Mocha Marble Birthday Cupcakes!

Out of everything I bake, I’m probably most known (by my friends and family, at least) for my cupcakes. I bake them a lot. I’m actually shocked that this is the first cupcake recipe I have on the blog. I’ve been seriously slacking in the cupcake department and for that, I apologize.

It was my best friend Krystyn’s birthday this weekend. Naturally, I offered to make cupcakes and when I asked her what kind she wanted, she replied with, “Vanilla!!! Or espresso ;)” (that is a direct quote).

I pondered the possibilities for a bit and finally decided on marble cupcakes, to have the best of both the vanilla and espresso worlds. I topped them off with a vanilla buttercream as she’s also a huge sucker for anything “vanilla or buttercreamy goodness” (also a direct quote). Don’t you just love her already?

Clearly, we are friends for a reason.

Anyways, I sifted through my stack of cupcake cookbooks and decided to make a variation of the marble cupcakes in Martha Stewart’s Cupcakes book. And they turned out beautifully.

P.S. If you’re in the market for a cupcake book, I definitely suggest investing in Martha’s. It’s my fav. And Krystyn is actually the one who purchased it for me for MY birthday last year. See? Meant to be best friends.

P.P.S. Cupcakes Galore by Gail Wagman is also an amazing book. Second favourite, for sure.

Mocha Marble Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream
(Adapted from Martha Stewart’s Marble Cupcake recipe)

Ingredients:

Cupcakes

1¾ cups cake flour (not self-rising), sifted
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup milk, room temperature
1/3 cup heavy cream, room temperature
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
4 teaspoons instant espresso powder
1/4 cup boiling water

Icing

1 cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
2½ cups icing sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners (I used brown ones with white polka dots).

Stir together cake flour, baking powder, and salt in one bowl. Combine milk and cream in another bowl.

With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream butter and granulated sugar until pale and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until each is incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in vanilla. Add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of milk mixture, and beating until combined.

To make the chocolate espresso batter, measure out 1 cup batter, and transfer to another bowl. Combine cocoa, espresso and the boiling water in a bowl. Stir into reserved 1 cup batter.

Fill prepared cups with alternating spoonfuls of vanilla and chocolate batter, filling each three-quarters full. Run the tip of a paring knife or wooden skewer through batter in a figure-eight motion to make swirls. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until tops are golden and a cake tester (or a toothpick) inserted in centers comes out clean, about 15-20 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes.

To make the buttercream, mix the butter and the vanilla together and then slowly beat in the icing sugar. You can use food colouring to make it any colour you’d like; I left it white to go with the color scheme of the papers and the cake, but reserved a bit at the end and made it purple to write Happy Birthday on a bunch of them.

Makes 18-20 cupcakes.

Happy Birthday, lovely <3

Pumpkin Double Whammy!

So, my pumpkin obsession got a little bit intensified over the weekend when I discovered that numerous vendors at the farmer’s market have lovely selections of sugar pumpkins! I’ve been searching for cooking pumpkins for awhile now and I’m so stoked that I can finally buy them from local farmers at the market. The vendor I bought them from last weekend even assured me that she’d be selling them until Christmas…needless to say, I’m a little excited.

Today, I have a double dose of pumpkin for you! 1 savoury dish and 1 sweet. I made a pumpkin soup and a gluten-free version of one of my favourite pumpkin breads :)

Curried Roasted Pumpkin Soup
(Adapted from Joy McCarthy’s Roasted Pumpkin Curry Soup)
This soup is so yummy and incredibly good for you. I’m kind of in love with it.

Ingredients:

1 small sugar pumpkin, seeds and stringy bits removed and cut into large chunks
1 onion, chopped
2 stalks of celery, chopped
4 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
1 tbsp freshly chopped ginger
2 tbsp coconut oil
2 tbsp olive oil
4 tsp curry powder
Sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Drizzle pumpkin chunks with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast in oven for 40-60 minutes. When pumpkin is fork-tender, remove from the oven and set aside to cool. Let cool and remove flesh from skins. Set aside.

Melt coconut oil in a large pot on the stove on medium-high heat. Add onions and celery and cook until brown, stirring frequently. Once veggies have browned, add garlic, ginger, pumpkin, salt and pepper.

Add enough water to just cover the vegetables. Stir occasionally and skim off any foam that appears on the surface with a ladle. Once the soup has come to a boil, turn the heat down to low heat and let simmer. Sprinkle in the curry powder and stir. Allow the soup to simmer for 15 minutes or so, stirring occasionally.

