Nutella Brownie Bites

I think that this has become one of my favorite brownie recipes. Not for the fact that it tastes great, which it does, or because it uses Nutella, and who doesn't love that, but because it uses only four ingredients and bakes in under ten minutes. I honestly can't think of a simpler brownie recipe and for that reason alone it ranks highly among the many brownies I've made.

Although the brownies tasted delicious, with a wonderful hazelnut flavor accented by the chopped nuts on top, when I served them everyone at the table said they had wished it had more of a gooey center. I supposed that naturally, people associate brownies as moist and gooey, or at least chewy. This brownie was more airy and cake like rather than fudgy. I think that in the future, I will bake it for 1-2 minutes less and see if that keeps some of the gooiness inside. Also, I'm curious as to how these would turn out if I baked the entire batter in a regular pan and then cut it into pieces. Because I loved this recipe so much, and I'm sure I will be making it again, I will definitely try experimenting with it and see what happens.

Nutella Brownie Bites
Note: A single batch makes 12 mini brownies.

• 1/2 cup Nutella
• 1 large egg
• 5 tbsp flour
• 1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts

1. In a medium bowl whisk together the nutella and egg until smooth and blended.
2. Add the flour and whisk until combined.
3. Spray a 12-cup mini muffin pan with nonstick spray or line with paper or foil wrappers. 
4. Spoon the batter into the cups, filling each cup about 3/4 full.
5. Sprinkle the chopped hazelnuts over top of each cup.
6. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 minutes. Next time, I'm going to try 8 minutes and see how that turns out.

Tomato Spiced Quinoa

Due to my recent surgery, I have had to employ a high-protein, high-calorie diet as of late. Over the summer I had scrolled over many posts on tastespotting.com featuring quinoa (pronounced keen-wa), a high-protein grain. Given my surgeon's instructions, and the known health benefits of quinoa, I decided to try and make a dish using this versatile ingredient.

Based on others' comments who had previously eaten quinoa, I knew that it can have a slightly bitter taste. I did a little research and learned the proper way to cook the grain so that it loses its bitter taste and absorbs as much flavor as possible, while also staying light and fluffy. I tried to recreate a recipe of mine for Spanish rice except I substituted the quinoa for rice.

Since I had never tasted quinoa before, I really didn't know what to expect. By using quinoa instead of rice, the dish had mostly the same flavor profile, but with a slightly nutty taste to it. Surprisingly, the member of my family who enjoyed it the most was my brother, citing its mild flavor as his favorite aspect. My mother commented on the fact that she wished it had a stronger flavor, which my brother profusely rebutted. Since quinoa can be served both hot and cold, I tried my dish both ways. When served hot, the tomato flavor and the flavors of the individual spices were more prominent. However, the cold quinoa had a stronger nutty flavor that overpowered the tomatoes and other spices. I think that I will continue to play around with more quinoa recipes and see how different flavors pair with the healthy grain.

Tomato Spiced Quinoa

• 1 28 oz. can whole tomatoes
• 1 14 oz. can chickpeas
• 2 cups quinoa
• 1 tbsp cumin
• 1 tbsp coriander
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Optional: 1/4 tsp-1/2 tsp chili pepper flakes (sprinkle just enough to give it a little kick)

1. Rinse the quinoa by covering it with cold water in a large bowl. Swirl it around a couple of times with your fingers and then drain off the top water. Repeat the process 2-3 times, or until the top water is no longer murky but is clear instead.
2. Pour out the tomatoes and their juice into a medium saucepan and gently, using your fingers, crush the tomatoes. Although you could use diced tomatoes right away, the canned tomatoes come with more juice. Whichever method you choose, just make sure you have a 1:1.5 ratio of quinoa to liquid.
3. Bring the tomatoes and their juices to a boil.
4. Meanwhile, toss your washed and drained quinoa with all of the spices and chili flakes. Make sure the quinoa is well coated.
5. Once the tomatoes and juice has boiled, add the quinoa and bring to a boil once again. As soon as it starts to boil, reduce the heat to a simmer and cover the pot with a lid.
6. Continue to cook for 15-20 minutes, or until all of the quinoa has absorbed the liquid and bloomed. You should see little white "threads" surrounding the grains. If you're not sure, leave it to cook longer rather than taking it off the heat prematurely.
7. Turn off the heat and leave the quinoa, with the lid on the pot, for another 10 minutes.
8. Once ready, fluff the quinoa with a fork and mix in the chickpeas throughout.

