SMS – Chocolate Peppermint Meringues

Me and meringues apparently don’t get along so well.

On pies, my meringue wants to either set on fire, smoke up my kitchen and become black as night in quite literally 5 seconds after placing it underneath the broiler.

It seems as if my meringue cookies are cursed as well. You see I believe that these were supposed to be chewy and semi-soft… mine were, well here let me show you:

Yah. I think that about says it all! They were HOLLOW! And crunchy. Almost inedible. Almost. And even if you dared to take a bite, you’d end up with crumbles all over the floor, your mouth, hands, shirt and the cat. Not that I’d know anything about that. I’m just assuming……

I think the culprit was that I must have whipped my egg whites for too long. It’s the only thing that I was unsure about. Also, my chocolate ‘powder’ was 50% tiny chocolate chips cus I was too chicken to let the processor stay on for too long for fear of ending up with a gritty form of ganache. So, in turn I have beautifully speckled, hollow meringues. And I’m ok with that.

My second batch did come out a tiiiiiny bit better. I refrigerated the meringue ‘dough’ for 24 hours and baked for a shorter time. They were a bit more chewy but not much different. If there’s a next time, I’d whip less and bake for MUCH less time in the oven.

But all hollowness (and bitterness) aside, they sure do take some pretty pictures.

A thank you goes out to Kelly of Sweetgrass Sensibilities for choosing this recipe, even if it didn’t want to work out for me. Head on over to her blog for the recipe and make sure to stop by the other bakers’ blogs to see what they are supposed to look and taste like.

Up next week: Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Torte.
If this is ANYTHING like the soft chocolate raspberry torte that I’ve already made, I KNOW I will love it. And you will too!

Lemon Cheesecake with Gingersnap Crust

A little while back I made gingersnap cookies that went a bit south for me. They were BEYOND crunchy. And I don’t know which side of the cookie camp you reside on, but I firmly reside in the chewy camp about 90% of the time. BUT they were tasty. I believed that they had another purpose, other than to satisfy my cookie cravings. Cus clearly that wasn’t happening.

And then came my thought of genius: gingersnap cookie crust!! But what to fill it with?? I had to find something that would compliment the gingersnap crust but not overpower it. Something bright and creamy but not too heavy. I was hoping to think outside of the ‘chocolate’ box and then it hit me ‘LEMONS!’ And so the seed of a lemon cheesecake was planted into my brain. To taunt and berate me for the next week.

I (in true Jeannette fashion) didn’t have said lemon glory on hand so I waited, in agony, until I found some delicious lemons worthy of my cheesecake masterpiece!

The crust couldn’t be ANY simpler! I did make a few changes to the cheesecake: I skipped the water bath. The last time I gave my cheesecake a bath, water seeped into my TRIPLE foil lined springform pan to make a soggy mess of my beautiful cheesecake. I didn’t want the headache this time and I decided that I could live with a crack in my cheesecake. I also subbed the marscapone cheese for regular ole cream cheese. I also used the zest of one LARGE lemon, I didn’t measure it but it looked to be more than called for in the recipe. And I’m ok with that.

The cheesecake is creamy, dreamy and perfect (aside from the fact that it sunk in the middle, but I’m ok with that too. It was THAT good!) The crust is lightly sweet and gingery. Overall, a grand success!

Gingersnap Crust:
Adapted from Baking: From My Home to Yours
1 ¾ cups gingersnap cookie crumbs
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/8 tsp cinnamon
Pinch of salt
½ stick of unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly

For the Lemon Cheesecake
Adapted from The Sweet Melissa Baking Book
2 pounds (4 8-ounce packages) cream cheese, softened
1 cup mascarpone cheese (I subbed equal amount of cream cheese)
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest (I used the zest of one large lemon)
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Before You Start
Position the rack in the center of your oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

IF YOU ARE USING THE WATER BATH: Turn a 9-inchspringform pan upside down and cover the bottom and sides with aluminum foil. The foil should come up at least halfway on all sides, so that the water from the water bath will not leak through. Line the bottom of the springform pan with parchment cut to fit exactly. Using nonstick vegetable cooking spray, spray the inside papered bottom and sides of the pan.

*IF YOU ARE NOT USING THE WATER BATH: Follow all the directions minus wrapping the springform pan in foil and filling a roasting pan with water to place the cheesecake inside of. Simply place your cheesecake in the center of your preheated oven and follow the rest of the instructions.

Directions:

For the crust:
Use a 9-inch spring form pan with 2 ¾ inch sides. Butter the pan and wrap the bottom with a layer of foil.

Stir the cookie crumbs, sugar, and salt together. Add the melted butter over top and stir together until moist and crumbly.

Pour the crumb mixture into the springform pan, and spread out the crumbs with your fingers along the bottom and half way up the sides.

Pop the crust into the freezer for 10 minutes.

Put the springform pan on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and set on a cooling rack while you make the filling. (Leave the foil on the pan if you are using the water bath, you will want this on for the whole baking process)

To Make The Cheesecake
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the cream cheese, mascarpone and sugar until smooth.

Scrape down the bowl and the paddle. Add the eggs and mix to combine. Add the lemon zest and lemon juice.
Pour the batter into the prepared crust and spin gently to level the batter.

*Place the springform pan in a roasting pan large enough to hold it. Fill the roasting pan with hot water until it reaches halfway up the sides of the springform pan. Bake for about 1 hour and 30 minutes, or until the center is just set. Remove the pan from the water bath and remove the aluminum foil on top. Using a sharp knife, loosen the edges of the cheesecake from the pan. Let cool on a wire rack to room temperature. Remove the bottom foil liner and refrigerate until chilled, at least 4 hours to overnight.

Once the cheesecake is chilled, release the springform ring from around it. To remove the bottom, slide two offset spatulas under the cake and transfer it to a serving plate. Enjoy!