My Birthday Dinner

I can't believe that another year has gone by!  It seems that every year goes by faster and faster!  It was an extra special year this year, though, as this past weekend was my birthday weekend and our first year anniversary as husband and wife.  I decided to throw a little birthday dinner on Saturday and just have a nice gathering of my friends and family and relax with good food!  Of course, the majority of my guests were coming from San Diego...so, it was quite a long drive for them just to come for dinner.  So I decided to make this dinner extra, extra special.  My menu was going to be super simple, with as many do-aheads as I can possibly make!  The menu for the day consisted of assorted meats and cheese with fresh home-made French bread and assorted crackers, sausage and goat cheese stuffed mushrooms, individual chicken pot pies, served with garlic corn and roasted potatoes, side salad, creme brulee, mini raspberry cheesecakes, creamed horns, profiteroles aux chocolate, strawberry peach trifle, and cake.  Everything was served with an ample supply of wine and champagne =D As you can see, the majority of food prep was astronomical!...However, I was more happy that I'm running around the week of instead of the day of!  That being said..with the amount of preparations I had done for Saturday, and thinking that on Saturday all I had to do was throw things in the oven, was totally not what had happened!  I still ended up running around like a chicken! :)  As usual, I underestimated what I needed to get done and how long it will take to get done..oops =D  But no biggie...everyone still had a great dinner!

It took me a whole week to prep for this dinner!!  I had decided that I would like a try at making my own cake.  The original idea was to make a stacked pillow cake.  Yes, high ambitions...*sigh*...I tried to make pillow cakes just to get an idea of whether I would be able to pull it off, but the problem was I had to bake the batter twice, since you needed two cakes of the same size in order to build one pillow.  As you can see, it started to get too complicated for me, and me being of impatient nature, couldn't stand to make everything twice just to get one pillow.  On top of having to ice and decorate the pillow...it really seem a lot easier in my head than actually getting down to doing it.  At the last minute, I decided to make a plain round cake instead.  I was just going to ice it in buttercream, too, but since I had already bought fondant for my supposed pillow cake, I decided to just go ahead and try out the fondant...not bad for a first try!  I am very pleased with my cake...next time, it will be perfect ;)

[Strawberry Peach Trifle]

[Mini Raspberry Cheesecakes]

[Sausage and Goat Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms]

[Meat and Cheese Platter]

Ahhh, the beautiful cake with the fancy candles....The girls decided to go into my bedroom to set up the candles on my cake...I must say, it looked great and I'm glad they got a picture of this before they brought it out to me!  Here's the "after" picture:

Hrmm...fancy candles they are not....poor cake...Lol..

 LOL...I think the wine must be getting to us at this point..hehee...btw, T is not holding a knife...it's one of those plastic cake knifes ;) lol...We were just being silly...But I have to say, the cake was tasty...I decided to do a coconut, chocolate, coconut layer cake!  I am happy to report that the cake was still pretty moist!  In fact, I had some today and it was still moist!  I've got to hand it to fondant..definitely kept the cake fresh!

[The Ladies]

[The Whole Crew]

Once again, the alcohol must've gotten to us...(ok, so we were taking a 10 frame shot and everyone was supposed to do something different for each frame..and as you can see, only T and I actually did it!)...and what is my dog doing?!  LOL..Anyways, I just want to say a BIG THANK YOU to all my fabulous friends and family who made it out!!!  I know it's a super long drive...especially for those who hit a lot of LA traffic on the way here....but I hope you all had a lot of fun and enjoyed the yummy food and great atmosphere!  And for those of you who didn't make it, don't forget to send a present ;)  j/k...LOL..(not really)  ;)

Congrats Class of 2011!

Congratulations to the Class of 2011!!  June is always a very exciting month, as there is always so much going on!  Along with the wedding season, June commemorates the hard-working students, who are now on their way to bigger and better adventures! :)  This Saturday, my baking buddy M was in charge of the desserts table for her cousin's graduation party!  I happen to be in town this weekend and thought I'd help her out!  It was a lot of fun, and M was surprisingly very calm, seeing as her "to-do" list grew as time ticked!  M and I both had horrible Thursdays...it really must have been the weather...*blink, blink*...However, we snapped out of it and got to working on what we needed to get done.  Friday, as you all might remember, was my appointment for a cupcake tasting, but once I got back into town, I devoted the afternoon to helping M with her assignments :)

