Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Chocolate Cream Tartlets -- Tuesdays with Dorie and Caramel Cashew Mini Cheesecakes -- Daring Bakers

This is going to be a very sweet post! When blogging events collide, here is the outcome, not bad, right? The cheesecakes are for the Daring Bakers and the Chocolate Cream Tartlets are for Tuesdays with Dorie. Maybe in a perfect world, where I didn't wait until the last minute to do my baking, I would have done a wonderful DB post about the cheesecake challenge, and the next day done a beautiful TWD post about the Chocolate Cream Tartlets, picked by Kim of Scrumptious Photography (thanks, Kim!). But here it is Monday night -- tsk, tsk, tsk, always the procrastinator, even though I love the idea of planning ahead, and plan to try it at some point, really :)


First up...Daring Bakers -- The April 2009 challenge is hosted by Jenny from Jenny Bakes. She has chosen Abbey's Infamous Cheesecake as the challenge. Thank you, Jenny!


I did mini cheesecakes in a muffin tin and they turned out lovely. One itty bitty problem I had with the recipe was that there is quite a bit of butter in the crust and that was kind of tricky to deal with after baking, it was kind of gooey at first, and then when the extra butter cooled, it hardened and stuck to the pan and cooling rack, not a big deal though.

My only substitution in the recipe was to use sour cream instead of heavy cream -- nothing against you heavy cream, please don't worry, sour cream will never replace you in alfredo, but I wanted that extra little tang from sour cream in the cheesecakes. For my topping I did a salted caramel sauce with cashews, I can't remember where I first saw a caramel cashew cheesecake, I think it was a Taste of Home recipe -- or possibly a restaurant menu...either way, it turned out delicious!


On to TWD... I was of course a little nervous about the chocolate pastry cream but it turned out lovely. My substitutions in this recipe include using skim milk instead of whole and to using semisweet chocolate. This was a wow dessert, I didn't expect to really like it, but when it's all put together -- the chocolate tart crust, the chocolate cream, the whipped cream on top -- this is one amazing little chocolate number!

I think I'm safe saying this is my favorite chocolate treat we've made with TWD. Wait, I forgot about those chocolate cupcakes last October, this might be a tie. Chocolate isn't my favorite 'flavor,' but I did completely fall in love with this tart, I think a lot of that had to do with the fact that I used semisweet instead of bittersweet chocolate. I've tried quite a few recipes with bittersweet chocolate and it's just not for me, I guess I'm not 'grown-up' enough :) Below photo is the crust being prepared in the food processor, I found that I needed to add a few tablespoons of water to get the crust to a proper consistency.


My fridge was a hang-out for mini desserts waiting to be completed yesterday...

Yum! Thank you for visiting!

23 comments:

Megan said...

Wow - two delicious desserts at once! Can I come over next time?

Michele said...

Both desserts look just fabulous!

Cristine said...

I would like to move in to your fridge right about now! :) They both look fantastic!

NKP said...

They look great! I am especially attracted to that caramel cashew mini cheesecake!

Amanda said...

Wow a super sweet post for sure! I absolutely was in love with this tart too! So creamy and delish. Even better after a day in the fridge MMMMMMMMM

rosasdolcevita said...

I was drooling the whole time I was reading your post. They look so scrumptious. Can I come over to visit? :-)

vibi said...

MMmmmmmm... I hear that little caramel cheesecake cup calling my name! No? you don't hear it? Yes... listen carefully... Vibiiiiiii... Vibiiiii... come and get meeeeeeee! lol

Mouthwatering!

Jessica said...

All of those mini desserts in one fridge? Your house sounds like a great place to be right now. The tarts are lovely and the sprinkles on top are just adorable. I love the mini cheesecakes, what a fantastic idea.

Flourchild said...

Yummmy your kitchen looks like a bakery! Nice job on both the TWD tartlets and the Caramel Cashew mini cheesecakes. They both look way good! Im glad your doing good, LIfe is so busy but I must find time to bake!

Leslie said...

These both look delish! The mini cheesecake topping looks especially yummy!

chocolatechic said...

Your cheesecakes and tart look fabulous.

Anonymous said...

Wow. That truly is one sweet day. What are you going to do with all of that? The salted cashews sound SO good... oh mercy!

~Cat

kimberly salem said...

Both of your desserts look delicious! :) Glad you found the time to make the TWD and that you liked it!!

Anonymous said...

They both look so good! I've never had a caramel cashew cheesecake, but I'll have to try that someday.

Kayte said...

Wow...really impressed with both of these. You have a very creative flare with your baking! So elegant and lovely, both of them!
Kayte
www.grandmaskitchentable.typepad.com

Deborah said...

I soooooooo need to come to your house for a visit. :) Just absolutely delicious looking. Wonderful inspiration.

Deb in Hawaii said...

Yum! I am coming to your house. Both look amazing!

Pamela said...

I'll admit that I have seen dozens of cheesecakes lately with the DB posts, but I really haven't read many of them. The pictures are great, though! However, your cheesecakes have stopped me in my tracks. Oh, caramel...how do I love thee? And really nice job on the tarts, too!

TeaLady said...

OOOO!!!! Caramel Cashew. Wonderful. Funny you should sub sour cream for the cream. I had never made a cheese cake with cream - had always used sour cream. But really liked this recipe.

Your tarts and cheese cakes look wonderful.

Unknown said...

Everything looks wonderful! You've been busy! Sounds like you were a huge fan of the tart - I love when I find a recipe I adore (though this wasn't a favorite for me) :)

Di said...

Mmm, Andrea, both of those look wonderful! I love cashews; I bet they were fantastic with the caramel. I recently made a version of Dorie's Brown Sugar Pecan Shortbread and used cashews instead. Those were some dangerous cookies to have around! =) The chocolate cream tart looks terrific as well.

Christina said...

Wow! Those both look amazing! Aren't you lucky to have two desserts collide! Love it!

Unknown said...

Yum, caramel cashew sounds divine.

Thanks for being a part of the April Daring Bakers Challenge!

Jenny of JennyBakes

Related Posts with Thumbnails