The Year of Living Audaciously

Former food blog, now travel blog - following my year as a Fulbright ETA in Indonesia

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Nutella Cheesecake Bars

May 7, 2012 by Mackenzie

I leave for home in 4 days! In the meantime, I have lots of meal points to spend and lots of time to procrastinate from studying! I saw this recipe from Tide and Thyme and remembered that the little grocery store on campus (where you can use meal points) sells Nutella, cream cheese and mini Oreos! Perfecto!

NUTELLA CHEESECAKE BARS

Nutella Cheesecake Bars
Recipe Type: Dessert
Author: Mackenzie
Serves: 16 bars
Recipe from Tide and Thyme
Ingredients
  • 2 cups Oreo crumbs (1 8oz pgk of mini oreo bites is equivalent)
  • 1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted
  • 16 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
  • 2 eggs, at room temperature
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon heavy cream
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/3 cup Nutella
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Butter an 8×8 baking dish and line with parchment paper, making sure that the parchment is well pressed into the corners. Set aside.
  2. Now you can do this two ways 1) with a food processor or 2) with a mixer. The original recipe calls for a food processor but as I am limited on cooking items in my dorm kitchen I just used my hand mixer.
  3. In a food processor, pulse Oreos until they become crumbs or crush the Oreos in a Ziploc bag. Add melted butter to food processor and pulse until moistened or put the Oreos and the melted butter in a bowl and combine until moistened. Press Oreo mixture evenly into the bottom of your baking dish. Bake crust until set, about 12 minutes. Set aside to cool.
  4. Clean out the food processor or bowl. Add cream cheese, eggs, sugar, ¼ cup heavy cream, and vanilla. Pulse or beat until smooth. Put 2/3 of the cream cheese mixture in a bowl and set aside. Add Nutella and 1 tablespoon of heavy cream to the remaining 1/3 cream cheese mixture in the processor or bowl and pulse or beat until smooth.
  5. To assemble: spread the plain cheesecake mixture over the cooled Oreo crust, being careful not to upset the crust. Pour the Nutella cheesecake layer on top of the plain cheesecake layer and spread evenly. Be careful to pour the Nutella part all over so you don’t mess up the layers when making it even. Bake on the center rack of the oven for about 35 minutes, or until the center jiggles slightly. Remove from the oven and cool completely on a cooling rack. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
3.2.2802

NUTELLA CHEESECAKE BARS

Filed Under: Bars, Desserts

Angel Food Cupcakes with Strawberry Buttercream

May 6, 2012 by Mackenzie

I know. How perfectly amazing does that sound?

It’s getting pretty warm here in St. Louis and that makes me excited for summer – which makes me excited for yummy summer treats! And what is more summery than angel food cake?

Well, I thought I’d try making angel food cupcakes since I had never heard of anybody making them before! They turned out great! Especially with the strawberry buttercream 🙂

Angel Food Cupcakes with Strawberry Buttercream

Cupcakes:
1 box angel food cake
Strawberry jam

Strawberry Buttercream:
(Recipe from Baked Perfection)

2 sticks of butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup strawberry filling (strawberry jam or preserves can be substituted)
pinch of salt
6 cups powdered sugar
2-3 tablespoons milk
Fresh strawberries for garnish

I used a box of angel food cake (gasp! sorry, limited on baking ingredients in my dorm) and just poured them into the muffin tins. Be sure to use cupcake liners! It gets sticky!

Optional, but amazing – fill the cupcakes with strawberry jellly!
Once cupcakes are cooled, use a teaspoon to scoop out a hole in the top of the cupcake. Take that part out but keep it, no eating! Scoop some jelly into the hole and cover it up with the top! Now frost the cupcakes!

Then for the buttercream,
Beat butter and vanilla until creamy. Mix in strawberry filling and salt. Add powdered sugar 1 cup at a time, beating until combined. Add milk 1 tablespoon at a time until you reach desired consistency.

Top with fresh strawberries!

Filed Under: Cupcakes, Desserts, Summer

Salted Caramel Cupcakes

May 6, 2012 by Mackenzie

Moist chocolate cake filled with homemade caramel… topped with vanilla buttercream and seasalt? What could be better?

