With Saint Patrick’s Day just round the corner, now is a good time to begin planning your menu for the day. Quite often, the dessert is the capstone to a good meal. Here’s a simply delicious traditional Irish dessert you may want to try out. It is an easy-to-prepare desert, which your family will love. The results may also just stir up your interest in a career in the culinary arts.

Irish Cream Chocolate Cheesecake

This recipe requires 20 to 30 minutes to prepare and cooks in 1 hour and 20 minutes.

Ingredients:

• All purpose flour – 3 tablespoons
• Butter – ¼ cup
• Chocolate cookie crumbs – 1 ½ cups
• Confectioner’s sugar – ¹/₃ cup
• Cream cheese, softened – 3 (8 ounce) packages
• Eggs – 3
• Irish cream liqueur – ¼ cup
• Sour cream – ½ cup
• Unsweetened cocoa powder – ¹/₃ cup and ¼ cup
• White sugar – 1 ¼ cups

Directions:

• Baked Crust – begin by preheating your oven to 350⁰F (175⁰C). Place the confectioner’s sugar, ¹/₃ cup unsweetened cocoa and cookie crumbs in a large bowl. Mix together until you get a smooth consistency, with uniform color. Melt butter in a saucepan and add to the bowl. Stir ingredients well. Pour mixture into a 9-inch springform pan. Bake for 10 minutes in preheated oven. When ready, set aside the cake to cool. Adjust oven temperature to 450⁰F (230⁰C).
• Filling - place white sugar, cream cheese, ¼ cup cocoa and flour in a large bowl. Set mixer at medium speed and mix to a smooth consistency. Add the sour cream and Irish cream liqueur, and blend further on low speed. Pour mixture over the baked crust. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes. Adjust oven temperature to 250⁰F (120⁰C) and bake for 1 hour.
• Remove cake from oven. Use a butter knife to separate cake from the pan rim. Allow cake to cool before you remove the rim of pan. Chill for about 2 hours before serving. For a decorative effect, you may want to sprinkle some grated white chocolate onto the cake before serving.

This simple recipe doesn’t take much time and allows you to engage in cooking without much effort.

Sources:

Bailey’s Irish Cream Cheesecake. (2012) Cooks.com

Irish Cream Chocolate Cheesecake. (2012) AllRecipes.com

I love when you can put your single use appliance to a new use!  Have you ever thought of using your waffle iron to make brownies…. probably not.  But now that you have had a chance to let that idea run through your brain, I bet your mouth is watering.  Here is my favorite Fudgey Brownie recipe (again used in a new way) using the waffle iron ~ Fudgey Waffle Brownies topped with vanilla bean icecream and a little drizzle of chocolate syrup and you will think you are at one of those expensive ice cream parlors.

Ingredients:
6 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup self-rising flour
1 tbsp vanilla
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
powdered sugar

Directions:
Combine cocoa and sugar. Add melted butter and next 5 ingredients, stirring just until combined.

Pour the amount of batter needed to fill the bottom of your waffle iron, just as you would if you were making waffles. Cook for about 5 minutes or until the lid releases from the waffle brownie.

*If you would like to bake these the traditional way. Pre-heat your oven to 350 and bake in a 8-inch square pan for about 25 minutes.

Sprinkle with powdered suger. Top with ice cream and chocolate syrup if desired.

Ingredients:
8 oz. vanilla wafers, finely crushed (2 cups of crumbs)
3 Tbs. granulated sugar
7 Tbs. unsalted butter, melted
3 8-oz. packages cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup ricotta
2 Tbs. all-purpose flour
Table salt
1-1/4 cups granulated sugar
1/3 cup mini chocolate chips
2 Tbs. finely grated orange zest
1 Tbs. pure vanilla extract
4 large eggs, at room temperature
Confectioners’ sugar, for garnish

Directions:
Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 375°F.

In a medium bowl, stir together the vanilla wafer crumbs and 3 Tbs. granulated sugar. Mix in the melted butter until the crumbs are evenly moist and clump together slightly. Transfer the mixture to a 9-inch springform pan and press evenly onto the bottom and about 2 inches up the sides of the pan (to press, use plastic wrap or a flat-bottom measuring cup). Bake until the crust is fragrant and slightly darkened, 9 to 12 minutes. Let the pan cool on a rack. Lower the oven temperature to 300°F.