After letting it simmer for 15 minutes or so, remove pot from heat. With a hand-blender (or food processor), blend the soup until no chunks remain. You may need to add more water during this step if the soup is too thick.

Add any additional salt & pepper to taste. Enjoy!


Gluten-Free Vegan Pumpkin Spice Bread
(Adapted from Joy the Baker’s Vegan Pumpkin Walnut Bread)
This bread is really crumbly and moist…and also very sweet. It’s more like cake. I think I might even love it more than the original.

Ingredients:

1 cup rice flour
3/4 cup oat flour
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup maple syrup
2½ tbsp water

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place a rack in the center of the oven. Grease and flour one loaf pan and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together flours, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices.

In a medium bowl, carefully whisk together pumpkin puree, oil, maple syrup and water.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and use a spatula to fold all of the ingredients together. Make sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl well, finding any stray flour bits to mix in.

Pour the dough into the prepared loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven. Let rest in the pans for 20 minutes, then invert onto a cooling rack.

Serve warm.

Gluten-Free Apple Crumble Pie

I did a show a little while back called, Perfect Pie. In it, my character was known for making amazing pies and pastries. Because of this, I made it my own little personal mission to learn how to make great pies – especially pastry from scratch.

I’m very picky about pies. I love fruit pies but I hate it when they’re too sweet. I especially hate it when apple pies are too sweet. My mom makes an AMAZING apple crumble pie and I have always been a little nervous to try to make one myself in fear that it wouldn’t be anywhere near as good as hers.

Sarah and I were at the farmer’s market on Saturday and I noticed that one of the vendors (specializing in gluten-free items) had gluten-free pie dough. I decided to buy some along with some fresh granny smith apples and embark on a gluten-free apple crumble pie adventure! If it was bad, I could always cheat and blame the dough, right?


Thankfully, it wasn’t. It actually turned out really good. So good, in fact, that I wasn’t able to snap a picture of the final product before it was devoured by my family. So yeah. It was good.

I will also definitely do a post in the future about my own pie dough as I do have a killer (and very not-gluten-free) recipe, but for now, enjoy this wheat-free alternative :)

Gluten-Free Apple Crumble Pie
Pie is another thing I don’t tend to have a set recipe for…I’m always adding more of this or that to suit it to my tastes. This recipe is kind of just a guideline.

Ingredients:

1 gluten-free pie crust (bottom crust only)

Filling:
6-8 coarsely chopped & peeled granny smith apples
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar
2 tbsp rice flour
1/4 tsp cinnamon

Topping:
3/4 cup oat flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup wheat-free rolled oats
2 tsp cinnamon
pinch salt
1/3 cup cold butter, cubed

Directions:

Topping: In a bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, oats and cinnamon. Using pastry blender (or your fingers), cut in butter until crumbly; set aside.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out pie dough to a generous 1/8-inch (3 mm) thickness; fit into 9-inch (23 cm) pie plate. Trim to leave 3/4-inch (2 cm) overhang; fold under and crimp edge. Set aside.

Filling: In large bowl, toss apples with lemon juice. Add sugar, flour and cinnamon; toss to combine. Scrape into pie shell. Sprinkle with topping.

Bake at 400°F oven for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350°F; bake for about 50 minutes or until filling is bubbly and thickened. Let cool on rack.

Sinful Gluten-Free Dark Chocolate Brownies

Sometimes, I get a little experimental in the kitchen. Sometimes, the results are delicious, whereas other times, it can get disastrous. However, that’s what experimenting is for, right? And what better way to do it than with food!

I have a friend staying with me this week. Her name is Sarah. She is gorgeous, crazy talented, continuously bouncy but unfortunately unable to digest gluten. Therefore, I’ve taken this as an opportunity to stretch my gluten-free baking muscles and start experimenting with different flours!

It’s almost pathetic how excited I get over this stuff…

Anyways, tonight I was craving chocolate. Good, dark, rich chocolate. So, I found a nice dark chocolate brownie recipe, threw some certified wheat-free oats into my Magic Bullet to make a fine oat flour and went a little crazy. And the results were…sinful.

(I also think it’s interesting that I’ve now made brownies for this blog more times in the past 2 weeks than I have in my entire life. Just sayin’.)

Gluten-Free Dark Chocolate Brownies
(Adapted from Joy the Baker’s Dark Chocolate Brownies)
I halved the original recipe and used a loaf pan just in case the brownies turned out awful, but since they didn’t, you should probably double it and use a full square cake pan.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup oat flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons oil
6 ounces pure unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a loaf pan with parchment paper.