Unfortunately, I couldn't get much done for her...as I had to get back home to get dinner started! Saturday, however, was a totally different story!  We decided to frost our cupcakes Saturday afternoon before we head out to set up for the party.  They turned out pretty darn good! :)  We weren't sweatin it until we saw the time...and the amount of stuff we had to haul with us to the venue!  Once we got there, we were thrown in for another loop....the door to the building was still locked!  By the time the designated door opener arrived, we were hustling!  This, by far, was the fastest set up.  EVER.  ;) we're just that good! ;) Lol...
But really, every single pair of hands were put to work...and let me tell you, there was a lot of work to be done.  We had tables and chairs to unfold and put out, linens and centerpieces to get onto those tables, chafing dishes to fill with food, and two tables worth of desserts to set up and sit pretty before guests arrive!  M did a beautiful job on the fruit table!!  I am simply amazed by her creativity and her ability to work like a mad woman without once ever freaking out about the time and our state of undressed-ness =/  All in all though, we finished and was able to rush back home and change and get ready to come back!

 Our  yummy cupcakes....we had made a whole bunch of different flavors and mixed it up on the cupcake tier...We wanted to give it a youthful feel.  Aren't the toppers fun?

 

Aren't the fruit carvings fantastic??  One of the ladies had hand-carved all those fruits and veggies and they looked fantastic mingled against the fruit table and atop the cupcake tier!  This is something I must learn!! You really had to be there in person...these pictures do the fruit and veggie carvings no justice!  Aren't the cupcakes fun?  We, well, M.. had to make some more of those yummy raspberry cheesecakes...they were soooo yummy.  I ate 4 at the party...... o.O

See, Kate loved our cupcakes too ;)  Notice how the first thing gone is always the frosting??  It must be an innate ability of children!  Frosting first, cake last...maybe...Lol...She's super adorable and I'm glad she loved our frosting! :)

Once again, Congrats to the Class of 2011 everywhere!!!  May y'all soar high, above and beyond, in life!! :)

Cupcake Tasting

Well, thank goodness it's Friday!!  This week has been a crazy, stressful one for me!  June is always kinda hectic already, but boy, this week took it to a whole new level!!  You know, when I have events line up, I am usually pretty careful about how I plan the days leading up....I like to think that I'm pretty organized and get things done in a timely manner... C had given her friend my contact so that I can whip up a cupcake tasting for her.  The bride will be getting married next summer and is trying to plan everything...and I mean everything this month!  Both the bride and groom live out in Chicago, but have family out here in CA and will be getting married here in CA...so, trying their best to plan as much as they could before heading back to Chicago!  Anyways, C had raved about my cupcakes to the blushing bride, and we set up a day for cupcake tasting!  That was scheduled for this morning...(so, we had cupcakes for brunch today!).  Of course, I planned accordingly and tried to get as much info as I could from the bride...you know, venue, color, them, yada yada yada...but since they are in the very early stages of planning, the couple still aren't sure yet!  I had told them no biggie..I'll make some cupcakes with some simple flowery designs..you know, a few different looks to push them into the cake-planning mode!

 [Vanilla Bean cupcake with Vanilla Buttercream]

The couple had asked for a sample of red velvet and vanilla.  I had a couple of flavors that I know for sure that was super yummy, like peanut butter and chocolate.  But my favorite of the moment would have to be coconut!  Mmmm....coooconut...however, apparantly, not too many people are fond of coconut >:I  And this bride was no exception :(  But me, being me, I made coconut anyways...who knows, perhaps I can sway her mind and convert her into the throng of coconut lovers ;)

 [Coconut cupcake with Vanilla-Coconut Buttercream]

So, we ended up doing 5 flavors with 5 frosting!  Vanilla Bean with vanilla buttercream, coconut with vanilla-coconut buttercream, red velvet with cream cheese frosting, peanut butter with chocolate peanut butter buttercream, and dark chocolate with whipped chocolate ganache buttercream!  Hmm...I think I gained 5 pounds just listing that! Lol..I had also whipped up some vanilla whipped cream, which I had put on each cupcake.  Whipped cream is a lot less sweeter than buttercream, so I thought I'd try it out and see what the couple thinks.  I, personally, thought the sweetness level was just right with the whipped cream.  However, the texture of light whipped cream made my cupcakes feel more dense...so, it was a no-go texture-wise!

