November 19, 2015

'Happy Birthday, Eleanor! Cheesecake,' or, Chocolate Swirl Cheesecake

November 19, 2015/ Blair Cowan

If Eleanor was still alive, today would be her 95th birthday!* Over the last few months, I've learned a bit about Eleanor and what made her tick, and so, in her honour, November's cheesecake is the first non-plain cheesecake I've made from the box. To me, making a chocolate cheesecake instead of the plain ones of the last nine months was an excitement I don't think anyone who hasn't made one cheesecake a month every month for nearly a year can understand. But I recognise that it may not be the best honour for Eleanor, who, by all accounts preferred plain cheesecake to nearly any other dessert. Nevertheless, I think she would appreciate the effort... even if she didn't understand why I started this project in the first place. I don't know how Eleanor liked to celebrate her birthday, but I can imagine that most years it involved Bingo, a cheesecake, and a lot of time with her friends... and let's be real, that sounds like a pretty great birthday to me.

Grandparents are a rare breed-- when they become parents (and then grandparents), they give up so much of themselves in favour of their children and grandchildren, and it always strikes me how much of that involves giving up their own birthday celebrations. I can't even count the number of photos that exist of me sitting on the lap of one of my grandmother's, helping them blow out their birthday candles, stealing their thunder when I was still tiny. It's not a unique thing: we all do it when a child comes into our lives. We share our birthdays, we share Christmas, we share the holidays-- it's just what we do. But I just turned 30, and, selfishly, I still love having my own birthday. So the older I get, the more I respect that Eleanor shared her birthday with all of us, but still managed to have her own parties, her own celebration, and her own vibrant life, even as a grandmother. She was a strong, brave woman, and I hope that when I'm 95, I'll have inherited some of that spunk.

We're ten months into the Cheesecake Saga, and though I originally counted 13 cheesecakes in the box, I can only find one more recipe now, so maybe I miscounted and perhaps we're closer to the end than I thought! But regardless, here's to Eleanor, and the first cheesecake I've made that came out of the oven without a single crack in it. I think she was probably looking down from heaven and giving my cheesecake just the right amount of je ne sais quoi that it needed... or maybe I'm just finally learning what I'm doing. This one is a bit of a pain-- it involves the food processor (to grind the crumbs for the crust), the mixer (to blend the filling), and then a whole separate bowl (to whisk together the chocolate layer). But somehow, despite all that, it seemed to go faster than the last few and much smoother than my early iterations.

If you've been debating making one of these cheesecakes because you're on the fence about plain ol' cheesecake, then this one is at your service. Creamy and chocolate-y without being overly sweet or heavy, it's straightforward and gorgeous, so it's perfect for taking to a holiday party, making for yourself, or (if you can bear to part with it) eating on Thanksgiving. AND if you HAVE been making plain cheesecakes along with me, then take note that this one doesn't require beating any egg whites OR even separating any eggs (we take our gratitude where we can get it in the House of The Recipe Box Project).

*You may be noticing a theme here, which is that in the month of November, my family has a lot of birthdays: mine, then my mom's, then Eleanor's, then my grandfather's-- all one week apart each. Weird, right?

The verdict:

5 spoons out of five. It's swirly, pretty, smooth and fluffy, and with just enough chocolate to make it exciting.

The recipe:

Chocolate Swirl Cheesecake

the directions:

Preheat oven to 165C/325F.
Combine crumbs, 2 tbsp sugar, and melted butter and pat into the bottom and up the sides of a springform pan, then set aside.
In a microwave, slowly melt chocolate chips with ½ c sugar, stirring frequently until melted and smooth, then set aside.
In the bowl of a mixer, beat cream cheese until light and fluffy.
Gradually add ¾ c sugar, beating until smooth.
Mix in sour cream and vanilla.
Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Divide batter in half and stir melted chocolate into one half, leaving remaining half plain.
Pour chocolate batter into prepared pan, then gently (and as slowly as possible), pour plain batter on top, then use the tip of a knife to marble the cheesecake.
Bake for 35 minutes until just set, then leave it in the oven with the door slightly open until cooled to room temperature.

the ingredients:

1 ¼ c rich tea biscuit crumbs
2 tbsp + 1 ¼ c sugar, divided
¼ c butter, melted
1 c semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 c cream cheese
½ c sour cream
1 tsp vanilla
4 eggs

November 17, 2015

Deluxe Pecan Pie

November 17, 2015/ Blair Cowan

Last week, before the horror that unfolded in France, I wrote the below post about my birthday. In light of recent events, I deliberated for several days about whether or not to post this, but I've decided to proceed in light of the fact that Paris has always and will forever hold a special place in my heart. If you're equally heartbroken over the events of the last week, please consider donating to the Red Cross in your nation, who help cities all over the world pick up the pieces when tragedies like this week's unfold.