Whisk together flour, baking powder and salt and set aside.

Place oil and chopped chocolate in a medium sized heat proof bowl. Melt chocolate either in the microwave (keep a good eye on it!!) or in a double boiler (Place the bowl over a pot of barely simmering water, being sure that the bottom of the bowl does not touch the boiling water. Stir until chocolate and oil are completely melted & mixed. Use pot holders to remove the bowl from over the boiling water). Let mixture sit for a few minutes.

In a medium sized bowl, whisk together sugar, eggs and vanilla extract until pale and thick. Pour the chocolate mixture into the egg mixture. Whisk until completely incorporated. Add the flour mixture all at once and whisk to incorporate. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.


These are super rich and super delicious. You might need some milk.

Vegan Baking Adventures with Jess

Vegan baking used to frighten me. I couldn’t imagine how any dessert could even come close to tasting good with the absence of butter. I love butter. I love it more than most things in life.


However, a very close friend of mine eats vegan. Her name is Jess. She is beautiful, talented, ridiculously energetic and a great vegan cook. But sadly, she does not have an oven in her house.

So, I kindly offered up my own kitchen today in exchange for a vegan baking lesson. And let’s just say that the results were surprisingly delicious.

There were some crazy shenanigans along the way…but that’s bound to happen when the two of us get together in the kitchen.

We made vegan brownies and (mostly) vegan pumpkin cookies.

And I gained an entirely new appreciation for coconut oil. I might start cheating on butter.

Vegan Tofu Brownies

Tofu is great because it absorbs flavours so well. It also gave the brownies a nice moist texture. P.S. You can make this recipe gluten-free by eliminating the carob chips.

Ingredients:

1 12 oz (300 g) package soft tofu
½ cup water
½ cup oil
2 tsp vanilla
½ cup cocoa powder
1 cup sugar
½ tsp salt
½ tsp baking soda
1 cup spelt flour
½ cup carob chips


Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease an 8x8 inch square baking pan (once again, we had to use a circle pan…I really need to eat that casserole).

Blend tofu in a blender or food processor to smooth (I used my Magic Bullet). Whisk tofu in a large bowl with water, oil and vanilla.

Add cocoa, sugar, salt, baking soda and flour to the wet ingredients. Mix until smooth.

Pour into prepared pan. Sprinkle chips on top.

Bake for 45-50 minutes.

Cool, cut and serve.


Supposed-to-be-Vegan Pumpkin Cookies

We had big plans for these vegan pumpkin cookies until we realized we had no flax seeds (to act as an egg substitute). Therefore, we just used real eggs…so these cookies are dairy-free, but not animal-product-free.

Ingredients:

1 cup coconut oil, softened
1 cup pumpkin puree
1½ cups sugar
½ cup flax seed, blended (or 2 eggs)
1 tbsp vanilla
3 cups oat flour (we used 1 cup each of oat, spelt and whole wheat flours)
1 cup rolled oats
¾ tsp baking soda
¾ tsp salt
4 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
½ tsp nutmeg

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Mix coconut oil, pumpkin puree, sugar, flax seed/eggs and vanilla in a large bowl.

Add flour, oats, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg to the wet ingredients. Mix until smooth.

Drop dough by rounded spoonfuls onto an ungreased baking sheet. (We added the remaining carob chips to the cookies as well)

Bake for 12-15 minutes.

Let cookies cool for 5 minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes about 2 dozen large cookies.

*Note: These cookies are pretty fluffy…we’re going to work with the recipe some more to perhaps make muffins with it. They would be great muffins.

DELICIOUS!!

Doodles that Snicker

Snickerdoodles. I probably love the name of these cookies more than the actual cookie itself. Though, I do love these little disks of cinnamon heaven quite a bit. And so do a lot of people.

Seriously. I’ve made these cookies for many casts of many shows I’ve done over the years and with each occasion, I’ve had instant friends. INSTANT, I tell you. People just love ‘em.

The secret is…well, there is no secret, they’re actually pretty easy. So, here’s the recipe.

Want people to love you? Make these cookies.

Snickerdoodles

Ingredients:

1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
2 3/4 cups flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

cinnamon & sugar (for rolling)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Cream butter and sugar in a large bowl. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla and cinnamon.

Combine flour, cream of tartar, baking soda and salt in a separate bowl.

Add dry ingredients to the butter mixture. Mix until combined.


