It also stands for “unable to comprehend” why a beautiful project unfortunately stops after it’s begun.
Thank you, little one, for the joyful smiles you gave us to remember.
It also stands for “unable to comprehend” why a beautiful project unfortunately stops after it’s begun.
Thank you, little one, for the joyful smiles you gave us to remember.
The Improv Cooking Challenge February installment features Coffee & Cream. When our hostess Lesa publicized this month’s ingredients, I was so sure I was going to make one of those panna cotta thingies topped with a coffee gelée like I’ve been seeing all over Pinterest. Unfortunately, however, my fellas are not pudding-y/custard-y type eaters, so I needed to punch it up a bit. I was so glad I came across this recipe by Theresa of Island Vittles for a tiramisu cheesecake with an espresso glaze.
My absolute favorite sweet when I was in school was Black Bottom Pie. The next decade I loved me some cheesecake! Most recently I’ve enjoyed making liqueur-soaked cookie/cake-based desserts. Today I’ve combined all the above into one 9-inch springform pan!First I made my mascarpone with 4 cups of cream & lemon juice as I did here. While that was cooling, I used my #blendtec Christmas gift to make the coffee extract for the espresso gelée. (Today it was 1/2 c. espresso powder with 12 oz. rum. That yielded a little over 6 ounces of extract.)
For the “black bottom” part of the dessert I decided to go with a flourless chocolate cake recipe in part to keep the dish gluten free.
Preheat oven to 375° and prepare springform with parchment. Melt butter & chocolate chips. (It took 90 seconds in the microwave.) Whisk in the salt, espresso, brown sugar & cocoa until smooth. Add eggs one at a time, whisking well after each. Scrape into prepared pan and bake 20 minutes. Remove pan to cooling rack and re-set oven to 200° (might need to leave oven door open for a bit to help it cool down…)
In mixing bowl combine mascarpone, cream cheese and sugar on low speed until well blended. I used the whisk attachment to add the remaining ingredients except for the eggs. I then ran the mixer on medium speed to add the eggs, one at a time, and continued to whisk until the batter was creamy & smooth. Gently pour over the chocolate bottom. Return pan to oven and bake until firm. (It can take 3 hours, or so…) Cool on rack. When no longer warm, cover and chill in refrigerator overnight.
Sprinkle gelatin over cold water in heat-safe bowl. Allow to “bloom” for about 5 minutes. Stir in brown sugar. Add boiling water and stir until brown sugar & gelatin are completely dissolved. Add the espresso extract and allow to cool 15 minutes. Gently pour gelée over cheesecake. Chill until set. Remove ring from pan and serve as desired.
I decided to whisk up a little brown sugar whipped cream to top it all off.It was the yummiest!
Follow these links for some more coffee & cream inspiration:
I loves me some marquee lights!
Even more than marquee lights, I’ve got a thing for &.
(Yes, I have started a slight ampersand collection…)
I decided I needed a remote-controlled, battery-operated marquee ampersand above my kitchen cupboards. (Didn’t want wires or plugs showing & being 12+ feet from the floor, the ability to turn on remotely was a must.)
Couldn’t find one. Even if I found one, I’m sure that would be more $$ than I could justify spending.
So, I bought a papier-mâché one from my favorite Joann store.
I carefully removed the top with a craft knife.
…and it sat like that for months while I looked for components to complete my project!
After I decided on my lights, it was time to paint. I wanted my & to look weathered & rusty. I used Mod Podge to give it a sheen as if it were painted metal. I used white tape to bundle the little lights by twos, and small ornaments for the “globes”.
I love the way it looks when lit.
Unfortunately, I found a replacement & while waiting for this project to be complete…
I “needed” a few galvanized metal-looking stencils to complete a little tableaux atop my kitchen cupboards.
A stroke of frugality genius compelled me to cut my letters out of 5 layers of cardstock with my #Silhouette and then glue them together for desired thickness. A little black/grey/blue/silver paint dabbed here & there gave the appearance of aged zinc stencils.
My dad had given me the perfect slab of wood a couple years back -- all I had to do was dust it of & then run a light wash of grey over it.Fortunately in the garage I found some small silver-toned nails that looked just right hammered into the corners of the stencils.(I think I only bent one nail…)Ta-da!