Mini Strawberry Cheesecakes and Buffalo Chicken Rolls

Yum!

A local realtor asked if I could create some appetizers for an Open House for a high-end home in town this coming Sunday.

Strawberry Cheesecake Tarts with Chocolate Pie Shell

Of course, appetizers are probably the largest list of foods in my blog, so I could have so easily just gone there for inspiration. Yet, I did not, for the same reason that I am relatively prolific in creating new recipes: mainly, that I love trying new recipes or tweaking old ones. I sat at my computer searching online for inspiration, because there is an awful lot of inspiration out there these days. I came up with at least 8 different ideas, some just sort of tweaks of others, but still. And one idea gradually seeped into my brain after seeing a photo somewhere of a chocolate graham cracker with some cheesecake "dip" and a bit of canned cherry pie filling on top.

The idea began when I thought of replacing the chocolate graham cracker and making my chocolate pie pastry, or some variation thereof. Okay. Then, I thought no problem on making a cheesecake filling. Yet once I got down to it, I realized I still had some pulverized freeze-dried strawberry powder in a little container, so I went the route of flavoring the filling with that. I originally thought of using the cherry pie filling for the top, but once I used strawberry powder to flavor the cheesecake, it seemed odd to then use cherry on top. SO.
 

Freeze dried strawberries made into powder

The only complaint I have about these little tarts is the fact that the strawberry flavor was very hard to detect. It didn't harm the overall flavor at all - these little things are addictive! - but I plan to add more when making them for this coming weekend. One 1-ounce package of freeze dried strawberries, pulverized and sifted to remove seeds, results in a scant ¼ cup of strawberry powder. I only used 2 tablespoons of the powder in this first try, so I will be using at least 3 tablespoons in the next batch I make. This will leave about 2 teaspoons to make the little heart stencils on top.

Of course, if I have not previously made a recipe, I do need to test it out before using it for anyone else. And of course, being Superbowl Sunday, my husband was elated to test out my creations during his game watching. I toyed with the thought of putting a little chunk of fresh strawberry on top once they were ready to serve. I didn't have any on hand though. Instead, I cut a little heart out of a piece of paper and used it as a stencil. I set the cut out on top of each little cheesecake tart in turn, and sifted the strawberry powder on top. Carefully removing the paper, it left behind a perfect little deep pink heart.

Heart stencil on top of cheesecake tarts

These came together easily with only what I already had at home. Granted, everyone may not have the freeze dried strawberries, but aside from a yummy snack, they are great for coloring and authentic flavor.

Making and fitting the chocolate pastry shells

The chocolate pie shells were ease itself. Just mix the dough (no added liquids) and it is so easy. I rolled little balls, pressed them flat to about a 3-inch diameter and fitted them into the mini tart wells. The cheesecake batter was also simple and the use of a little "ice cream scoop" (about 2 teaspoon capacity) made filling the shells a breeze.  

Filling the chocolate shells

Strawberry Cheesecake Mini Tarts with Chocolate Shell

Strawberry Cheesecake Mini Tarts with Chocolate Shell

Makes about 30 tarts

CHOCOLATE PASTRY:
1 cup all-purpose flour, less 2 tablespoons
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
3 ounces cream cheese
¼ cup unsalted butter (4 tablespoons)

CHEESECAKE FILLING:
8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
⅓ cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons sour cream
1 egg
½ teaspoon vanilla
1½ tablespoons cornstarch
1 (1-ounce) package freeze dried strawberries

Making Pastry: Measure the cup of flour into a mixing bowl. Remove 2 level tablespoons of the flour and return to the original bag or container of flour. Add the 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder to the scant cup of flour in the mixing bowl and stir to blend. Add the cream cheese and butter and cut in as for pie pastry. Gather the mixture with hands to bring all the stray crumbs together into one ball. Cut into 30 equal pieces and roll each piece into a small ball. Take one ball on the counter (no extra flour is needed) and press flat with your hand, or roll with a rolling pin into about a 3-inch diameter circle. Peel the round from the counter and set the circle over a well in a mini tart pan, pressing into the well and against sides. Repeat with all the balls of dough. Set pans in the refrigerator while working with the cheesecake portion of the recipe.

