For Passover, chocolate cream cheese brownies

If you are looking for a great Passover dessert recipe, this one’s kid-approved - and delicious. The 48 kindergarteners at Manhattan Day School, who just enjoyed a matzo-baking session as part of their pre-Passover traditions, fell in love with these Swirly Cream Cheese Brownies.

The school’s director of early childhood ed, Aviva Yablok, created the recipe and it’s a fabulous addition to the holiday meals. The brownies are made with dairy.

Passover Swirly Cream Cheese Brownies
Makes 2 dozen
¼ cup butter, at room temperature
1/3 cup cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
½ cup matzah meal
3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted
2 tablespoons potato starch

Preheat oven to 325 degrees and grease a 9x9-inch baking dish.

Using an electric hand mixer, mix the butter and cream cheese together in a large bowl. Add the sugar and eggs, one at a time, until thoroughly blended. Fold in the matzah meal and potato starch until blended evenly.

Combine 2/3 of the batter with the melted chocolate and mix well. Pour chocolate batter into the pan, then the original batter on top. Swirl together with a skewer or knife, making sure to spread batter evenly in the pan.

Bake for 30 minutes. Let cool slightly on a wire rack before cutting into squares.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/rosemary/2010/03/for-passover-chocolate-cream-c.html#ixzz0jZvM2LjB

Cranberry Orange Cheesecake

 This weeks recipe makes 16 servings of 193 calories each.

Cranberry Orange Cheesecake

1 1/3 cups gingersnap crumbs

3 Tablespoons Equal Spoonful

3 Tablespoons stick butter or margarine, melted

3 packages, (8 ounces each), reduced-fat cream cheese, softened

1 cup Equal Spoonful

2 eggs

2 egg whites

2 Tablespoons cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup reduced-fat sour cream

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 cup chopped fresh or frozen cranberries

1 1/2 teaspoons grated orange peel

Mix gingersnap crumbs, 3 Tablespoons Equal and melted butter in bottom of 9-inch springform pan. Reserve 2 Tablespoons of crumb mixture. Pat remaining mixture evenly onto bottom of pan. Bake in preheated 325 F oven 8 minutes. Cool on wire rack.

Beat cream cheese and 1 cup Equal in large bowl until fluffy; beat in egs, egg whites, cornstarch and salt. Beat in sour cream and vanilla until blended. Gently stir in cranberries and orange peel. Pour batter into crust in pan.

Sprinkle with reserved crumb mixture.

Bake in 325 F oven 45 to 50 minutes or until center is almost set. Remove cheesecake to wire rack. Gently run metal spatula around rim of pan to loosen cake. Let cheesecake cool completely. Cover and refrigerate several hours or overnight before serving. To serve, remove sides of springform pan.

Doomed from the start

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake Bars!

This recipe comes courtesy of  A Cake a Day

A fun recipe which lets kiddies' eyes sparkle......

Ingredients

Crust:1 & 1/2 c. butter biscuits crumbs, 5 TBSP butter, melted, 2/3 c. mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Cookie Dough: 5 TBPS butter, room temp. 1/3 c. packed light brown sugar, 3 TBSP sugar

1/4 tsp coarse salt, 1 tsp. vanilla extract, 3/4 c. flour, 1 c. chocolate chips

Cheesecake Filling: 10 oz. cream cheese, room temp. 1/4 c. sugar, 1 egg, 1 tsp vanilla extract

Topping: 1/3 c. chocolate chips, 1 tsp shortening (biskin)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 170°C.

For the crust:

Grease a 8x8 pan with butter, line pan with parchment paper and butter the paper, leaving enough to extend over the sides.

Crush butter biscuits into crumbs to make 1 & 1/2 cups. Add to butter and stir until crumbs are moistened. Stir in chocolate chips.Press crust mixture into bottom of pan. Bake for 6 minutes. Set pan on wire rack to cool.

For cookie dough:
Using mixer and the paddle attachment, mix butter, brown sugar, sugar, salt, and vanilla extract at medium speed until smooth. Adjust mixer speed to low and add flour. Mix just until incorporated. Stir in chocolate chips. Set aside.

For cheesecake:

Using mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add egg and vanilla extract, beating just until blended.

Pour batter into cooled, baked crust. Drop cookie dough by teaspoonfuls over the top of the filling.