Poppy Seed and Walnut Rolls

I have been wanting to make these rolls for quite some time and finally got the opportunity to do so this weekend. My grandparents just returned from a vacation to Switzerland and France, and the whole family gathered at their apartment to hear their stories and view pictures. By now, my entire family knows that no get-together is complete without my baking. As such, I'm always looking to try out new recipes on them.

I decided to go easy on myself and prepare the dough the same way I do for all of my other sweet dough creations. Although I did research other dough recipes, I wasn't sure how much they would yield and how well I could roll out the dough into a large rectangle. Since my family is quite extensive, I like to bake things big...big cakes, long rolls, etc. Therefore, I decided to stick with what I know, as far as the dough, and leave the experimentation to the filling.

The fillings were quite easy to make and I was able to use my new zester...I was not disappointed. I loved the walnut filling because it was very moist and the nutty flavor was accented by the orange and lemon zests, but not too powerful...it felt just right. The poppy seed filling was also nice in flavor, but I wish I had put about twice as much because it was a lot thinner than the walnut feeling and was therefore not as moist once baked. Next time, I might even try mixing the fillings and seeing what that tastes like; I have a feeling the moisture from the walnut filling would help the poppy seeds.

Poppy Seed and Walnut Rolls
Note: Each roll uses half of the dough from my sweet dough recipe, which can be found here.

Poppy Seed Filling

• 1 cup poppy seeds
• 1 cup milk
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1 tsp butter
• 1 lemon, zested
• 1 orange, zested
• 2 egg whites (save the yolks for the egg wash) 

1. Pour boiling water over the poppy seeds. Let them stand for 5 minutes, drain them, and repeat the process.
2. In a small saucepan, cover the poppy seeds with milk and bring to a boil. Strain the poppy seeds and then grind in a food processor until the seeds release the milk and turn white. You may have to scrape down the bowl a couple of times.
3. Add the sugar, honey, and butter and cook for about one minute.
4. Once cool, add the zests and egg whites and mix it all together.

Walnut Filling

• 1 2/3 cup ground walnuts
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 lemon, zested
• 1 orange, zested
• 1/4 cup water

1. Mix all of the ingredients together and gently simmer for about 15 minutes. Cool and set aside

To make your rolls:

1. Divide the dough in half. Roll each half into a large rectangle, leaving it about a 1/4"-1/8" thick, depending on how big you want it.
2. Spread the poppy seed filling over one rectangle, the walnut filling over the other. Make sure to leave a little border so that you can seal the rolls. If you want, you can sprinkle some raisins over the fillings like I did, or you can leave them as is.
3. Carefully start rolling the dough from one long side to the other, taking care not to squeeze too hard.
4. Place the rolls onto a baking sheet, seam side down, and cover in plastic wrap. Let them sit for 30 minutes.
5. Using a fork, poke some holes all along the top of the rolls. Brush with an egg wash and sprinkle with some topping of your choice. I sprinkled sliced almonds all along the tops and sides, just to give it a little extra sparkle.
6. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 35-40 minutes. I noticed after 30 minutes that the tops were a nice golden brown and I didn't want them to get burnt, so I covered the rolls with aluminum foil and then put them back in the oven for about 7 minutes.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

When I was in seventh grade I entered junior high school and bought my lunch everyday from the school cafeteria. It took me a year of eating school lunch food to realize that I could have much better lunches, both nutritiously and taste wise, if I simply packed my own lunch. However, from time to time I still bought the chocolate chip cookies. They were the most moist, gooey, delicious chocolate chip cookie I had ever had and I couldn't help but treat myself sometimes.