 [Dark Chocolate cupcakes with Whipped Chocolate Ganache Buttercream]

I started out by making the fondant flowers earlier in the week.  Because fondant takes a bit of time to dry, I figure I need to start early.  I haven't used gumpaste before and was thinking about trying it out...but figured I still have fondant at home, and the flowers came out beautifully the last time I made them, that I'll just use fondant this time around too.  Hmph...I had fondant heartbreak this week!  The darn weather certainly did NOT help me!  In fact, it was the start of the ruination of flowers! I ended up with sticky, tacky flowers on Thursday, which was assembly day so that I'm ready to roll out the door Friday morning...Can you imagine?? Sticky, tacky fondant flowers!!!!  LOL...yeah, I can only laugh about it now, after the fact, and after everything's done and over with! *sigh*...Thank goodness my baking buddy M had a food dehydrator.  Yes, it really does work in drying out fondant fast! Thanks M, you're a life saver!!

[Peanut Butter cupcakes with Chocolate Peanut Butter Buttercream]

[Red Velvet cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting]

In the end, everything worked out fine!  I had some beautiful cupcakes to show the bride and groom and hopefully gave them a start to planning the look for their cupcakes!  I had a lot of fun sharing my cupcakes with them and wish them the very best! I shall leave you lovely readers with a view of those fondant flowers that nearly broke my heart! ;)

Enjoy!

Crazy for Owls

So last Friday, I was at one of those fancy stores that sell fancy papers and whatnots.  C and I were trying to kill some time while waiting for traffic to die down.  We happened to be in Pasadena, so I thought I'd drag her into that fancy paper store so that I can buy another cupcake oven mitt.  I bought one oven mitt about a year ago...really have no idea why I didn't just buy two, seeing as I have two hands...but, one I bought...SO, since I was in the area...I figured I'll go buy another one! :)  However, we got a bit side-tracked by these super cute owl apron and mittens!  We were being a bit silly in the store =D

 

Aren't they super cute??  I really loved the shape of these oven mitts...they're really cool and looks easy to use...well, a lot easier to handle than regular oven mitts...too bad they don't match with my cupcake apron and single mitt back at home :( Super, super cute though!  Next time owls, next time!

Bachelorette Weekend

*** This post is for mature audiences ONLY***

Please take care when viewing THIS single post in front of young children, as pictures of these goodies are not of the typical nature!








Alrighty, now that the matter of young viewers are carefully advised, it is time for the good stuff!  So, over the weekend, it was my friend J's bachelorette weekend!  She was led to believe that we were going to take her camping!  I'm not sure how fully she actually believed that, but hey, we tried!  I was a bit bummed that I wasn't able to join in on the fun.  I had planned to, but last minute changes changed my whole weekend plans :( Yes, I know, it was so tragic!  I forwent (hmm, is that even a word?!) a what would have been fun bachelorette weekend with the girls for....Michigan.  Yes, folks, you heard me right...Michigan.  It was so depressing over there, I do not even want to talk about it!  To say at the very least, I am tremedously happy to be back home in beautiful CA! :)

Anyways, I found out that the bachelorette weekend would  be a no-go for me about a week before the weekend :( I was in charge of bringing some desserts and one goodie I had in mind was to bring in some sugar cookies!  As you know, I've been trying to brush up on my sugar cookie icing skills...You see, I have this problem...Whenever I see other people's cookies, it usually looks sooo simple in my head to make.  However, getting down to the nitty gritty...I'm always left wondering why the heck I decided to make sugar cookies!  It's never as fun as it looks in my head!..also never as simple!  I had to make these bachelorette cookies pretty early on in the week, so that I would have enough time to mail it out to the girls.  What I usually do when I make sugar cookies, is to bake, ice, and wrap in a stretch of a couple days.  It makes my life easier and less hectic! 

SO, the first day, I usually make the sugar cookie dough and get it chillin in the fridge.  I am a lot smarter now and usually have sugar cookie dough already frozen and ready to use in the freezer.  So what I did was defrosted it so that my first day of baking cookies involves rolling, cutting and baking.  As you can see, I used pekker shapes for this bachelorette party...yes, yes, I know...very unexpected of me ;) And no, no..I promise..I'm not some kind of weird pervert (as my husband seems to think what others will think since I'm  posting it on my blog......right?...you don't think I'm a pervert now, riiight??...)  LOL..I prefer to think of this as being open-minded and thinking outside the box..... ;)

On the second day, I frost the cookies and pretty much get them ready for wrapping.  As you can probably see, I didn't get the hang of the sprinkles part until the end, when I made the smaller cookies...Interesting huh?...Then, once I'm done decorating all the cookies, I let them dry overnight, so that I can wrap them up in cellophane the next day!

