MBCC: White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake Cupcakes

Phew! I was beginning to think I wouldn't get this entry in on time. What with school about to start and me working all the time, I really haven't had many chances to bake, but here I am with my entry and I'm happy I could make it! I'm going to apologize first of all. Because I had so little time, I didn't have time to take a bunch of photos, so I only have photos of the finished product. Eek! Sorry! But anyway, it's time for round 2 of Jamieanne's Mystery Box Cupcake Challenge and this month's ingredient was white chocolate! When I found out what the mystery ingredient was, I immediately began racking my brain to see how I could incorporate it. At first I thought candy bar. Maybe take a white chocolate candy bar and recreate it into a cupcake. But what bar? A Zero bar? A white chocolate Toblerone? But eventually, another combo hit me. What about white chocolate raspberry? The combination was inspired by an amazing cheesecake I had made before (which unfortunately I made before I started blogging), and as I got to thinking, I remembered that a while ago, I had made a recipe for a cheesecake flavored frosting and still had not gotten a chance to try it. Perfect! A white chocolate raspberry cheesecake cupcake! And then oh, I thought, why not go the whole nine yards and add a cookie crust to it? However, as I did these last minute, I didn't have time to grind the cookies and make a crust, so instead, I just put a whole vanilla wafer at the bottom of each cupcake liner and voila! It was perfect!

The cupcake isn't an actual cheesecake. Sometimes when people make "cheesecake cupcakes," they just make mini cheesecakes in cupcake liners. But this recipe is an actual cupcake. It's a white chocolate cupcake with white chocolate melted in and then chopped finely into the batter, sitting atop a vanilla wafer cookie. I used the cone method to fill it with raspberry preserves and then topped it off with a white chocolate cheesecake frosting. How is the frosting "cheesecake," you say? The secret is actually cheesecake flavored instant pudding! I got the idea a long time ago in order to try and make cream cheese frosting more appealing to myself. I've never been a fan of cream cheese, and although you add a bunch of sugar and flavoring to it in order to make a frosting, I've never cared much for cream cheese frosting either. Yet for some reason, I love cheesecake. Doesn't make sense, I know! So when I saw a cheesecake flavored instant pudding in the store one time, I thought that by adding it to a cream cheese frosting, I could make a tasty cheesecake flavored frosting that I actually liked. I threw some melted white chocolate in too to keep with the theme. I can't take too much credit for the cake recipe, because I only altered it slightly from a recipe I found on allrecipes, so I wanted to be sure to make up for it with this frosting, and I think I did!

White Chocolate Raspberry Cupcakes (adapted from Clara's White German Chocolate Cake on allrecipes)
Makes about 24 cupcakes

Ingredients

• About 24 vanilla wafers
  
• 5 (1 ounce) squares white chocolate, chopped, divided
  
• 2 1/2 cups sifted cake flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup butter, softened
  
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 4 egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 4 egg whites
• 1/2 cup raspberry preserves

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a cupcake pan with liners. In each liner, drop a whole vanilla wafer to act as the crust. Set aside.
   
2. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt (this will be the second time the flour is sifted). Set aside.
3. In a small, microwave safe bowl, melt 4 squares of the white chocolate, preserving the last finely chopped square. Set the melted chocolate off to the side to cool slightly. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the yolks one at a time. Add the melted chocolate and vanilla and mix until well combined. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk. Fold in the remaining chopped chocolate.
4. In a large bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold 1/3 of the whites into the batter, then quickly fold in remaining whites until no streaks remain. Divide the batter among the cupcake liners, pouring on top of the vanilla wafers.
5. Bake for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan slightly then remove to wire racks to cool completely.
6. When the cupcakes have cooled, cut small holes in the top using the cone method. Fill each one with about a teaspoon of raspberry preserves and place the "lids" back on.

White Chocolate Cheesecake Frosting (my own recipe)

Ingredients

• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
• 1 box cheesecake flavored instant pudding
• 2 ounces white chocolate, melted
• 4 cups powdered sugar, plus more if needed
  
• 2 tablespoons of milk, plus more if needed
  
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions

1. In a large mixing bowl, cream the cream cheese until smooth. Add the box of cheesecake instant pudding mix and the melted white chocolate. Mix until well combined.
2. Add the powdered sugar a little at a time and then add in the milk and vanilla. Turn the mixer up to medium and beat until well combined and fluffy. Use immediately to frost cupcakes.
   
   

For all the information on this contest, please visit Jamieanne's Mystery Box Cupcake Challenge info page right here.