Mix additional cinnamon and sugar in a separate small bowl (about a 1 tablespoon sugar to 1 teaspoon cinnamon ratio). Roll dough into small balls and then roll in cinnamon-sugar mixture. (You can also put the cinnamon and sugar in a paper bag and shake the ball of dough in it. That’s how I used to do it when I was little – it’s more fun.)

Place balls on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes.


Let them cool on the baking sheet for a minute or two, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes about 4 dozen cookies.


My boyfriend loves these too. They never last in my house.

Pumpkin Spice Cake w/ Cream Cheese Frosting

I love cake. It is probably my favourite dessert of all time. I could eat cake every day. In fact, it’s not uncommon that I do…

(*Note: I also work out like an animal to make up for my cake obsession. Otherwise, I would most likely weigh 300 lbs. And as hilarious as that would be on my 5’2” frame, it’s really not the look I’m going for.)

I also love pumpkin. And spice. So, I combined the three into a magnificent Pumpkin Spice Cake. With cream cheese icing. Because cream cheese icing is a must with spicy cakes.

I also added pecans. Just ‘cus. They’re delicious.

Pumpkin Spice Cake w/ Cream Cheese Frosting
(Adapted from Martha’s Pumpkin Spice Cake recipe)

Ingredients:

CAKE
2 ½ cups flour (I used 1 ½ cups cake & pastry flour, 1 cup all-purpose)
2 teaspoons baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon pumpkin-pie spice
½ cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1 ½ cups sugar
1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin puree

FROSTING
1 8-oz bar of cream cheese, softened
1 cup icing sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla

butter (for the pan)
pecans (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch square baking pan (I used a circle cake pan as my square one is still filled with casserole).

In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, salt, and pumpkin-pie spice. In a large bowl, whisk oil, eggs, sugar, and pumpkin puree until combined.

Add dry ingredients to pumpkin mixture and mix gently until smooth.

Turn batter into prepared pan, and smooth top. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached, 45 to 50 minutes. Cool cake 10 minutes in pan, then turn out of pan, and cool completely, right side up, on a rack.

Make the cream cheese frosting. Mix the cream cheese with the vanilla and then add the icing sugar. Mix until smooth (you can add more or less icing sugar depending on how thick you want the icing).

Ice entire cooled cake with cream cheese frosting.

I made a small well in the top of the cake and lined it with pecans and then put chopped pecans in the middle – mainly because I had a huge bag of pecans in my cupboard I needed to get rid of. You can garnish this cake with whatever you like however, or just have it plain. It’s yummy either way!

A Classic: Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ahhh…chocolate chip cookies. There really is no other dessert as nostalgic and heart-warming as chocolate chip cookies. As a baker, they are a staple in my “recipe repertoire” and I’ve experimented with many different recipes over the years but these are probably my favourite. Mind you, I am, and always will be, a fan of the famous Tollhouse Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe, but these are a little bit more unique and suited to my own personal tastes.

I like a good chocolate chip cookie that is browned on the outsides, soft in the middle and not cakey. The addition of dark chocolate chips and sea salt make this recipe just a bit more sophisticated too.

They’re pretty yummy…so, I suggest you go make some. Right now. Trust me, you won’t regret it.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1 large egg
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup dark chocolate chips

Coarse sea salt, for sprinkling (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325°F.

In a big bowl, beat butter and sugar until well combined. Add egg, syrup and vanilla and beat until smooth.

Add the baking soda and salt to the wet ingredients, mix, and then add the flour and stir until almost combined. Add the chocolate chips and stir just until blended.

Drop spoonfuls of dough on a non-stick cookie sheet (or line one with aluminium foil – that’s what I always do). Sprinkle the tops with coarse sea salt. Bake for approximately 10 minutes, or until golden around the edges but still soft in the middle. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Makes about 2 dozen cookies.

Sea salt is kind of my secret ingredient in nearly all my baking. I truly believe that it makes a significant difference in the taste. I will also always splurge on good vanilla – none of that “vanillin” stuff or artificial vanilla extract.


You can also alter this recipe by adding nuts or other types of chips. Sometimes, I like to use half milk chocolate and half dark (or semi-sweet). Play around with it – make it your own!

Peanut Butter Brownies

I don’t bake brownies very often. In fact, despite the fact that I really love them, they are probably one of the desserts I’ve baked the least. However, I thought I would give this peanut butter brownie recipe a try to bring for dessert for a family dinner tonight and after a series of minor kinks, I think they turned out alright. I like the peanut butter and chocolate balance, however they are fairly cakey. There was no oil in the recipe so I think when I try them out again, I’ll replace the butter with oil. Otherwise, they’re pretty yummy – especially if you like chocolate and peanut butter.

