Tasting Spoons

Oh, my goodness.

We sat outside in the 40+ temperatures (brrrrrrrr) and had a little snack with a hot latte.

This was, without a doubt, THE most wonderful almond chocolate croissant I’ve ever encountered in my entire life. Crunchy. Flaky. Moist. Almondy. Chocolatey. Oh my. If you’ve never been to Bouchon, get thy self there soon. This one is in Yountville, in the Napa Valley. Next door to the Bouchon restaurant, right on the tiny main street of Yountville at 6534 Washington St.

To tell you the truth, cheesecake isn’t something I order except on very rare occasions. Nor do I make it very often. Usually it’s just too rich for me. Especially if I’ve eaten a big dinner. My daughter, Sara, makes a really good cheesecake, and I enjoy it every time she makes it. She’s quite legendary in her family for her cheesecake. Her husband and his family often request it for family gatherings.

Here’s the batter, thick and silky smooth (the cream cheese, sour cream, etc.)

But, THIS cheesecake I’m sharing with you today, is something altogether different. I must say that this has all the trappings of regular cheesecake. So how come it’s different? Well, you whip up the six egg whites until stiff and fold them into the cheesecake filling. It lightens up the texture considerably. I like this lighter, almost a souffle-like, style. You slice your fork into a bite and it meets little resistance and melts in your mouth. There’s a hint of lemon in it. Maybe next time I ought to add a bit of lemon zest to the filling too. I’ve never seen another cheesecake recipe that uses whipped egg whites. I’ve searched on the internet to try to find the origin of this recipe, but have found nothing. Fine print: whatever you do, don’t go reading the nutrition content of this recipe, or you’ll never make this cheesecake. You’ll get depressed even thinking about it.

Springform pans: I own two. An 8 1/2 inch and a 10 inch. This recipe calls for a 9 inch. What to do? This time I used the smaller one and had enough to make another entire small bowl of cheesecake. Next time I guess I should use the 10 inch form. Definitely I’d need to make more crumbs, however. I already do that as it is, using about 3 cups of graham cracker crumbs in the mixture. And more butter. No additional sugar.

This cheesecake is baked for an hour, then left in the oven for an additional hour (heat turned off) to firm up. Then you remove it to cool further. Having made this several times, I will tell you that it’s absolutely the best, cut and served when it’s still warm. Not hot. Just warm. If you have the time to plan it, serve it that way. You can also make it several hours ahead, then put it back in a low oven for about 15 minutes. You don’t want to dry it out, whatever you do. We invited our Southern California children and the grandchildren to come for dinner last night. To open our gifts and celebrate Christmas with them. I served a ricotta lasagna with marinara sauce, a big green salad with my favorite salad dressing, the VIP dressing, and this cheesecake for dessert.

Folding the egg whites in is a bit of a chore, but lightens up the batter a lot.

It’s poured in the graham cracker crumb crust and topped with toasted almonds. I over toasted the almonds (sheepish grin).

Gourmet Cheesecake
Recipe: came from a friend I met in Oklahoma, about 1974.
Serving Size : 12
1/4 cup blanched almonds — toasted
CRUMB MIXTURE:
2 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
5 tablespoons sugar
6 tablespoons butter
FILLING:
6 whole eggs — separated
1 1/2 pounds cream cheese — softened
1 1/2 cups sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup sugar
8 tablespoons flour — sifted
1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice — fresh
3/4 cup sugar
1. Preheat oven to 325°. Toast almonds first and set aside.
2. Combine graham cracker crumbs, butter and sugar together and press into bottom and up sides of a 9-inch spring form pan, reserving about 3 T for top of cheesecake. Set aside.
3. Mix egg yolks, 3/4 cup sugar, cream cheese, flour, sour cream and lemon juice and beat until smooth.
4. Beat egg whites until frothy, then add 3/4 cup sugar gradually and continue to beat until stiff peaks form. Fold into cheese mixture. Pour into reserved graham cracker shell, spread top to flatten and sprinkle with reserved graham cracker mixture and almonds.
5. Bake for 1 hour, then turn off heat and leave cheesecake in the oven for another hour. Remove to cool. Best when served barely warm from the oven.
Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 577 Calories; 37g Fat (57.6% calories from fat); 11g Protein; 51g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 197mg Cholesterol; 383mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 Grain(Starch); 1 Lean Meat; 0 Fruit; 0 Non-Fat Milk; 7 Fat; 2 Other Carbohydrates.
To print a PDF recipe, click HERE.