Making the Cheesecake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. First make powder from the bag of freeze dried strawberries. Sift the powder through a fine-mesh sieve to remove any whole bits and all the seeds, discard the seeds. You should have approximately 3 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons. Set the 2 teaspoons of powder aside if making the stencil for the top.

In a mixing bowl, with a hand mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add and beat in the sugar and sour cream, then add the egg and vanilla and beat in. In a small bowl, stir together the cornstarch and 3 tablespoons strawberry powder. Add to the cream cheese mixture and beat until no streaks remain.

Remove a tin of the mini chocolate shells from the refrigerator and fill each chocolate shell with about 2 teaspoons of the cheesecake mixture. Bake the mini cheesecakes for about 10 minutes, or until set.

Set them aside to cool slightly before stenciling the tops. I used a plain white square of paper, drew on a little heart about ½-inch diameter, then cut the heart shape out. If the cheesecakes are too hot, the paper will stick to the top, so they should be slightly cooled before stenciling. Set the paper over top of a little cheesecake and use the fine mesh sieve to tap a bit of the remaining 2 teaspoons of strawberry powder over the heart cut out. Gently lift the paper, tapping excess powder back into the bowl before placing it onto the next cheesecake. Repeat for all the mini cheesecakes. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once I made these little gems, I was looking to make something savory and easy, so I made some Buffalo Chicken Rolls. This type of recipe is all over the place on the internet, but generally made with cream cheese only. I am one who loves blue cheese and so is my husband, so I added blue cheese crumbles to the mixture and these were absolutely delightful. My husband said they were at the high point of his heat tolerance level. To me, they were perfectly but lightly spiced. I used rotisserie chicken which made it very quick and easy.

Buffalo Chicken Rolls

Buffalo Chicken Rolls

Makes about 24 to 27 (plus ends left for the chef!)

1 cooked chicken breast, finely chopped (about 1½ cups)
4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
4 ounces Buffalo Wing Sauce (I used Sweet Baby Ray's)
½ cup blue cheese crumbles
¼ cup chopped scallions
3 (6-inch) flour tortillas

In a bowl, mix together well all ingredients except the tortillas. Divide the mixture evenly between the 3 tortillas, spreading the mixture to the edges. Roll the tortillas, without pressing too hard on the filling. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour and up to 2 days. Slice off ends that will not make a proper roll, then slice across into ½ inch slices to serve.
 


My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

A Valentine Labor Of love

Sweet Potato Cardamom Cupcakes 

Anyone who knows me, or reads this blog, knows I love experimenting with recipes, trying different flavor combinations, and looking for things that are pushing the edge of where my husband will go with his food. I love trying new and different flavors, new spices or herbs, combining things in different ways. As I watch TV and hear about some of the more "out there" flavor combinations, I long to try them. So, in the back of my mind, I am always running through different flavors and how to combine them and in what. 

For some weeks now I have wanted to make cupcakes, core them, fill them with something and then frost them. In general I am not over fond of making cupcakes at all. I like eating them; they are cake, after all, and I love cake. However, I prefer to make one large something as opposed to lots of small somethings, at least in the cake or pie department. But, I had never "cored" or filled a cupcake, and wanted to try this out. The flavors and combinations were what was keeping me from starting, because I couldn't settle on a combination I liked. Yesterday morning, since I had not gotten my husband a Valentine gift, I sat down and focused. The process of creating the recipes and making all the components were almost a 6 hour job. Another time, with recipes already created, I know that much of it can be made over the course of days and finished easily in a short period of time when needed.

I settled on a sort of Middle Eastern set of flavors to work with. I had been thinking of a pistachio cream for the filling for a long while, but the rest of the equation had escaped me. So, pistachio filling was a start. Then I focused on the cupcake component. I prefer white cake. My husband also loves white cake. We will both eat chocolate, but it is not generally our first choice. I did not want to make a carrot cake, despite how much he loves that. With the Middle Eastern flavors I was going for, it was the wrong canvas. I wanted a moist cake, and had once made a cake with squash in it. I had a 10-ounce sweet potato in the fridge. I set it in a pan of water and boiled it for an hour, then cooled slightly and peeled it. I put it through a ricer and ended up with a perfect 1-cup. I decided on a yellow cake, as no  matter what, it would be yellow with the sweet potato. For the flavors, I went with cardamom, black pepper, orange zest and juice, all Middle Eastern flavors.

