- Call it a cheesecake theme if you wish, but there are too many cream-cheesy posts to pass up this week. For instance, there is a White Chocolate Cheesecake at Velvet Lava. Tall, creamy and – naturally – very decadent, it’s comfort food at its finest. Eat a slice at the end of a bad day to forget about pesky, mundane things like calories and just enjoy!
- As a fan of salted caramel, I almost feel obligated to share What We’re Eating‘s Salted Caramel Spilled All Over Cheesecake. The recipe is for a classic, creamy cheesecake that comes with a rich, salt-spiked caramel sauce to drizzle, well, all over it. This is one of the instances where I’m glad that the internet has put some distance between me and the dessert, because I’m positive that this is one irresistible combination.
- This cheesecake dish doesn’t actually involve cheese at all. Instead it uses vegan cream cheese. I’ve used Tofutti cream cheese with great success in my baked vegan cheesecake recipe and I’m not at all surprised to see that it worked out for Could it be Seitan? in her Vegan Cheesecake Pops. She used tofu and soy creamer to replace the milk and eggs with great success, too. The result is a bite-sized dessert that you can really feel good about eating (although it’s just about as rich as the “real” non-vegan thing, for which the recipe is also included).
- Changing over to less cheesecakey topics, The Accidental Scientist has just relocated to Hawaii and made up a decadent-looking, but healthy, island-inspired breakfast treat of Lemony Fruit and Yogurt Cocktails. The dish is a layered parfait, with a base of whole wheat cous cous topped with vanilla yogurt, lemon, mint and fresh fruit. TAS opted for papaya and pineapple – definitely a taste of Hawaii.
- In spite of the fact that those who do it regularly swear that it’s easy, I don’t make preserves very often beyond the occasional small batch of jam and am always impressed when I see someone else putting in the time and effort to make their own. Big Black Dogs’ creative recipe for Zesty Red Onion Jelly is quite tempting. It sounds simple and the product has a gorgeous color, not to mention a tangy-sweet flavor that would go well with both sweet and savory dishes.
- It’s hard not to have a soft spot for crunchy, dunkable cookies when you consume a lot of coffee and tea. Biscotti top my list, but the Italian Polenta Cookies Joe posted at Culinary in the Country have equal appeal. They’re elegant, as a piped cookie, but have a lovely rustic texture to them from coarsely ground cornmeal in the dough. A hint of lemon gives them a flavor boost, though it seems like a good cup of coffee would do exactly the same.
What do you think?