Today I finally made a chocolate chip cookie that I loved, and it reminded me so much of those cookies I had back in junior high. Although they weren't gooey, they were extremely soft and biting into them left me with such a nostalgic feeling. They had the perfect amount of moisture and crumbled in my mouth. I later realized, after reading through my previous posts, that the recipe is almost exactly like that of the triple chocolate chip cookies I made in July. The only difference is that those cookies call for chocolate pudding mix instead of vanilla and also cocoa powder. After making these cookies, and recalling the soft texture of the other cookies, I have decided that I really like using pudding mix in the recipe because it makes the cookies extremely soft and crumbly. Now I wonder what other types of cookies can be made with pudding mix...

On a side note, I decided to finally learn the difference between baking powder and baking soda. Baking soda is pure sodium bicarbonate (my bachelor of science being put to good use) while baking powder is a mix of sodium bicarbonate, an acidifying agent (cream of tartar), and a drying agent (usually starch). What that means is that when baking soda is combined with some sort of acid, such as chocolate, yogurt, honey, buttermilk, etc., it releases little bubbles of carbon dioxide and causes your batter or dough to rise. Baking powder has the same effect, but without the slightly bitter taste that baking soda can sometimes leave behind. This is due to the fact that baking powder comes "built-in" with an acid and a base, therefore it is neutral tasting.

So what does all this really mean in terms of baking? It means that if a recipe calls for baking soda, you can substitute baking powder so long as you use twice the called for amount, because baking soda is more concentrated. However, if your recipe calls for baking powder and you don't have any...you're out of luck. That's because baking soda is missing the acid component that will help your cake, or whatever batter you are making, to rise. Also, since most recipes with baking powder usually use only neutral ingredients, and not acidic ones, your recipe won't help in the rising department either. After all this research, the moral of the story is...always make sure you have baking powder and don't worry so much about the baking soda, it's too bitter anyways.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 package vanilla pudding mix (you can try some other flavors...be creative)
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup chocolate chips

1. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt and set aside.
2. Cream together the butter and sugars until light and airy.
3. Beat in the pudding mix, then the eggs one at a time, and finally the vanilla.
4. Combine the dry ingredients with the wet. I started by beating mine in a little at a time and then finally switched to using my hands to finish the job. It will seem like the dough is too dry because it will first be chunky but if you use your hands you can form it into a uniform dough.
5. Add the chocolate chips and work them in throughout the dough.
6. Refrigerate your dough for about 15-30 minutes. This makes it easier to shape the dough into balls.
7. Roll out 1" balls and place on an ungreased cookie sheet about 1" apart. I rolled mine out a little bigger because I like big cookies and I really wasn't looking to make dozens of cookies. Don't worry about placing them close together on the baking sheet because these cookies don't spread at all. In fact, I flattened mine out so that they would have a disk shape rather than a ball shape.
8. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 10-12 minutes. If you make them smaller, definitely go with 10 minutes, maybe even 8. However, my cookies were quite large, about 2", so they took about 13-15 minutes to bake.
9. Take the baking sheets out of the oven and keep the cookies on there for 5 minutes before moving to a wire rack to cool.

Laughing Cow Cookies

To celebrate my brother's arrival home from his many travels, I decided to bake some cookies. Nothing too heavy, just a light little snackable cookie that I knew he would like. I turned to one of my favorite cookie recipes, and really one of my only ones because I don't make cookies too often, the laughing cow cookie.

Laughing cow is a spreadable cheese that comes in little wedges and my family loves it. When you buy a laughing cow disk box (that's probably not its name but I don't know how else to call it) it comes with a little recipe card. Usually I just look at the recipe and then throw it away, but when I saw this cookie recipe I decided to try it because I was curious as to what laughing cow would taste like in a cookie. Fortunately, I was not disappointed.

I can't say that the cheese flavor is strong and overwhelming, in fact its quite hard to tell there is any cheese in the cookie at all. However, for a sugar cookie it is extremely soft and moist and not overwhelmingly sweet, which I like. Also, the recipe is so simple and basic that you can make tweaks to it and have one recipe turn out several different types of cookies. For example, this time I sprinkled half the cookies with plain sugar, while the other half were coated in a cinnamon-sugar mixture. In the past, I have also made the cookies double layered with a jam filling, and once with cocoa powder to make them chocolaty. Really, the possibilities are endless and I'm sure I will come up with more in the future.