A couple of months back, when grocery shopping, I found freeze dried strawberries, in among the regular dried fruits. I do not care for strawberries. I abhor anything fake strawberry "flavored." I like the real flavored cream that results from strawberries soaking in cream - but not the berries themselves. So, since I had freeze dried strawberries, and my husband is a real strawberry fiend, I figured the flavor was real enough and I was not actually eating the fresh berries I do not care for. To give the frosting vaguely Middle Eastern flavor, I added rosewater. So, my stage was set. Then I started working on recipes.

I wanted to make the pistachio filling with an idea I saw on TV. They added pastry cream to a mixture with ground pistachios. I have a recipe for a pastry cream I have used for years. As a matter of fact, long ago I used to make it as a cooked pudding for my kids, as the flavor is so delightful. I made a batch of that first, while the sweet potato was cooking. Then, I worked on how to proceed with the pistachio part. I took some raw, shelled, unsalted pistachios I have had for a while and placed them in the food processor with some confectioners' sugar and processed that for about 5 minutes. It resulted in a pretty green powder. While it was already finely ground, I still worked the powder through a colander to take out any larger pistachio bits that might remain, though there was not much. I creamed some butter for about 5 minutes, then added in the pistachio powder. Once that was well creamed, I added in some of the cooled pastry cream and mixed. That went in the fridge to set.

I am going to post here the Pastry Cream, Pistachio Cream Filling and the Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting recipes. Tomorrow I will post the recipe for the cupcakes and the finalizing.

Pastry Cream

Pastry Cream

Makes about 1 5/8 cups (you will need ½ cup for the Pistachio Cream Filling)

1/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups milk
1 egg + 1 egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

In a bowl, whisk together the egg with the yolk and set aside. In a medium saucepan, combine the first 4 ingredients. Using a whisk, mix in the milk. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat and whisking constantly, allow the mixture to cook for another 2 to 3 minutes to cook out the raw starch taste. With a small ladle, scoop some of the hot mixture into the eggs and whisk quickly to temper the eggs. Add in another ladle of the hot mixture and whisk. Off the heat, add the whole egg mixture back into the hot pan. Place the pan back over very low heat, whisking constantly for 30 seconds to one minute, or until the mixture just begins to bubble. Remove from heat immediately, or the eggs will scramble If desired, strain the mixture. Place plastic wrap directly onto the hot surface of the pastry cream and chill completely before using. This can be made up to 2 days ahead and kept refrigerated.

Pistachio Cream Filling

Makes enough to fill 24 cupcakes

1/2 cup preferably raw, shelled, unsalted pistachios (or rinse salt off of regular pistachios and dry completely before proceeding)
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar

Pistachio Cream Filling

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup pastry cream

Set the pistachios with the confectioners' sugar into the bowl of a food processor and process for at least 5 minutes, or until the mixture is a fine powder. With a mixer, cream the butter until very light. Add in the pistachio mixture with the salt and beat until well combined. Add the pastry cream and mix well. Chill. This recipe can be made 2 - 3 days in advance and kept refrigerated.

Strawberry Rosewater Frosting

Strawberry Rosewater Frosting

Makes enough to frost 24 cupcakes
 
1 (1-ounce) package freeze dried strawberries
6 ounces softened cream cheese
1 stick (4-ounces) unsalted butter, softened
4 cups confectioners' sugar
½ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons rosewater
 
Place 1 cup of the freeze dried strawberries in a food processor and process to a very fine powder. (Save the remaining few bits to crush and sprinkle over the finished cupcakes). Sift this powder with the confectioners' sugar and salt into a bowl and set aside. In a standing mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter for about 8 to 10 minutes, until light and creamy. Stop the mixer and add all the sifted ingredients. Start on very slow to incorporate the dry ingredients, then add the rosewater and increase speed and beat well. Can be made 1 day ahead and chilled. Bring to room temperature and beat to bring back the texture before using. 



My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.