A Taste of Summer: Strawberry Lemonade Cheesecake

Don't you just love summer? I sure do. Around Seattle, summer only lasts about eight weeks with a few weeks in July (if we're lucky), most August, and a few weeks into September. Although I do love the weather in the Pacific Northwest, the summers are just resplendent. It's almost as if our summer days are more concentrated in smile producing endorphins and sunshine. Or maybe it's just that I'm just that much more grateful for a clear day that's warm and I don't need to wear a few extra layers. 

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Triple-decker Chocolate, Coffee, and Toffee Cheesecake

The next time the occasion arises where want to impress your friends, need a raise, or want to otherwise make people temporarily worship you, this is the cheesecake for the task.

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"Ohh... What's that?" Cheesecake Ball

Last night I hosted a holiday soiree. Lots of people were invited but one uninvited guest spoiled the show: snow! We have been deluged by snow, more than I've ever seen in my nine years of living in Seattle. It's quite beautiful but the roads have been a mess. As such, several party goers played it safe and stayed home.

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White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake

When Julia said her favorite dessert was white chocolate raspberry cheesecake, I have to admit I was a little disappointed. Cheesecake? Really? I don't know what it is about cheesecake but the thought of making it always terrifies me! I always think that it's going to a disaster. It will burn, crack in half, be grainy and dry, or taste like a flavorless hunk of cream cheese. But this time, I had an attitude adjustment. After all this was for her birthday. I could do this and without any whining, dammit!

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Breast Cancer 3-Day Bake Sale Cheesecake Pops

Today I donated cheesecake pops for a Breast Cancer 3-Day fundraiser bake sale. These were the same recipe that I used to make the Daring Baker's April Challenge, but I only made one-fifth of the recipe. I'm not sure how well they sold, but I think they came out pretty good.

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Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Bars

Yeah..... you know you want one...

That's right... there's three layers... graham cracker crust studded with mini milk chocolate chips...topped with a smooth and creamy cheesecake that been studded with buttery chocolate chip cookie dough baked right inside and finished with a ribbon of creamy semisweet milk chocolate drizzled over the top..... pure bliss!

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Cheesecake Pops

When I saw that this month’s recipe was for cheesecake I was a little worried, mostly due to my lack of experience making it. However this recipe was for cupcake pops and who doesn’t love food on a stick? And as luck would have it, about a week before I heard about this mission I had offered to make cheesecake as a birthday treat for a coworker, Angela. It was official; this mission would be made just for her. 

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Chocolate Truffles

When I asked Martha what she wanted for her birthday her answer was, "I’d love something small (bite-sized even) and very chocolate". The first thing that popped into my head was truffles. After all they were bite-sized and are to some the very definition of chocolaty. I did my usual research and found two recipes to try but couldn't' decide between the two so I made both.

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Hazelnut Chocolate Chip Cheesecake

One of my mom's favorite desserts when I was growing up was cheesecake and time after time she would attempt to make one and well, let's just say she was really good at adding a distinctive carbon flavor to them. When Chris told me he wanted cheesecake I immediately thought of my mom and panicked.

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