Laughing Cow Cookies

• 3 wedges laughing cow spreadable cheese
• 1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar, plus more for sprinkling
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup flour
• 1 tsp baking powder

1. In a large bowl, beat the laughing cow, butter, sugar, and vanilla until smooth.
2. In a separate bowl, combine the flour and baking powder.
3. Add the dry ingredients to the first bowl and combine until a dough forms.
4. Roll out the dough to about an 1/8" thickness and cut out desired shapes.
5. Sprinkle cookie surfaces with extra sugar. Make sure to evenly coat the entire cookie.
6. Bake at 350 Fahrenheit for 10 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes before plating.

Lemon Pull Apart Loaf

After making the challah for Rosh Hashanah, I had extra dough left over so I decided to give this recipe a try. I had actually been meaning to make it for quite some time but every time I made sweet dough my mom insisted that I make the fruit filled cream cheese braids because she fell in love with them. This time, however, I finally convinced her to let me give this recipe a try. The technique is actually really cool and it makes such a beautiful looking loaf, I just couldn't resist. My only qualm is that I wish it had a stronger lemon flavor, but that can be achieved by simply making more of the lemon filling and really slathering it on the dough.

Lemon Pull Apart Loaf
Note: This loaf uses half of the dough from the sweet dough recipe.

• Sweet dough (recipe can be found on link above)
• Zest of three lemons (use more if you want more filling)
• 3 tbsp sugar
• Melted butter
• Juice of one lemon
• 1 tbsp icing sugar

1. Mix together the lemon zest and sugar and set aside.
2. Roll out the dough into a large rectangle and cut into five strips.
3. Brush the first four strips with melted butter and then spread with the lemon filling.
4. Stack the strips on top of one another, making sure the plain strip is on top.
5. Cut the strips into six equal sized blocks and arrange them, cut side up, side by side in a pre-greased 9" x 5" loaf pan.
6. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm, dry place for half an hour. Brush with an egg wash while you preheat the oven.
7. Bake the loaf at 350 Fahrenheit for about 45 minutes. If it starts to get too brown on top cover it with aluminum foil to keep it from burning while the inside keeps baking.
8. Once it's baked, transfer the loaf to a metal rack to cool. Mix together the lemon juice and icing sugar to create a simple glaze that you can pour over the top while its still hot.

Rosh Hashanah Challah

Shana Tova! That is the Jewish way of saying Happy New Year. Traditionally, Jewish families eat a special type of sweet bread on the Sabbath called challah. However, on Rosh Hashanah, the challah is even more special because it is baked in a round shape, meant to symbolize the cycle of a year.

When I searched for Rosh Hashanah challah recipes online, I came across one that had great reviews. The only complaint people had was that it seemed to take too long to rise. I decided to overcome that problem by doubling the yeast. I made sure to prepare the dough ahead of time so that I could make changes if need be...and it's a good thing I did. Even though the dough rose, I felt that there wasn't enough to make a challah big enough for the entire family.

I then decided to make a second challah, this time with a recipe I was more sure of. Although I didn't use a challah recipe, I used my sweet dough recipe instead, I filled the dough with apples and rolled it into a round shape.

Even though the first challah had great reviews online, I can't say I was that impressed with the taste. The recipe called for honey instead of sugar but in the end I felt it wasn't sweet enough. The apple challah, on the other hand, was sweet and moist and I was very glad that I had decided to make it at the last minute. Maybe the other challah wasn't great because I didn't stick to the recipe, though my only change was the additional yeast. In hindsight, maybe I should have added more honey as well...I don't know. For those interested in the recipe, I got it from epicurious...perhaps someone else will have better luck with it. I, on the other hand, will stick to the apple challah since it seemed to be a hit with the family.

Apple Challah
Note: I used only half the dough to make the challah, the other half I set aside and used in a different recipe.