I am in love with salted caramel anything – chocolates, cupcakes, cookies, ice cream, you name it! This is one of my favorite salted caramel concotions – they are my go-to “need to bring something to a party” cupcakes and they are always a hit!

I made them last weekend because I had told so many people here at school about them, but hadn’t yet made them! They are on the complicated side – with lots of ingredients and prep – so it’s been hard to find the time and all the ingredients! But with classes behind me and reading week ahead of me – I went for it! My floor and all my friends loved them!

The chocolate cake that I use is pretty incredible too. So if you’re just looking for a basic chocolate cupcake recipe – try these out!

Salted Caramel Cupcakes
Recipe from Marisa Loper but the caramel sauce is from Smitten Kitchen
Makes 36 cupcakes

Ingredients:

Cupcakes:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 cup milk
1 stick melted butter
2/3 cup melted chocolate
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup sour cream

Caramel Sauce:
1/2 cup sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
Heaped 1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Buttercream:
1 stick unsalted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups powdered sugar
Milk as needed

Sea Salt

Directions:

1. Caramel sauce: melt sugar in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat – about five minutes, stirring to break up chunks. Cook until it reaches a nice copper color. Remove from heat and stir in butter, then the cream and salt. Return the saucepan to the stovetop and cook over medium high heat, melting it fully and cooking until it is a shade darker. Pour into a glass jar and store in the fridge until the cupcakes are done and ready to be assembled.

2. Cupcakes: preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffins tins with cupcake liners. Stir together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl, beat eggs and sugar together. Add the milk, butter, chocolate, vanilla, and sour cream. Beat in the dry ingredients, a cup at a time, to the wet ingredients. Beat until well combined. Pour batter in muffin tins 2/3 cup full. Bake for 8-12 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool.

3. Buttercream: in a large bowl, beat the butter and vanilla until smooth. Add powdered sugar in one cup increments and beat on high. Add a couple tablespoons of milk to reach desired thickness.

4. Assembly: once cupcakes are cool, use a paring knife to cut a small circle in the tops of the cupcakes, about the size of a nickel. Use a teaspoon to take out a small hole of cake. Make sure to keep these intact and don’t eat them! Pour some caramel sauce into the hole, it will dissolve into the cake. Replace the top and then frost the cupcakes! Drizzle more caramel sauce over the top and sprinkle with sea salt!

Filed Under: Cake, Cupcakes, Desserts Tagged With: Buttercream, Cupcakes, Desserts, salted caramel

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Meet Mackenzie

Hi! I'm Mackenzie! I'm currently a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant in Indonesia! I'm writing all about my year on this blog and hope you'll follow along on this journey! Read More…

Disclaimer:

Students and Indonesian Friends: Please don't take anything I say here as critical of my experience or you and your culture. Rather, through this blog I want to share my experience in your country with my friends and family in America! I may write and laugh about a lot of things that are different but none of it is bad, it's just different!

This blog is not an official Department of State website, and the views and information presented here are my own and do not represent the Fulbright Program or the Department of State.

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My Latest Reads

My Latest Reads

Between the World and Me
5 of 5 stars
Between the World and Me
by Ta-Nehisi Coates
If You Follow Me: A Novel
3 of 5 stars
If You Follow Me: A Novel
by Malena Watrous
The Goldfinch
4 of 5 stars
The Goldfinch
by Donna Tartt
Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town
4 of 5 stars
Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town
by Jon Krakauer
Station Eleven
4 of 5 stars
Station Eleven
by Emily St. John Mandel
Fight Back and Win
2 of 5 stars
Fight Back and Win
by Gloria Allred

goodreads.com

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Mackenzie

Hi! I'm Mackenzie! I'm currently a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant in Indonesia! I'm writing all about my year on this blog and hope you'll follow along on this journey! Read More…

A Look Back

Orange Cranberry Sauce
Caramelized Onion & Gruyere Tart
This blog is not an official U.S. Department of State website and the views and opinions expressed here are entirely my own, and do not represent the U.S. Department of State or the Fulbright Program.

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