticed by the measurements being on the larger side but I was just thinking “Well Tiff didn’t say that” and thought maybe it was just going to work out. Now I see that in the future I will have other options but this is more then enough crust and filling for one 9″ pan.
OK so to get started pre-heat your oven to 350. Then you want to butter and flour your spring form pan and set it aside. In a medium bowl, mix graham cracker crumbs with melted butter. Press onto bottom of spring form pan.
I wanted a nice fine crumb and Jason had just bought the Ninja so I thought it was a good time to test it out. So I put mine in there and then….
TADA! now just dump them in a bowl and add the butter. The butter is not an exact science you just add melted butter until you are happy with the texture. I like it just wet enough that when pinched it will hold it’s shape. Once you have the crust as wet as you prefer it press it down into your spring form pan. I used the bottom of a glass to press it in there nice and tight.
In a large bowl, mix cream cheese with sugar until smooth. Stir in milk, and then mix in the eggs one at a time, mixing just enough to incorporate. Mix in sour cream, vanilla extract and bean and flour until smooth. Pour filling into prepared crust.
They say the trick to a good cheesecake that does not crack and is the right texture is making sure you DO NOT OVER MIX the batter. Once you beat together the cream cheese and sugar (until light and fluffy) you do not even need to use a mixer you can do it by hand just until everything is incorporated…
If you have never used a vanilla bean then you want to bend it a little in your hand and then slice down the pod from end to end but not cutting all the way through.
Then with the back side of a butter knife you want to scrap the insides of the pod and get all the beans out. See below. I placed all the beans I got out of the pod on the mixer paddle so you could see it. The brown down below in the batter is the extract.
Once you have incorporated everything being very careful to NOT OVER MIX!!!! You can pour your batter on the crust…
Can you see all those black flecks… those are the vanilla beans… YUM!! Now I can tell you right now you should test the batter. If you had a situation like me I was trying to snap pictures while baking and I already am always a mess but I really had it all over my hands. I tried it and oh my word! You knew at that moment how good this cake was going to be!
Now here is where the light bulb should have gone on for me! LOOK how full this pan is… I kept thinking well maybe cheesecake doesn’t rise? I could not remember…and against my gut instinct I filled the pan this full!!! I then had a hard time banging it on the counter to get the air bubbles out but you need to do that and only fill it 3/4 full!
Save the extra batter and I will show you what you can do with it! It will keep in the fridge for up to a week I think, but I just used mine later that night. And remember you will have more then I do here since you will be smart and not over fill your pan! Because you are a genius!
Make sure you let it cool in the oven with the door closed. It will keep cooking but it will also let it naturally cool instead of going into shock from the oven to the fridge which can cause cracking!!
I had to cook mine too long because the pan was so dang full. Even though it browned like this it still tasted great!
Now with the extra I went ahead and line a cupcake pan with liners… Spray the liners with non stick spray so they are easier to eat later.
I put a heaping tablespoon of crust in each liner and pressed down with a measuring glass…
Then I put about 2 to 2.5 scoops from the “big spoon” in our silverware set. I guess that is close to the size of a tablespoon maybe slightly bigger… Now you can fill them as much as you like. I had paranoia about them rising but because they are on such a smaller scale that did not happen…
See those air bubbles… You need to be sure to bang the pan on the counter but picking it up slightly and dropping it to get all of the bubbles out of the batter and to the top or those bubbles will come out in the form of cracks… if your cups are not too full then you will have no spills and they will look like this….
That hole in the middle cupcake is where I checked it for done-ness (is that a word? It is now!!) The cupcakes were done after about 20 minutes, but be sure you check them incase yours are thicker. I sure hope you guys make this recipe! I think it is kind of great that you get enough for a cake and then a batch or two of cupcakes depending on how thick you make them… it would be great for a party when sometimes you need just a little bit more! Plus who could resist these cute little buggers? NOT anyone who is cool that’s who!
Look at that! I think that is the perfect crust to cake ratio! The crust is my favorite!
Go make this and tell me what you think… and learn from my mistakes friends! Cheesecakes do rise… and you should always trust your instincts!!
Well if you all have never been to Bakerella’s blog then you may have seen these when she was on Martha! Or you may have seen them in her new cook book that is available at here at Amazon! FYI My birthday is days away and I do not own it yet… *hint hint* Well anyway I have been one of her regular stalkers for years now and I attempted cake balls back in the day and I just was not thrilled with the outcome. However, I constantly see the pops and bites posted at Bakerella’s site and see others do it and thing, “hey all these people wouldn’t make them if they were gross and if they can all make them look so cute and pretty then damn it I can too!!” So it was round three with cake balls but this time bites and pops! I must say… I AM SO PROUD OF THESE LITTLE SUCKERS!!! I can already feel an addiction to make these again and again!
I had the perfect excuse to make these too, it is my friend Christie’s birthday today and what better gift then a bouquet of cupcake pops! cuter and tastier then flowers!!
Now I know you guys are going to be a little upset with me because my pictures are not the best quality and I am lacking some on the process but my camera charger has moved out and I cannot seem to find where it has relocated to! If anyone knows there is a reward for anyone who produces it or the information needed to obtain it! That or you can just buy me a Nikon D40 since as I stated earlier that my birthday is in 3 days and it would look so perfect hanging around my neck!!
So all you need to make these is:
Favorite cake recipe or box mix
Favorite frosting, home made or store bought
Candy melts or almond bark
m&m’s and sprinkles for decorating if you want to
I just used what I had which was a Betty Crocker Devil’s Food Cake mix with some fluffy white frosting.
Once you have the cake made cut it into four sections and crumble it in a big bowl.
Now scoop in a couple scoops of your frosting and mix it around until it is the right consistency not too wet but not too crumbly
Now roll the dough into 1.5″ balls and place on a piece of wax paper that is on a cookie sheet.
I also bought this candy mold at Hobby Lobby and I placed a few in the mold for the bites I was going to make that were not on a stick.
Now here is where you are going to to get mad… I don’t have any photos of the dipping process!! Eekkk but rest assured because Bakerella does so just go here and see the steps! I had only two hands and the lighting was terrible so the few pictures I did get of the dipping were more like trying to decode a science project therefore they are not posted!!
All you do is melt your candy melts or almost bark. Dunk the bottom of it in the chocolate or whatever color you want, tap off any excess and turn it upside down on the wax paper. Did the tip of your Lolly pop stick in the chocolate and insert it half way into your ball or cupcake shape. Once dry melt the top color and dip the pop into that color. Then decorate while wet and insert into a Styrofoam block to dry.
For the bites do the same thing just omit the step with the stick!
Yum!! Tastes like a brownie!
Once the pops were done and dried I placed a little treat bag over them and tied with a ribbon to give them a finished look.
I also took the bites and put them in a mini liner and then bagged them up too
They are so cute I almost felt bad eating one! But clearly not that bad!
Pardon the photo overload they are just so cute I can’t stop taking pictures of them!
Take a bite and enjoy
I just love these and I know you will too!! I am already thinking of some Halloween ideas for how to do them again! I am so glad I gave it another shot. I think it really does just get easier with practice and the key is too not over do on the frosting and test the cake before you roll it so it is the right consistency! Which shouldn’t be a problem since it is soooo yummy!!
Hope you all enjoy!
