No-Bake Nutella Cheesecake

     Happy Easter wishes to everyone. Hope you enjoyed the long weekend. I did a lot of shopping. Hubby dragged me to the new G.I.Joe movie, and for the first time ever I managed to fall asleep in a theater! And this was after my experience with the looong musical movie Les Miserables!! The movie was too boring for me.

     We had some guests over on Saturday. I got to try out two new recipes, Palak Poori and this Nutella Cheesecake. Both came out great. I am a fan of both dishes now!

     This No-Bake Cheesecake is so quick and easy to put together, but looks like you slaved over it. It was so rich and chocolatey, melt in your mouth goodness. If you are mad about chocolate desserts, then this one is going to steal your heart! Make this ahead of time and store in the refrigerator, and enjoy it at the end of your meal with friends.  

Crushing Oreo Cookies in a zip-lock bag.

No-Bake Nutella Cheesecake:

Yields: 5 – 6 Servings

Recipe from mybakingaddiction.com

Ingredients:

For the Crust:

12 Oreo Cookies – Crushed into Crumbs

Unsalted Butter – 2 Tablespoons,Melted

For the Filling:

Cream Cheese – 1 Cup, softened (I used Philadelphia Block Cream Cheese)

Nutella – 2/3 cup

Vanilla Extract – 1 teaspoon

Whipped Cream – 1 Cup (I used whipped cream from a can)

For the Topping:

Whipped Cream

Almonds – Chopped and roasted

Directions:

• Place the Oreo cookies in a zip-lock bag and crush it with a rolling pin. (Rolling Pin: Used to make Chapattis)
• Mix the crushed cookies with melted butter. Divide equally among individual serving dishes and press it down to for the Crust Layer.
• In a bowl, with an electric mixer, beat together the softened cream cheese and Nutella until smooth.
• Now with a rubber spatula, fold in the whipped cream with the cream cheese and Nutella. Mix gently until no white streaks are seen.
• Pipe or spoon in the mixture, on top of the Oreo cookie crust layer.
• Cover and refrigerate, for 2 hours.
• Serve cold, topped with whipped cream and roasted almonds.

Marbled Red-Velvet Cheesecake Brownies

This weekend, we are meeting some friends for dinner. One of them loves cakes and pastries. We used to attack the dessert table at buffets when we were on vacations. So I thought this would be a good opportunity to bake something new and pass it on to her and others.

I was a little nervous when I put these brownies inside the oven. But when I took the first bite, it was so good! I got out my cookie cutter and started cutting out cute little hearts! You could just cut small squares with a knife, but these hearts were too cute!

Pouring the cheesecake mixture on to the brownie layer.

All set with pretty swirls, ready to go into the oven...

Cutting out cute little hearts, with my pink sandwich cutter.

Marbled Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies

Yield: 30 hearts  (2 inches)
http://chitra-frommykitchen.blogspot.sg/

Ingredients:

Red Velvet Layer:

1.5 cups + 2 tablespoon - Plain Flour
1 cup + 2 tablespoons - Sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons - Cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon - Salt
1/2 teaspoon - Baking powder
1 1/2 - Eggs
1/2 cup - Sunflower oil
2 tablespoons - Milk, divided
2 teaspoons - Vanilla extract
1 teaspoon - Red food coloring
1 teaspoon - White  vinegar

Cheesecake Layer:

250 grams - Cream cheese, softened (I used one package of Philadelphia Block Cream Cheese)

1/4 + 2 tablespoons - Sugar
1 - Egg
1 teaspoon - Vanilla

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 180C (350 degrees). Line a 9 x 9 baking pan with butter paper. See Notes below.
• In large bowl, sift together flour, cocoa powder and baking powder. Add salt and sugar. Set aside.
• In a mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, vegetable oil, 1 tablespoons milk, vanilla extract, red food coloring, and white vinegar.
• Combine the dry and wet ingredients, until completely combined. Do not over mix.
• The batter will be a really thick, but don't worry, that's what you want.
• Remove 2 table spoons of the batter and place it in a separate bowl.
• Whisk in the remaining 1 tablespoons of milk (into the 2 tablespoons of batter you just took out). Set aside.
• Pour the remaining batter into the prepared baking pan. Using a spatula, smooth out the batter to reach all the edges.
• Now, beat together cream cheese and sugar until fluffy, about 2-4 minutes.
• Add eggs and vanilla, beating until combined and there are no lumps.
• Pour the cream cheese mixture on top of the red velvet layer and smooth mixture till it reaches all the edges.
• Drop spoonfuls of the remaining red velvet batter (that you mixed with milk) onto the top of the cheesecake layer.
• Drag the tip of a knife through the red velvet and the cheesecake layers to create swirls.
• Bake for 30 minutes, rotating half way through, or until a tooth pick inserted, comes out dry. 
• Let cool completely on a wire rack before cutting.
• Use a medium sized heart cookie cutter to create the perfect hearts. Or cut into squares. 

Note:

• I used a glass Pyrex dish, 13” in diameter.
• And I lined the glass dish with butter paper.
• Because I was baking with a glass dish, I reduced the temperature to 325 degrees, and baked for 45 minutes.