It’s been a while since I’ve made a post on the food/dessert I’ve been cooking and making… and I’ve been re-inspired by one of my new friends, Amy, and a long-time uni friend, Sandy… both of whom have been cooking up some delicious concoctions on their blogs. If you’ve missed my other food posts and recipes, just click here to go back and read them!

When I was younger, I looked forward to birthdays and special occasions almost solely because of my mom’s tiramisu. Now — this is no normal tiramisu. For those of you hardcore tiramisu lovers who are into the traditional dessert, this is not for you. However, if you’re like me… and you love cheesecake, but you also kinda like tiramisu… this is the recipe for you.

It’s fluffy, rich, cheesy, not-to-sweet, and yes, chocolatey with coffee aromas and flavours. And of course a little booze thrown in for good measure. This is my mom’s secret recipe… she’s been making it for ages, and I’ve gotten her to cough it up a few years ago and have been making it every few months since then. I’ve changed it up a bit by adding more vanilla and different liqueurs.

Mom’s Secret Delicious Best Tiramisu Cheesecake Recipe

2 8-oz packages light/fat free sour cream
2 8-oz packages cream cheese
2/3 cup sugar (I like to put in half of this because I don’t like it too sweet)
3 Tablespoons milk
1-3 teaspoons vanilla (to taste)
1/2 cup strong coffee (preferably freshly brewed, or you can get it from Starbucks or Timmy’s)
2 Tbsp Kahlua
1 Tbsp coffee liqueur (optional, such as Van Gogh Espresso)
1 Tbsp creme de cacao/chocolate liqueur (optional!)
3 boxes of ladyfingers (biscuits, you can find these at Whole Foods or an Italian bakery… some grocery stores carry these, usually in the cookie aisle)
Semi-sweet or bittersweet good quality dark chocolate for shaving

1. Combine the sour cream, cream cheese, sugar, milk, and one teaspoon of vanilla in a large bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on high until smooth and airy. Taste the mixture to make sure you like it. Adjust sweetness accordingly.

2. Combine the coffee, Kahlua, coffee/chocolate liqueurs (optional), and 1-2 teaspoons of vanilla (to taste) in a small cup. Have a tiny taste and adjust accordingly. Add more coffee and coffee liqueur if you like more of a coffee flavour. Add more vanilla and chocolate liqueur if you like more of a sweet chocolately flavour.

3. If you have large lady fingers, split them in half. If you have small ones, then simply shave off the non-sugared side with a knife. Layer these in a dish cut-side up. Use a pastry brush or just spoon the coffee mixture on to the ladyfingers.

4. Smooth a third of the cream cheese mixture on top of the ladyfingers, and flatten.

5. Keep repeating until gone, layering the ladyfingers, brushing with coffee mixture, and layering the cream cheese mixture. Typically I end up with three layers of ladyfingers and 3 layers of cream cheese, with the cream cheese mixture at the very top.

6. Using a grater or similar tool, shave the chocolate over generously to cover. Cover with saran wrap, and make sure you refrigerate for at least 12 hours, preferably 24 hours.

ENJOY!

A lot of baking (and cooking) happened over the holidays… and I’m just trying to catch up now with my posts.

Croissants are my favourite item to buy from the bakery. Cheese croissants heated up a little, fresh chocolate croissants… buttery, flaky… so good! I didn’t have a recipe on hand from anyone that I knew, and none of my cookbooks really covered it at all. I did a search online but was pretty unsatisfied. I finally found one that looked like it would work (and altered the steps a bit, added fillings etc), and I set out on a baking mission. I knew it wouldn’t be easy!

Note: You will get dirty. It’s a lot of work. You will need 2 days. Also — you will need a scale for this recipe. I know it seems like a pain, but once you have one you won’t be able to live without it. Baking is a million times more accurate by weight, as the volume of flour and other ingredients changes depending on the season, humidity and your room temperature, etc. You can pick up a scale for $10 at any cooking store, or you can splurge $30-80 on a digital one.