Yes, of course I had to cellophane them!  Gotta dress them up some how! ;)  I really wished I was at the hotel when my girls saw these cookies.  I had some other goodies planned, but since I couldn't make it, I wasn't able to bake them.  Cookies were easier for me to ship down to them!  I hope my girls had a great time at the fabulous get-away weekend...especially J...she totally deserves it and I really wished I was physically there!! However, I'm glad these cookies made it to them in time and I was there in those cookies! LOL..

J- I will totally make it up to ya!! Can't wait for the next couple of weeks to pass by and for your wedding to finally be here!!!!! Love ya!!!

Almond Chocolate Chip Biscotti with Cherries

 Biscottis will always have a special place in my heart :)  It all started out with Costco's soft-baked almond biscottis.  Now that I think back, I'm not even sure they were true biscottis...I have never had soft biscottis before!  But tasty they were!  After Costco discontinued them, I tried to find a suitable substitute, but no biscotti came close!  They were SO hard!  It was around this time that I figured out biscottis were supposed to be rock hard!  And once dipped in a steaming cup of hot coffe, tea, or chocolate, the biscotti magically becomes soft enough to eat without breaking a tooth!  I am always amazed at how soft the biscotti becomes when dipped for the shortest of time!

I have been meaning to try my hand at making biscottis for the longest time now.  I really have no idea why I never tried them out!  I finally had a  reason to make biscottis when my cousin J emailed me and asked if I would like to help him develop some new products for his business.  I had to think about it for a lil bit, as he chose the busiest time of the year for me to be inventive!  Non-the-less, I decided to jump into it full force.  J had wanted some new breakfast items that he could offer to his clients.  I came up with ideas, and threw it to J to see what his customers would think.  You see, I don't do research...that was his job ;) My job was to be creative and to come up with the product.  Well, one breakfasty item I had told him was biscottis.   Although biscottis were not "fill-your-stomach" kind of breakfast items, it is a fun product that many people associate with breakfast.  It is easily transportable and will keep for a very long time!  All of which were very desirable to J.  Alas, J didn't have as much confidence as I did in these biscottis....but when put to the test, my biscottis were the most sought after from all other items presented to the clients!  Take that J...and have more confidence in me! ;)  So, finally, this is my chance to make some biscottis!  This was my very first time making biscottis, so I really didn't know what to expect!  The recipe seemed simple enough.  In fact, the recipe didn't call for dried cherries...I happen to have some on hand and decided that cherries go with almonds and chocolate pretty darn well...so in cherries went! :)

I would have to say that these biscottis were really very delishous.  Adding the cherries in was a great decision as it melded together with the almonds and chocolate like one big happy family!  Not to mention, it breaks up some of the rich sweetness the chocolate provided.  This first batch was a bit too crunchy for me to enjoy on its own without coffee; however, dipped in coffee, it was a wonderful biscotti.  Next time, I plan on shortening the baking time of the second bake to produce a softer biscotti.  Make a batch and let me know what you think!

Almond Chocolate Chip Biscotti with Cherries

Makes about 16 biscottis

Ingredients:
3/4 cups (110 grams) Whole Almonds, toasted and chopped coursely
2/3 cups (135 grams) Granulated Sugar
2 Eggs, Large
1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/4 teaspoon Kosher Salt
1 3/4 cups (225 grams) All Purpose Flour
4 ounces (110 grams) Semi-Sweet Chocolate, chopped in pieces
1/3 cups Dried Cherries (I didn't really measure, just threw in a good handful)

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 350F/180C. 
 Toast almonds for 8-10 minutes, or until lightly browned.
 Once toasted, let the almonds cool and then chop coarsely and set aside.

2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or use a silicone mat and set aside.

3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

4. In your electric mixer bowl, beat the sugar and eggs on high speed until it is thick, pale, and fluffy.  You will know it is at that stage when you lift the beaters and the batter will fall back in slow ribbons.