Eating Nutella crepes on the banks of the seine, listening to the weeknd and hanging out with my friends. May life always include moments this perfect.

Remember how I warned you that I was going to be celebrating my birthday somewhere foreign, but that I didn't know where? Well, on the night before Halloween, Judson made the big reveal and told me we were heading to Paris for the week.

I was so excited, you guys. In case you don't remember from back in March, Paris has always been a super special place for me-- it was the first place I visited outside the US, I lived, studied, and worked there in uni and almost four years ago, Judson and I got married there. It's my favourite place.

See that island in the back? We got married there.

On the metro, with an accidental and irreversible filter with Kate.

And even though I've been there a thousand times-- maybe BECAUSE I've spent so much time there-- I was stoked. I knew instantly that this had been a vacation that Judson had planned with my interests in mind, and I knew it would be great.

So the next morning, we arrived in Paris, knocked on the door of the AirBnB where we were staying and, surprise, a pair of our closest friends from Atlanta answered the door. I gasped, and then I shrieked, and then I hugged everyone four or five times each. And that's when Judson told me the rest of the plan: we were spending half of the week in Paris, half of the week in Berlin, and then heading back to Edinburgh all together where we would hang out for the last few days of our vacation and get to show some of our best friends around our adopted home.

Of course we recreated my favourite photo from our wedding (Judson wore the same coat that daY).

Judson surprised me with tickets to a purity ring show in the marais, and we had a lot of fun selfie-ing before it.

But the next morning, it got even better when, in the middle of breakfast at a nearby cafe, one of my best friend's from grad school walked up to our table as though everything was totally normal and I realised she was joining us for the week, too!

Not only did I get to bean around in my favourite city in the world with some of my very favourite people, but then we got to explore a brand new city none of us had ever visited, and we got to show off Edinburgh to boot. It was, quite honestly, the best birthday I've ever had. We saw some amazing sites in Paris, I got to fulfill my French-speaking quota for at least another year, and I added three more dear friends to the list of people I've visited Paris with. And then in Berlin, we ate the most amazing food, drank excessive amounts of German beer, stayed in an converted factory, and generally just enjoyed each other's company. (I even ate real German sauerbraten-- Eleanor would be so proud!)

The louvre courtyard on our first night in Paris with John and lacey.

I feel like this  photo sums up our relationship pretty accurately. Me thinking whatever i said was totally normal, kate trying to act like she's not thinking i'm weird. — I feel like this photo sums up our relationship pretty accurately. Me thinking whatever i said was totally normal, kate trying to act like she's not thinking i'm weird.

Judson and john in the castle where we ate dinner on the night of my (and Lacey's!) birthday.

Even after we returned to Edinburgh, though, the fun vacation continued as we got to show two new friends around town, and share more amazing memories with Kate, who lived here for the first year Judson and I were here in Scotland. I don't know how to capture for you just how special the week was for me, but I will forever be grateful to Judson for planning this amazing party for me, and to John, Lacey, and Kate for coming all the way to Europe to celebrate my birthday with me.

I'm so grateful to Kate for agreeing to travel to a city she already had been to (Paris) and then a city where she had once lived (Edinburgh). Special shoutout to John and Lacey, as this was their first time out of the country and they kept it a complete secret from all social media so that I would be surprised, and a double shoutout to Lacey because she and I share a birthday (she is one year to the day younger than me), so she agreed to come celebrate my birthday in clandestine fashion even though her own birthday was happening at the same time. And I have the big, huge, mega-insane thanks to give to Judson, for knowing me so well that he knew what would be the best way to ring in 30 for me: surrounded by my favourite people in my favourite place in the whole world.

So I turned 30. The world kept spinning, I kept having fun with my friends, I haven't found any wrinkles, and on the day of my actual birthday, Lacey and I were mistaken for a 24 and 25-year-old, so it's not all bad. In fact, it's all pretty great.

Judson and lacey were much less enthralled with the eiffel tower than me, Kate, and john.

Picnic at sacre-coeur, because with autumn weather like this, who needs the indoors?

If you're getting your Thanksgiving menu together and you need some inspiration, look no further than this pecan pie. It's insanely decadent without being overly saccharine thanks to the use of golden syrup (and a smidge of black treacle or molasses if you can get your hands on it!), and the added colour gives it a deep, toasty flavour and look that will make your entire house smell amazing. The best part is that the ratio of pecans to filling is so perfect that you don't get that weird 'floating pecan on top of an inch of sugary filling' thing that many basic pecan pie recipes give you, and it all comes together in a single bowl, no mixer needed. Make this pie and enjoy it with all those that you love.

yours won't be nearly this dark if you skip the treacle.