In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese, ricotta, flour, and a pinch of table salt on medium speed, scraping down the sides of the bowl and the paddle frequently, until very smooth and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Make sure the cheese has no lumps. Add the 1-1/4 cups granulated sugar and continue beating until well blended and smooth.

Add the chocolate chips, orange zest, and vanilla, and beat until blended, about 30 seconds. Add the eggs one at a time, beating just until blended. (Don’t overbeat once the eggs have been added or the cheesecake will puff too much and crack as it cools.) Pour the filling into the cooled crust and smooth the top.

Bake at 300°F until the center jiggles like Jell-O when nudged, 55 to 65 minutes. The cake will be slightly puffed around the edges, and the center will still look moist. Set on a rack and cool completely. Cover and refrigerate until well chilled, at least 8 hours and up to 3 days. The cake can also be frozen at this point for up to 1 month .

Unclasp and remove the side of the springform pan and run a long, thin metal spatula under the bottom crust. Carefully slide the cake onto a flat serving plate.
Garnish with confectioners’ sugar sifted over the cake and serve immediately. To cut, run a thin knife under hot water, wipe it dry, and cut the cake into slices, heating and wiping the knife after every slice.

Ingredients:
1 medium banana, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch pieces to yield about 3/4 cup
1/4 packed cup light brown sugar
1/3 cup finely chopped walnuts
16 won ton wrappers
1 egg, beaten
1/3 cup Nutella
Vegetable oil, for frying

Directions:
In a small bowl, combine the banana, sugar and walnuts. Using a pastry brush, lightly brush the edges of each won ton wrapper. Put about a teaspoon of the chocolate-hazelnut spread in the center of each wrapper and top with 1 to 2 teaspoons of the banana mixture. Fold 1 corner of each won ton wrapper diagonally over the filling to form a triangle. Press the edges together to seal and refrigerate for 15 minutes.

Fill a large heavy-bottomed saucepan with about 3/4-inch oil. Heat over medium heat until a deep-frying thermometer inserted in the oil reaches 375 degrees F. (If you dont have a thermometer, a cube of bread will brown in about 2 minutes.) Fry the ravioli, 2 or 3 at a time, turning occasionally, until golden, about 60 to 70 seconds. Drain on paper towels. Cool for 2 minutes and serve warm.

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons dark rum
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 small pineapple, peeled and cut in 1/2
1/4 cup canola oil
1 store-bought pound cake, cut into 1/2-inch thick slices
Vanilla ice cream, for serving

Directions:
Melt the butter in a small saucepan over high heat, add the brown sugar and rum and cook, whisking until the sugar has melted and the mixture is smooth. Whisk in the heavy cream and cook until heated through and slightly thickened. Transfer the mixture to a bowl, keep warm.

Heat the grill to high.

Brush the pineapple on both sides with the oil and place on the grill. Grill until golden brown and caramelized on both sides, about 6 minutes. Remove from the grill, stack the slices and cut into chunks. While the pineapple is grilling, place the pound cake on the grill until lightly golden brown on both sides, about 20 seconds on each side. Remove the pineapple from the grill and, when cool enough to handle, either slice or cut into chunks.

Top each piece of pound cake with some of the pineapple and drizzle with the caramel-rum sauce. Top with more pound cake and vanilla ice cream.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups almonds, finely chopped
1 1/4 cups finely crusded vanilla wafer cookies
1 cup confectioners sugar
4 tbsp cocoa poweder
2 tbsp light corn syrup
1/4 cup Amaretto
1/2 cup granulated white sugar

Directions:
Chop finely either by hand or in your food processor the almonds and vanilla wafers.  Combine together in a large bowl.  Add the confectioners suger and cocoa poweder and combine.  Add the corn syrup and amaretto and mix well.  Shape into 1 inch balls.  Pour granulated sugar into a small bowl and roll the amaretto balls in the sugar. 

Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.  These are best if made several days in advance to allow the flavors to mingle.  Serve at room temperature.