sugared cranberry cheesecake

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

only TWO more sleeps.

i am going to keep this one short because the house is full of family & there is no time to be spent on the computer! we have so many christmas movies to catch up on as we rock the matching santa pajama bottoms. now as you know, every single year i make a cheesecake for christmas day. it is an annual thing because it is not often that a celebration calls for a fancy ass cheesecake! three years ago i made a red velvet cheesecake, two years ago i made an apple pie cheesecake, last year i made this salted caramel cheesecake & this year THIS sugared cranberry cheesecake! something about sugared cranberries just look so pretty & festive. now i am already thinking about next year's... gingerbread, egg nog, chai?!?! can it be christmas every month?

hope everyone has an amazing weekend & gets spoiled by santa! xo

ingredients

for the sugared cranberries

  • 1/2 cup + 1 cup white sugar
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 3 cups fresh cranberries (not frozen)

for the graham crust

  • 2 cups graham cracker crumbs
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 pinch of salt

for the filling

  • 4 packages of full fat plain cream cheese (8 oz each)
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 2 1/2 tablespoons flour
  • 4 large eggs
  • 2 large egg yolks
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

directions

for the sugared cranberries

  • in a sauce pot add the 1/2 cup sugar & water. heat until the sugar dissolves.
  • stir in the cranberries, toss to coat & remove from heat.
  • strain & toss in the remaining white sugar.
  • set aside until you are ready to decorate the cheesecake.

for the graham cracker crust

  • in a large mixing bowl toss graham cracker crumbs, sugar, butter & salt.
  • firmly press into a 9-inch spring form pan with a 1-inch crust.
  • set aside while you prepare the filling.

for the filling

  • preheat oven to 475 degrees. in a mixer with the paddle attachment beat sugar, cream cheese & flour.
  • add the eggs/egg yolks one at a time. scrape the bowl after every addition to ensure no clumps!
  • once mixture is silky smooth add the vanilla, cinnamon & nutmeg. pour into the crust lined spring form pan.
  • bake at 475 degrees for 15 minutes, or until the top puffs. if the top begins to brown too quickly, lower the temperature.
  • once the top has puffed, lower the temperature to 250 degrees & bake for an additional 45 minutes or until the cake appears firm. turn off the oven & let the cake sit for 15 minutes. remove from oven & let cool to room temperature before refrigerating over night.
  • top with sugared cranberries.

black pepper + white cheddar mac & cheese

 

can you believe it is december this week?! WHAT. this weekend we put up our first ever christmas tree (a real one!) & decorated it with the cutest forest animal ornaments. it goes with the rest of the house since i have a slight obsession with foxes & deers. seriously though, fox figures everywhere. also, who watched the girlmore girls revival?! i pretty much spent all of friday binge watching it & not sure how i feel about the ending. BUT i don't want to spoil it for all you slow pokes so let's just skip on over to this mac & cheese!

this mac & cheese dish is SUPER cheesy because i used an extra old white cheddar cheese (& lots of it). since it is the holidays, i made it a touch richer with the addition of heavy cream but feel free to use whole milk for the whole recipe. instead of doing the traditional topping of bread crumbs tossed in butter, i used harvest snaps! they have so many flavours to choose from. i went with the black pepper blend but feel free be bold & use your favourite (wasabi?!?!). just make sure to have an extra bag on hand for snacking purposes cause i ate a whole bag in the process;)

happy ALMOST december! get those advent calenders ready.

ingredients

  • 1 box of short pasta
  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 1/4 cup flour
  • 1 tablespoon mustard powder
  • 2 cups whole milk
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 egg
  • 3 cups grated extra old white cheddar, plus more for topping
  • salt, to taste
  • freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
  • 1 bag of black pepper harvest snaps, crushed

directions

  • preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  • cook pasta as directed on box until al dente. strain & set aside.
  • in a separate pot over medium heat add the butter, flour & mustard powder. stir constantly & cook until a smooth roux forms, about 5 minutes.
  • add the whole milk, heavy cream & bay leaf. simmer for ten minutes.
  • remove bay leaf & temper in the egg, followed by the grated old white cheddar cheese.
  • add the strained, cooked pasta to the pot & stir until evenly coated. if the pot is not oven safe, transfer to a baking dish.
  • top with additional cheese & crushed black pepper harvest snaps.
  • bake for 30 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly & golden brown.

this post was created in partnership with harvest snaps! thank you for supporting the brands that keep me doing what i love. xo

coconut + dark chocolate cake

 

this. cake. oh my god, this cake was good. i wanted to say my mom said it was the best cake i have ever made, but i am starting to think she says that every single time i have her taste test my newest recipes so maybe it is time to pick a new taste tester. what can i say though, mom's are always going to be our number one fans! she had a point though... this cake is FULL of coconut & turned out so moist. seriously, if you are a coconut lover you need to make this right now. it contains grace's coconut chips, shredded coconut, coconut oil, coconut milk in the cake itself & is topped with a creamy coconut glaze. not to mention some dark chocolate chunks to tie it all together. baking with coconut sugar is a healthier alternative to using regular white sugar. i often rotate between this & raw sugar in all my baking.

i think it makes for quite the presentation if you are bringing or serving a dessert at a holiday party! much less stressful then trying to frost a perfect layer cake & i love putting a fancy glaze over top. i used all of grace foods organic coconut products in this recipe, which you can easily find in the international section of your local grocer! they are my go to brand for when i buy coconut milk, it is high quality & affordable. my only real suggestion is to buy extra coconut chips for the topping because good luck not eating them while you bake. they are addicting & i couldn't stop. now get to it!

ingredients

for the cake

for the glaze

directions

for the cake

  • preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  • in a large mixing bowl sift flour, baking powder & sea salt.
  • in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment cream the sugar, butter & coconut oil until smooth.
  • add the eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla extract.
  • alternate between adding the coconut milk & flour mixture. beat until smooth.
  • fold in the flaked coconut & half of the chocolate chunks.
  • pour into a greased 8-inch round cake pan & top with remaining chocolate chunks & coconut chips.
  • bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the top centre bounces back to touch.
  • let cool completely before removing from pan & glazing.

for the glaze

  • mix ingredients in a bowl until the desired consistency is formed.
  • if the glaze is to thin, add more powdered sugar. if the glaze is to thick, add more coconut milk.

this post was created in partnership with grace. they make just about every coconut product you can think of... sugar, oil, chips, milk & so on. i couldn't help but make the ultimate coconut cake using ALL of these delicious coconut ingredients! thank you for supporting the brands that keep me doing what i love.