Here’s the recipe and photos of my steps:

Stuffed Golden Flaky Croissant Recipe

350g unsalted butter
50g icing sugar
30g sunflower oil (I buy mine from Gourmet Warehouse/Whole Foods. You can also sub for olive oil here)
7g salt
2 large eggs
42g FRESH yeast (this is important! You can find fresh yeast at most bakeries or at Granville Island)
200mL milk (2%)
500g all-purpose flour
An additional egg yolk to brush the croissants and different fillings such as cheese, chocolate, fruit, etc.

1. Cover your working surface with parchment paper. Knead down the butter by hand until it is relatively flat. Then fold the parchment paper over and use a rolling pin to get the block to be very rectangular. Use a measuring tape or ruler and try to get the butter block to 8.5×6.3 inches and about 1 cm thick. Place the block in the fridge to chill no longer than 30 minutes.

2. Now make the dough. In a mixing bowl, dissolve the yeast in slightly warm milk and then combine with the sugar, eggs, oil, flour and salt. Mix gently and then knead very lightly.

3. Form a rectangle with the dough that is double the size of the butter block (approximately 19 inches by 13 inches). Place the chilled butter in the middle and then fold the dough over the butter. Do not stretch. It’s really important that the sides are covered with enough dough, as if it gets to thin, the butter will ooze out when you are doing all the folding. Carefully press the edges together and seal in the butter. Make sure all air as been released by pressing on the dough.

4. Roll the dough package with a rolling pin (dust the outsides with flour), turning the dough over occasionally to keep the edges event. Try not to let the the dough get so thin that the butter squeezes out. Continue until it is very thin, about  1 cm thick or as thin as you can get it.

5. Now start folding the dough. The folds of the dough are what make the croissants so flaky… so the more folds you do, the flakier the croissant is and the more it will puff up! Fold the dough into thirds (like a letter). Now rotate the other way and do the folds again. Now cover with foil or saran wrap and chill for 30 minutes.

6. Do several more folds (I did about 6, but 2 or 3 should suffice) and then cover and chill overnight.

7. The next day, cut the dough in half and roll out to about 3mm thick. Cut in pointed triangles and fill with different stuffings… I used cheese blocks and some nice bittersweet chocolate… don’t put the fillings too close to the edge or they will ooze out while baking.

8. Start forming the croissant crescents by rolling the shortest side up to the tip of the triangle. You will want to roll these VERY tightly. Press together all the sides and make sure they are sticking while together. When placing on the baking sheet covered with parchment paper, make sure to put the tip of the triangle underneath the croissant so that it cannot fold out. If you do not wrap the croissants taut enough, they will unroll while baking (as I learned from experience… it was a disaster). So make sure to stick them well together

9.  Brush the croissants VERY lightly with egg yolk… if you like your croissants darker, brush more egg yolk. Let rise for 15 minutes.

10. Bake in pre-heated oven (355 degrees F) for 15-25 minutes until golden brown.

And that’s it! Here’s a photo of my croissant torn apart while I was eating it so you can see the flakiness They tasted SO good… just as good as bakery if not better, but I wish they looked a bit better. Rolling the dough a bit thinner and rolling the crescents more tightly would fix that next time I think. I also would drizzle chocolate over the chocolate croissants if I had a bit more time!

Cheesy Tomato Basil and Green Onion Savoury Scones Recipe plus Cranberry Breakfast Scones Recipe

I will post the recipe in the comments to save space. These scones were a huge hit on Christmas morning. So savoury! I split the mixture into half to make two different kinds of scones… but in retrospect I would just make the cheese scones again. So good!

Parmesan, cheddar cheese, cherry tomatoes, basil, green onions… mmm! What more could you want in a savoury scone?

Dried cranberries and a little sugar added for some sweeter breakfast scones.

The finished result!

What do you think? Let me know if you have any questions