5. Beat in vanilla extract.

6. Add the whisked flour mixture to the egg mixture and beat until combined.

7. Fold in the chopped almonds, chocolate, and cherries.

8. Transfer the dough to your parchment or silicone mat lined baking sheet and form into a log (about 12 inches long and 3 1/2 inches wide).

9. Bake for 25 minutes, or until the biscotti log is firm to the touch.  Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes.

10. Transfer the log to  cutting board and cut it into 3/4 inch slices, on the diagonal.

11. Place the biscotti slices on the baking sheet and bake for another 10 minutes per side.  Remove from oven, cool, and store in an airtight container.

Enjoy! :)

Banana Raised Donuts with Chocolate Glaze

Oh, the irony of me whippin up some home-made donuts of my own!  Why is it ironic, you ask?  I was born into a family of donut shop owners!!  Seriously, pretty much my whooole family (on both sides of the family) owns a donut shop of some sort!  And nooo, it doesn't sound as fun as you might think!  Everywhere I looked, there were donuts!  I remembered wondering why we couldn't have a bakery, one that included baked goods other than donuts =/  but nope, it was not to be... =(
I never really ate donuts... I mean, I was practically raised in our donut shop!  My mom kept telling me about my trouble-making at the donut shop.  I remember her telling me about how I "helped" out when I was a toddler.  My mom would be busy helping customers and I would be hanging out in the back.  Of course, being young as I was, I couldn't resist all those donuts back there!!  Apparently, when my mom went back and checked up on me, I had licked off the frosting, and only the frosting, of many donuts (ok, ok....all the donuts that were left in the back, I had licked....especially those with sprinkles..)
That was a loooong time ago.  Since then, I didn't really have too many donuts.  It wasn't until I left home for college that I started to crave our donuts.  Even then, when I come home and visit, I don't really eat much....until I came home from college for good!  For some reason, I craved a donut and had one...one that I usually don't eat...and it was delicious!  And that, my friends, started it all.  I got into a slight craze where I'd have to try donuts from everywhere I go!...you know, just to compare to our donuts...I must say, I was a bit obsessed!  And since that time, I still haven't been able to shake off my donut obsession.  I have since moved away from home, again...and this time, the drive is a bit too far to head home because of a crave for donuts!  So, what's my solution?  Why, make my own at home, of course!  I was a bit tickled at this thought.  I mean, I've made donuts at the donut shop before...it wasn't exactly what one would call fun...yet, I was eager to make donuts from home...=/ I know, weird, huh?
SO, I bought a donut cutter a couple months ago.  I was kind of hesitant to make donuts because of the yeast and mess that comes with making donuts.  I've made a few batches of cake donuts with a donut pan (these donuts are then baked in the oven) but it didn't quite taste like a donut...it had a sense of cake taste to it, but to me, donuts need to be fried!  So, finally, I found a recipe for a banana donut and it was intriguing to me and I decided to try it out. 

I'm not quite sure if I didn't add enough flour or not, since the dough didn't quite rise as much.  But, meh..still tastes alright.  Also, my darn thermometer must've been off, because my donuts are a bit too dark for my liking :(  It could also be that the donuts got dark because of the banana in the dough...=/ who knows..It was probably a combination of both.  I was super excited about the donut holes that results from the donut cutter!  Aren't they cute?  I also added some pecans and walnuts to some of my chocolate glaze, since this banana raised donuts kind of reminds me of banana bread (and I like my banana bread with nuts!).  I left some with just plain chocolate too... both were pretty delish!

Aaahh...the nostalgia of donuts :) Takes me right back to my childhood...

A Baking Date with M and Raspberry Cheesecake

Okay, okay...I knooow...you're probably wondering why it's already Wednesday night and so far no new post is up.  I know I usually get a new post or two earlier on in the week, but hey, what can I say...it was a holiday weekend! LOL..Plus, I had a chance to dine at Gordon Ramsay's restaurant at The London Hotel over the weekend, and, to tell you the truth, it did me in!  I had the best five course dinner ever in the history of my young life!  They even made my drink (The Wimbledon) really, really well!  So well, in fact, that I drank the whole drink!  For those who really know me, you know that's a feat on it's own! =D Anyways, Gordon Ramsay's five course dinner, traffic coming home from LA at 1:30 AM  >:I  and a long hike on Memorial's day, just did me in!  Good thing I wrote two posts last week ;)