Bake about 30 minutes, or until set. Transfer to wire rack to cool completely. Place in the refrigerator to chill several hours.

For the topping:
Combine the chocolate chips and shortening and melt in the microwave at 30 second intervals at 50% power. Stir after each interval; repeat until melted.

Drizzle over the bars before serving.

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmhhhhhhhhh

Fabulous Passover desserts

Hazelnut dacquoise with chocolate mousee and buttercream

Prep: 1 hour
Cook: 1 hour, 45 minutes
Chill: 2 hours
Makes: 10 servings

This recipe, which tasters found rich, sweet and impressive, is adapted from one by Rafael Ornelas, head pastry chef at Sarah's Pastries & Candies in Chicago. Circles of meringue are layered with a chocolate mousse then finished with a hazelnut buttercream frosting. The meringue, mousse and buttercream can be made ahead. Serve this with a dairy meal, because it contains butter and cream. If you want a lighter dessert, simply enjoy the meringue on its own, with ice cream, sorbet or whipped cream.




Meringue layers:
5 ounces whole hazelnuts, toasted, skinned
1 1/4 cups sugar
6 large egg whites, room temperature
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla


Chocolate mousse:
7 ounces semisweet chocolate
2 cups whipping cream

Hazelnut buttercream:
1 pound butter or margarine, room temperature
2 tablespoons each: almond paste, finely ground toasted hazelnuts
5 egg yolks
3/4 cup sugar 1. Heat oven to 275 degrees. Cut three 7{-inch circles from parchment paper. Position racks so oven is divided into thirds. Place hazelnuts and 3/4 cup of the sugar in a food processor; pulse to a fine cornmeal-like texture. Set aside.

2. Combine egg whites and salt in bowl of electric mixer; beat on medium speed until foamy. Increase speed to medium-high; gradually add remaining 1/2 cup of the sugar, beating until glossy and medium peaks form. Add vanilla. Turn speed to high; beat 30 seconds until medium stiff peaks form. Gently fold nut-sugar mixture into beaten egg whites in four additions.

3. Scoop batter into a pastry bag fitted with 1/2-inch round tip. Place a parchment circle on a baking sheet. Starting in the center of the parchment circle, pipe meringue in a continuous spiral until you reach the outer edge; repeat with remaining two circles. Bake 20 minutes. Reduce heat to 250 degrees; bake 1 hour. Let cool completely on baking sheets.

4. For mousse, place chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl; microwave at 50-percent power, stirring in 1-minute increments, until half-melted, about 3 minutes. Heat 3/4 cup of the whipping cream to a boil in a small saucepan; pour over the chocolate. Let cool to slightly warmer than room temperature, stirring often, about 10 minutes. Beat remaining 11/4 cups of the whipping cream to stiff peaks with electric mixer; fold gently into chocolate mixture.

5. For buttercream frosting, stir butter, almond paste and hazelnuts together in a medium bowl; set aside. Place yolks in a large bowl; beat with electric mixer until light and pale in color, about 5 minutes. Set aside. Heat sugar and water in a saucepan over medium heat to soft ball stage (234-240 degrees on a candy thermometer or when a drop of syrup dropped in cold water creates a soft ball), about 25 minutes. Add hot sugar mixture to yolk mixture; beat on high until cool, about 5 minutes. Beat in butter mixture.

6. To assemble cake, line an 8-inch round cake pan with plastic wrap. Carefully place 1 meringue layer on the bottom. Fill a piping bag fitted with a 1/2-inch round tip with hazelnut buttercream; pipe two rings around the edge of the cake, one atop the other. Fill the inside of the ring with chocolate mousse; spread evenly. Repeat with remaining meringue layers. Refrigerate cake to firm, 2 hours.

7. Carefully invert pan to unmold cake onto a serving platter; remove plastic wrap. Frost top and sides of cake with buttercream. Use any remaining chocolate mousse to pipe rosettes with a pastry bag on torte, if desired; top each rosette with a toasted hazelnut. Slice carefully with a serrated knife.

Nutrition information:
Per serving: 909 calories, 72 percent of calories from fat, 75 g fat, 40 g saturated fat, 395 mg cholesterol, 57 g carbohydrates, 10 g protein, 101 mg sodium, 3 g fiber.