• Sweet dough (recipe same as for apple cream cheese braid)
• 3-4 medium size apples, cored and peeled
• Honey

1. Cut the apples into small chunks and gently heat with some honey until nice and soft. I don't know how much honey I used, I just poured until I felt it was enough and the apples had a nice sweet taste to them.
2. Roll out the dough into a rectangle about 20" x 15".
3. Lay out half the apple chunks onto the middle third of the dough and fold the bottom third over. I recommend straining the apples to remove as much juice as possible, so that it doesn't seep out later.
4. Pat the dough down around the apples and then lay down the rest of the apple chunks on top. Fold over the top third of the dough and pat down around the apples once again. Try to seal the dough around the sides and ends, but be careful not to rip it.
5. Starting from one of the ends, carefully roll the dough into a loose cylinder. I emphasize the loose because if you press down hard, the dough will rip and apple chunks will fall out.
6. Transfer the dough, with the smooth side facing up, to a pre-greased round cake pan. I used an 11" springform pan, because it's the biggest one I have, but you can probably get away with a 9". The dough won't fill up the whole pan but you can pat it down a little very gently. 
7. Cover with plastic wrap and allow the dough to rest in a warm spot for half an hour. Afterward, brush with an egg wash while preheating the oven.
8. Bake at 350 Fahrenheit for an hour. Once the dough starts to get golden on top, about half way into baking, cover it with aluminum foil so that the top doesn't get burnt while the inside bakes.

Breakfast Frittata

Question: What do you do with a brand new oven-safe pan and lots of leftovers?

Answer: Make a frittata!

A frittata is basically an omelet that starts off on the stove and then gets finished off in the oven. I have been begging my mother for an oven-safe pan for quite some time and we finally bought one this weekend. Of course I had to try it out right away and what better way to utilize it, and clean out the fridge, than to make a fritatta. I pretty much raided our fridge for any item I thought would be delicious in an omelet, threw it all in the pan, poured over the eggs...and voila...breakfast. It was definitely fast, easy, and tasty. Best of all, I got to try out my new pan and was extremely pleased with it.

Here are 5 easy steps to make a frittata:

1. Saute all of your fritatta fillings in a nonstick skillet over medium heat until nice and tender. Really you can use anything here, that's the beauty of a frittata. Some examples include meats and veggies such as chicken, turkey, onions, mushrooms, peppers...you get the point. I added potatoes to mine and I'm sure leftover pasta would taste great as well.
2. Whisk together your milk and eggs in a separate bowl. I really don't know the proper ratio, but I would suggest about four eggs to a 1/4 cup milk. Basically, make sure you have enough liquid to cover all of your fillings once you pour the egg mixture into the pan. Add some salt and pepper for seasoning.
3. Pour the egg mixture into the pan and give it a quick stir.
4. Cover the pan with a lid and reduce the heat to a medium low. Allow the frittata to cook for about six minutes, or until the bottom is nice and set. The top will still be runny but don't worry because...
5. Put the pan in the oven under a broiler to finish cooking the top of the frittata. Five to six minutes should be plenty, but use your judgment. As soon as the top looks ready, it's done. If you're a cheese fan, sprinkle some cheese over the top right before you put it in the oven and take out the frittata once the cheese on top is bubbly and melted.

That's it...the quick and easy way to have breakfast and clean out your fridge at the same time. Enjoy!

Strawberry Banana Cheesecake

As per all of our family birthday celebrations, no party is now complete without one of my desserts. Usually I go with some sort of cheesecake, and this time was no exception. Although my brother is a big chocoholic, I really wanted to make a cheesecake that reflected the summertime, and therefore went along the fruit path. I came up with this recipe on the fly, and was quite surprised with the consistency and taste. I particularly enjoyed the comment made by my cousin: "It's like a strawberry banana milkshake in solid form!"

The truth of the matter was that he was right...it had both a distinct strawberry and banana flavor and the little chunks of banana were reminiscent of a milkshake. As for the consistency, my mother likened the cake more to a mousse rather than a cheesecake. However, it seemed that everyone actually enjoyed the soft, creamy texture of the cake instead of the usual density that a cheesecake brings to mind. After seeing everyone's reactions, I think I might try my hand at some mousse cakes and see how they turn out. After all, a girl can experiment with one type of cake for so long before wanting to spread her wings a little.