Oh, this cookie is a keeper. It’s from a cooking class I took with Tarla Fallgatter. I don’t know where she got the recipe - I didn’t find it on the internet, so perhaps it’s a family favorite of hers. They’re not difficult - but there are a few steps: chilling the dough, rolling into balls and coating with hazelnuts, making depressions in the dough balls, then the chocolate kiss or nonpareil pressed into the hot, just-baked cookie, then letting the tray cool before you remove them from the baking sheet. But they’re really, really GOOD.

You must know by now that I like chocolate. This cookie satisfies fully in that department. Tarla said when she makes these for children, she always uses chocolate kisses (Hershey’s) but for adults, she uses the nonpareils. This batch pictured was done with the latter, half of them with the white up, others down. When you press the candy onto the hot cookie, it slightly melts the chocolate so it sticks to the cookie top. But of course! Add this to your cookie list.

Chocolate Kiss Treasures
Recipe By: Tarla Fallgatter
Servings: 30
4 ounces unsalted butter
2/3 cup sugar
1 whole egg yolk
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup flour
1/3 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 whole egg white — lightly beaten
1/2 cup hazelnuts — finely chopped
30 whole Hershey kisses — or nonpareils
1. Beat together the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add yolk, milk and vanilla and beat in.
2. Mix flour, cocoa and salt together and add just until combined. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill until firm, about 30 minutes.
3. Preheat oven to 350.
4. Roll scant tablespoons of dough into balls, then coat with egg white, letting excess drip off and roll in nuts to coat.
5. Arrange balls as coated, 1 1/2 inches apart on greased baking sheets. Press thumb into center of balls to flatten, leaving a depression. Bake in batches in middle of oven until puffed slightly but centers are still soft, 10-12 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately press Kiss (or nonpareil) into the center of each. Let cool 5 minutes, then transfer to racks to cool.
Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 107 Calories; 6g Fat (53.0% calories from fat); 2g Protein; 11g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 17mg Cholesterol; 26mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1/2 Grain(Starch); 0 Lean Meat; 0 Non-Fat Milk; 1 Fat; 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.

To print a PDF recipe, click HERE.

When I tell you this is yum - easy - simple - quick - believe me. It is all of those things. But the YUM part is what you need to remember. This Rocky Road recipe isn’t all that different from others you may have read. Until a few years ago I’d not had this, but the addition of butterscotch chips and peanut butter gives rocky road a whole different taste. Time? My guess is that making it takes a total of about 10 minutes.

My friend Chris H. gave me this recipe, and she makes it all year around, I think. What it is, is delicious. Great for the holidays. I’m making it especially for my cousin who is gluten intolerant. He enjoys Christmas goodies, but can’t have most of them - like cookies, etc. - because he can’t eat anything with flour in it. Rocky Road has no flour. He’ll be a happy camper. We’ll just have to keep the grandchildren to stay out of it. This will be just for Gary.

Here are the butterscotch and chocolate chips melting together.

And here’s the mixture once it’s smushed into a 9×13 pan, ready for refrigeration.

Rocky Road
Recipe By: Chris H., a friend from church
Serving Size : 24 - 36
12 ounces chocolate chips
12 ounces butterscotch chips
1/2 cup chunky peanut butter
16 ounces miniature marshmallows
1 cup chopped walnuts
1. In a medium saucepan melt the chocolate and butterscotch chips until just creamy. Remove from heat then add peanut butter and stir until thoroughly combined, with no streaks of peanut butter or butterscotch. Allow to cool for about 2-3 minutes.
2. While warm, add the walnuts and marshmallows and stir until combined. Do not allow the marshmallows to melt.
3. Press foil into a 9 x 13 pan and spoon the rocky road into it, press out to fill corners and edges, chill. Keep in refrigerator, although you can put them out at room temperature, but the chocolate definitely melts in your fingers that way!
Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 247 Calories; 10g Fat (35.2% calories from fat); 3g Protein; 39g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 1mg Cholesterol; 42mg Sodium. Exchanges: 0 Grain(Starch); 1/2 Lean Meat; 2 Fat; 2 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.
To print a PDF recipe, click HERE.