Birthday Chessecake

In my house it is not a real birthday without a birthday cake. So last Saturday, I was celebrating a good friend's birthday, he is a big fan of cheesecakes so I decided to venture out in making a chocolate marble cheesecake.

The crust was a mixture of 1 1/2 cup grahamcrakers, 1 tbsp sugar, 1/4 cup chopped walnuts and 1/2 cup melted butter.
Mix all the ingredients for the crust together and press it onto the bottom of a spring form pan. You also want to make sure the crust is about 1-2 inch up the edge.
For the batter take 3 packages of cream cheese ( I used 2 package of low fat and one regular) and cream it well in a mixer. You want to make sure that it is room temperature, it just makes it easier to smooth out. Then add 1 cup of sugar, 2 tblsp flour, 1 tsp vanilla and 1/4 cup of milk, I used non fat. Mix it all well. Stir in 3 eggs, one at the time. Divide the filling into two bowls, and add 4 ounces melted semisweet chocolate into one half.

Pour the white filling into the crust, then the chocolate filling.

To create swirls, use a thin metal spatula and gently swirl around the filling.

Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes until edges appears set when gently shaken. Cool completely before serving. I actually made this the evening before, and it worked great.
Since this was a Birthday Cheesecake, it of course need to be decorate with candles and flags. Hip hip Hurra and Enjoy!

Indian Chapati

I really like Indian food and especially the breads that in my mind should accompany each spicy meal, even if you are using knife and fork...
Chapati are a very easy bread to make, because all you need in flour, water and salt. For one batch that made around 6 chapatis I used 1 cup of water, 1 tsp salt and then added enough flour to make a nice dough, around 2 cups.

Since there is no yeast in this dough, it does not need to rise, which again makes it really fast.
Take is small piece, in the size of a walnut and roll it out to a thin circle. You want it fairly thin, like you would a pizza dough.
To bake/fry it place the dough on a dry hot pan. You want to turn as soon as you see small bubbles form. When it pops up, squeze it flat until done.
Keep them warm on a plate under a towel until serving.

I had these together with a nice spicy chicken curry... Highly recommended!

Cinnamon Rolls - My style

With a kitchen Aid stand mixer in the kitchen it has never been easier to make dough. It's so easy and fast. Dissolve the yeast as you would normally on lukewarm milk, add the butter. Beat it together with the dough hook attachment. While miking slowly add the flour and with minutes you are have a great dough! As fast as that!

Let the dough rise in a warm spot in the house, for around 1 hour or until it has doubled in size.


After kneading the dough for around 5 minutes roll it to a big rectangular piece. Instead of the traditional butter and cinnamon mixture, I took 4 tbsp of applesauce, 2 tbsp brown sugar and 2 tsp cinnamon, mixed it together and then spread it evenly on the dough. For a little crunch I sprinkled some chopped walnuts also.
Then you want to roll it together as tightly as possible. And the cut them into the desired thickness, I like to cut them into inch sized pieces. Line them up in a greased baking dish, but not too close, since they do rise a lot.

The applesauce filling worked really well, it was moist and sweet. Definitely I low fat version I would do again.

After baking I drizzled a bit a frosting on them them. I just mixed confectionery sugar and water until a came together in a thick paste. It's simple and adds a great sweet touch to it.

Let them cool of as long as you can wait......

Strawberry Pie

Fruit pie is always a successful dessert in my house and a very easy one too. One of my favorites is strawberry pie.

I start out with a simple pie crust. My recipe is a family recipe, that has been passed down for generations.

Roll out your dough and line a pie dish, depending on the crust you might need to spray the dish. To avoid bubbles on the crust I poke small holes with a fork. Bake it until it's light golden, around 20 minutes at 350.

The filling of the cake besides strawberries is a vanilla custard creme. I made this one of 1 egg, 1 cup of milk, 2 tbsp of cornstarch, 2 tbsp sugar and 1 tsp vanilla. Whish all the ingrediens together and then slowly bring it to a boil. You want to make sure to whisk continuesly, so the custard does not burn. Once it has come to a boil and has the thickness you like, take is of the heat and let it cool.

Once the custard has come to room temperature spoon it onto the baked and cooled pie crust. Then you want to add the fresh strawberries. I like to slice them and line them up nicely, but you can decorate it however you like. Sometimes if the strawberries are small, it looks nice to keep them whole. To finish of the pie I glazed the pie with a clear gelatin glaze. In my opinion it just make a nice finish to the pie, but you can definitely leave that part out.