The cake itself should not have been difficult to make, except for the fact that my mixer broke halfway through the process. My family has been faithfully served by the same hand-held Black and Decker mixer for the past 16 years. Unfortunately, as I was making my brother's birthday cake the mixer decided that it had run its course and, with one last whirl, gave up and died on me. Luckily it had remained alive long enough to do the grunt work...I used it long enough to beat together the cream cheese and sugar, as well as two out of the three eggs for each of the batters. Still, I got quite a workout by hand mixing the rest of the ingredients, starting with the last eggs and then of course the fruit and sour cream.

In the end, it turned out to be a delicious cake and now I'm looking for a new hand-held mixer which will hopefully serve me just as well as the previous one did for so long. My dreams of course would be for a Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer, but the price tag on it will keep me dreaming a little longer...so I'm settling for a good hand-held mixer instead. Any suggestions would be appreciated, preferably one that has a slow speed setting which is actually slow. Until I get a new mixer, I guess I'll try making other things to pass the time.

Strawberry Banana Cheesecake
Note: I used an 11" springform pan to make this recipe, therefore doubling the proportions of a normal cheesecake and making two complete batters. I still had a little extra left over of each batter and made it into mini cheesecakes in metal tart forms. I honestly don't know the proportions for a regular 9" cheesecake, so I will post the recipe I used. If you're anxious about the leftover batter, either make mini cheesecakes like I did or split the batters in half, make two 8" or 9" cakes and then freeze one. Cheesecakes can sit in the freezer, tightly wrapped for a good three months.

For the crust:

• 2 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 cup (8 tbsp) unsalted butter, melted
• 3/4-1 cup caramel
• 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
• 1/2 cup pecans, chopped
• 1/2 cup almonds, chopped

Combine the sugar, cinnamon, graham cracker crumbs, and melted butter. Transfer the mixture to a 11" springform pan and press down gently along the bottom and sides. Bake for 8 minutes at 350 Fahrenheit. 

Allow the crust to cool a little before you pour the caramel on top. Make sure to spread all along the bottom, and then sprinkle the mixture of walnuts and pecans over top.

For the banana filling:

• 1 lb (2 blocks) cream cheese, room temperature
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 4 bananas, mashed
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp lemon juice

Mash the bananas and add the teaspoon of lemon juice to the puree. You can process the bananas in a food processor, but I personally liked having the banana chunks run throughout the cake...it made the banana flavor stand out.

Beat together the cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, and then vanilla until well combined. Gently fold in the banana mixture until the batter is fully mixed and no streaks are present.

Pour the banana batter into the springform pan halfway up the sides. You will probably have some extra batter leftover, but don't be tempted to use it all otherwise you won't have room for the strawberry layer. Place the pan in the freezer for about 10 minutes, allowing the banana layer to firm up a little before pouring the strawberry layer on top.

For the strawberry filling:

• 1 lb (2 blocks) cream cheese, room temperature
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups strawberries + 2 tbsp sugar + 1 tbsp lemon juice

To make the puree: There are proper methods to making strawberry puree using fresh or frozen strawberries, but they involve prepping hours ahead of time, and I often don't plan on making the cake until I actually find the time to do it. Therefore, my simple puree method involved roughly cutting up two cups of strawberries, sprinkling two tablespoons of sugar, and heating it up in a small saucepan until the strawberries became soft. I then dumped it all in a blender and pureed the mixture with a tablespoon of lemon juice, leaving it in there to cool while I worked on the rest of the batter.

As with the banana batter, beat together the cream cheese and sugar, then add the eggs in one at a time and then the sour cream and vanilla. Lastly fold in the strawberry puree until the batter is fully combined. Pour the strawberry layer over the banana layer (you will have extra batter) until the batter is about 2 cm from the top.

Bake the cheesecake in a water bath, or with a pan of hot water on the lowest rack, for 50 minutes at 325 Fahrenheit. Without opening the oven door, turn off the oven and let the cake sit there for another 1-1/2 hours before removing. Cool to room temperature and then refrigerate at least 4 hours, though preferably overnight, before serving.

Note: If you choose to make mini cheesecakes with the leftover batter, bake them in muffin sized tart shells at the same temperature for 15 minutes. Afterward, turn off the oven and let them sit there for another 20 minutes before partially opening the oven door. Allow the cheesecakes to cool completely in the oven with the door ajar and then transfer to the refrigerator for at least 4 hours.