I’ll also use a legit square cake pan next time. My only one is currently filled with vegetarian casserole in my freezer so I used 2 loaf pans instead…and wax paper, cus I was out of parchment.

Peanut Butter Swirly Brownies
(Adapted from my November 2010 Canadian Living magazine)

Ingredients

1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
1/2 cup butter, softened
2/3 cup granulated sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
5 oz bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled (I used 3 oz bittersweet and 2 oz dark)
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
pinch salt

Directions

In large bowl, beat 1/4 cup of the peanut butter, the butter and sugar; beat in eggs, 1 at a time. Beat in vanilla. Beat in chocolate.

Stir in flour, baking powder and salt. Spread in parchment paper–lined 8-inch (2 L) square metal cake pan.

By spoonfuls, drop remaining peanut butter over top. Run knife through batter to swirl; smooth top. Bake in 350°F (180°C) oven until tester inserted in centre comes out with a few moist crumbs clinging, about 20 minutes. Let cool in pan on rack. Cut into squares.


Make sure you have a big glass of milk for these!!

Pumpkin Love

It would be an understatement to say that I’m a little obsessed with pumpkin right now. Mainly because it’s autumn. All I want to do these days is cook with root vegetables and gourds and eat sweet desserts filled with spice. I’m going through cinnamon like it’s nobody’s business, and I’m pretty sure I’m close to cleaning out my local Superstore’s supply of canned pumpkin.

I am aware that October is over…and as soon as November starts to come to a close, I’ll be getting into the holiday spirit with Christmas goodies (and adding peppermint and red and green sprinkles to just about everything) so I might as well embrace my pumpkin obsession while I still can. The U.S. still haven’t had their Thanksgiving yet…so it is still perfectly acceptable to cook with pumpkin. At least, that’s the excuse I’m going with.

Therefore, I have a pumpkin-tastic dessert recipe for you today! Courtesy of Ms. Martha Stewart. I tend to go a little crazy on her website sometimes…there’s your warning.

Today I made pumpkin cheesecake, originally made famous by my best friend, Krystyn. I think it’s a nice alternative to pumpkin pie (as I’m really not a huge pumpkin pie fan, surprisingly enough) as it’s got just the right amount of pumpkin and spice without being too sweet. Plus it’s cheesecake, and who doesn’t love cheesecake?

(I apologize if you’re not a cheesecake fan…and I feel sorry for you.)

Anyways, onto the recipe! It’s remarkably simple, so you don’t need to be a cheesecake connoisseur to pull it off. Trust me. Every boy I’ve ever dated has loved cheesecake so I’ve made my fair share of cheesecake masterpieces and fails, and this one takes the cake (heh…) for easiness. Krystyn swears it’s difficult to mess up, especially if you stick to the recipe. Which I did. And I rarely do that.

Super-Easy Pumpkin Cheesecake
(Recipe from Martha Stewart)

Ingredients:

FOR THE CRUST
1 1/4 cups graham-cracker crumbs
1/4 cup sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

FOR THE FILLING
4 packages (8 ounces each) bar cream cheese, very soft
1 1/4 cups sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
2 tablespoons pumpkin-pie spice
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs, room temperature

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, with rack in center. Assemble a 9-inch nonstick springform pan, with the raised side of the bottom part facing up.

Make the crust: In a medium bowl, mix cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter until moistened; press firmly into bottom of pan. Bake until golden around edges, 10 to 12 minutes.

Make the filling: With an electric mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar on low speed until smooth; mix in flour (do not overmix). Add pumpkin puree, pie spice, vanilla, and salt; mix just until smooth. Add eggs one at a time, mixing until each is incorporated before adding the next.

Place springform pan on a rimmed baking sheet. Pour filling into springform, and gently smooth top. Transfer to oven; reduce oven heat to 300 degrees. Bake 45 minutes. Turn off oven; let cheesecake stay in oven 2 hours more (without opening).

Remove from oven; cool completely. Cover with plastic wrap; refrigerate until firm, at least 4 hours. Unmold before serving.


It’s a bit of a lengthy process, but so totally worth it. It can get a bit pricey too, but I started stocking up on my cream cheese at Costco (3-8 oz. packs for $8.99 – can’t go wrong with that!!) so it’s not so bad.

P.S. I also have another pumpkin dessert recipe that I’m going to try next week, so keep your eyes peeled for that!!