The winner of August’s Mystery Box Cupcake Challenge will receive prizes from:

• Bake It Pretty; $5 electronic gift card
• Beanilla; 3 Indian + 3 Tahitian vanilla beans & a jar of Ground Vanilla
• CT2Designs; a cupcake ring
• Miss Kitty Creations; a cupcake charm of your choice
• Sweet Cuppin Cakes; a prize pack worth $25

Thank you to all our prize sponsors!

Caramel Cheesecake

Birthday #2 that I baked for was my brother's. My brother has never been a sweets kind of guy (which is funny being as my dad and myself have huge sweet teeth), he never really eats cake or cookies which is why I bake in such small batches; because it's only myself and my dad eating them. But one thing that my brother does like is cheesecake. So when I asked him what I could make him for his birthday, he requested the same thing that he did last year: caramel cheesecake. I was really happy because I've been wanting to make a cheesecake again for a while now, and because he requested the same kind of cheesecake last year, I knew I already had a great recipe that wouldn't disappoint.

For this recipe, I actually did something that I NEVER do, and that's take a recipe that didn't have any reviews for it and also from a site that I've never visited before. That's nearly taboo for me to do. I never try a recipe that doesn't have any reviews at all for it because I don't know if it's reliable or not and I hate the very rare occasions when I have to throw something out because it didn't turn out well. But the recipe sounded good and I put my faith in it, and thankfully, I'm very glad I did! This cheesecake is absolutely delicious with not only brown sugar adding to the caramel flavor, but also with a homemade caramel sauce swirled right in. I serve mine with extra homemade caramel sauce, but in actuality, it doesn't even really need it. The cheesecake is delicious on it's own.

Also, I've added a new recipe archive page to my blog that holds every single recipe and links to each individual recipe blog page for easy access. I realize the Blog Archive tab does somewhat sort of the same thing, but my recipe archive also sorts the recipes by type of dessert, making it even easier. Huzzah!

Rich Caramel Cheesecake (from That's My Home)
Makes 1 10-inch cheesecake

For the crust:

• 4 tablespoons melted butter
• 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (I used vanilla wafers)

For the caramel:

• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup heavy cream

For the filling:

• 4 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
  
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 large eggs, at room temperature
  

Directions:

1. Make the crust: Combine the butter and crumbs in a medium bowl, mixing with a fork. Press into the bottom of a 10-inch springform pan. (Keep in mind that this is only enough for a thin crust on the bottom only. If you'd like your crust to go up the sides as well, double the recipe.)

2. Make the caramel: Combine the sugar and water in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir well. Cover with a lid and cook until the sugar turns a medium amber color, about 3 1/2 minutes after the mixture comes to a boil. Use a wet pastry brush every once in a while to brush down any sugar that starts to crystallize on the sides. (After the sugar starts to boil, do not stir it anymore. Simply swirl the pan to mix. Once the sugar starts turning color, I'd suggest to just take the lid off and swirl almost constantly until it reaches the desired color. Remember to watch it like a hawk!!)
   
3. Remove from the heat and stir for 30 seconds. Slowly stir in the cream using a long, wooden spatula, being careful to avoid splatters. The caramel will hiss and bubble furiously when the cream hits it. (Also, it will let off a ton of hot steam, so be careful!) If the sugar begins to crystallize or harden in the bottom of the pan, return the pan to the heat and stir constantly until the caramel becomes smooth. Set aside.

4. (Now is the time when you want to preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.) Make the cheesecake: Beat the cream cheese and both sugars at medium speed using an electric mixer until soft and fluffy. Scrape down the bowl when necessary.

5. Add the vanilla and salt and mix to combine. Add the eggs one at a time, beating on the lowest speed of the mixer until just incorporated.

6. Scrape down the bowl once more and mix again just until everything is fully incorporated. Do not overbeat. Pour two-thirds of the batter over the crust. Beat the caramel sauce into the remaining one-third of batter. Pour the caramel batter over the plain batter and swirl mixtures using a rubber spatula.

7. Bake at 350 for about 50 minutes (I baked mine for 55 and I would suggest baking for at least this amount, or even up to 60 minutes), or until the edges are firm but the middle still wiggles. Remove from the oven and cool. Chill. (I cooled mine at room temperature for 30 minutes. Remember to chill your cheesecake for at least 4 hours before serving.)

* If you'd like to serve your cheesecake with extra caramel sauce, simply make the recipe for the caramel sauce above again, or double the recipe to make at the same time. If you double it, just remember to use half in the cheesecake batter and save half for serving.