Anyways, back to work! :) ....on the blog, that is!  I have a fabulous post to share with you today!  I just spent the entire afternoon with one of my new friend/baking buddy!  She is actually a friend of my sister-in-law's but lives in my neck of the woods!  In fact, she's right down the street from me!  Is that fate or what??  If only I had met her about a year ago when I first moved here, instead of now, when she's ready to move down to San Diego :(  I know, I know..fate has a way with dealing it's news!  So, the next best thing we could do??  Why, get together and eat and bake, of course!!  We have to make the most of our time together!  :) 

So, today, it was M's turn to teach me how to make one of her yummy treats!  I opted for her raspberry cheesecake (first from word of mouth...it was supposedly that good...secondly, from her beautiful picture on FB...they were fabulously beautiful!!).  So, M had printed out the recipe for me (which I promptly forgot to take home with me) and had me help make the cheesecake.  I have made cheesecake once or twice before, but always in a springfoam pan, and always with little success.  In fact, everytime I made cheesecake, it cracked!...which was exactly why I never made cheesecake again.  The factors of high priced cream cheese along with cracked cheesecake and a disapointed me means buy ready-made cheesecake from Costco.  That is, until I saw M's sweet cheese "cup" cakes.  They were one of the most beautiful creations I saw!  So, thankfully, I met her and she was able to show me how to make and bake a cheesecake correctly, so that it won't crack again!

We started off by making the crumb crust for the bottoms of our cheesecakes and then packed them into the muffin tins.  This was gruesome work, but there was two of us on it, plus the enjoyable conversation made packing the crumbs a breeze!

I had loved how M made hearts out of her raspberry puree and made her teach me how to do it too!  It has never even occurred to me to make hearts instead of random swirls!  Aren't they beautiful? I love it!

But we made random swirly ones too because M's bringing these to a graduation party!  What a lucky, lucky young man!  I'm sure everyone at the party will enjoy these delicious goodies!

Speaking of enjoying goodies, M's son couldn't wait for these delicious cheesecakes to come out of the oven!  I'm with him on that one!  Although, we had our patience tested, as cheesecakes need to be chilled for a few hours before eating!  [In fact, they usually taste better the next day.  So cheesecakes are a wonderful plan-ahead dessert!]

 Isn't he a lil darling?  Nu Nu, as he is affectionately called, is a very charming young man!  He has a great collection of rocks that he showed me this afternoon.  For such a young man, he certainly has a grand collection!  What was even better, he had a story for every single one of his rocks!  I was impressed with his knowlege for such a youngun!  I was just as impressed with his mannerisms!  The way he act and spoke did not denote a tender child of 10.  He is very mature and learned (with a very sophisticated palate, too!) for a kid his age!  Great job M! :)

As you can see, he was just as ready for that cheesecake as I was, and yet, allowed me to drag him outside so that I could snap some pictures of him and his cheesecake!  Lol..
The cheesecakes we eagarly pulled out were definitely not ready by cheesecake standards, but in our humble opinion, they were more than ready for eating! :)  I'm sure if M wasn't there to regulate Nu Nu and me, we would have happily devoured all 60ish cheese "cup" cakes and called it dinner and a day!  But because these were serving as dual purpose (remember, the graduation party and teaching me), we grudgingly ate just one ;)
And, M couln't let me leave empty-handed!  (Actually, I would have probably insisted that she give me some to take home...for my husband, of course!...).  M packed a couple beautiful cheesecakes for me to share with the hubby when I got home!

The first one you see closest to us is a strawberry cheesecake...whereas the three trailing behind are raspberry cheesecakes.  I was able to chill the cheesecakes for about another half an hour before I remembered that I had cheesecakes in the fridge, and promptly devoured the strawberry one...just to see if it tasted better than the raspberry I had earlier, of course! ;)

Mmmm...all I can say is that it was delicious and it's too bad I have a trip this weekend...otherwise I'd whip up another batch of these cheese "cup" cakes.  I was going to be good and keep the other three until they are truly ready to eat (read: midnight snack), but after my meager dinner, I couldn't help it...I gobbled down two more cheesecakes in a row and would have ate the third had I not caught my husband's eyes and humbly offerred him the last (seeing as I was reminded that he thought I brought some home for him!)...so all I could do was watch the cheesecake, ahem..I mean him,  with longing as he gobbled up my last cheese "cup" cake!