Chocolate Mascarpone Cheesecake

Oops.  There will be no picture of the finished product this time, only a few steps in the making.  But, I absolutely had to take a picture of some of the ingredients required for this recipe.  I have never been a cheesecake aficionado (much like regular old cakes),so I have never actually made one.  I was simply astounded at the ingredient list: sour cream, mascarpone, cream cheese, chocolate.  All for one cake.   For some reason this was more shocking to me than the butter baby we used for croissants. Nonetheless, I forged ahead knowing that it was bound to be rich and in all likelihood, great.

The great part of this recipe wound up being the making of it.  It went so easily, so smoothly.  Much easier than a regular, traditional cake. 

The product, on the other hand, was just ok.  Now, to be fair, I am not sure if it was because I don't love cheesecakes or if it was indeed the recipe.   You'll have to check out my fellow bloggers' posts to see what they all thought.   

And Rhiannon's picture is also amiss until next time…

Onion Bialys

Okay, so they look more like onion rolls, than bialys.  No matter, they still tasted absolutely delicious.  Similar to a bagel in texture but a bit more chewy and dense.  Basically, the dough was my perfect idea of comfort white-bread-food.   If there was more nutrition in these, I would eat them everyday.  I made these early in the day on Super Bowl Sunday and they made solid bases for our layered sandwiches.

They came together quite easily.  The dough was sticky as it was kneaded in my mixer but firmed up with a chill in the fridge (its second rise).  Shaping them was fun but obviously I did not prick the centers enough with a fork.  I also halved the recipe which made everything a bit easier to deal with.  Although right now, I wish I had 6 more stored up in my freezer…

With a smear.

Rhiannon in a rare Portland snow.