Simply Red and White

My fridge was full of all kinds of food already, but I couldn't resist the temptation of making something after I got pre-made graham cracker crust from work. What did I make in the end? Follow my thought process below:

Fruit tart? Boring. Banana cream pie? Don't feel like it. Cheesecake? Hmm... Simple, but I can always use some cheesecake. I don't want a plain cheesecake though, what flavors work best in cheesecake? I want it to be fresh but indulgent, sweet but not too sweet, hmm.. White chocolate raspberry cheesecake it is, yummm!

That is how I usually decide on what I want to make :) Anw, I decided to make white chocolate raspberry cheesecake and then I faced the usual dilemma: to bake or not to bake. I was too lazy to deal with the drama of baked cheesecake and I still had some heavy cream left, so I went forward with no-bake cheesecake. I used my recipe for no-bake cheesecake in my post: "To bake or not to bake: Cheesecake dilemma" and I added some melted white chocolate into the batter. Poured the batter into the pre-made graham cracker crust, put it in the fridge until firm, put some fresh raspberries on top, and lastly drizzled melted white chocolate all over the raspberries, voila! Done!

I love how the red raspberries contrast with the white cheesecake and white chocolate. Simple but so pretty! When I bit into a spoonful, the fragrance of the raspberries immediately filled my mouth, then I tasted the sweet white chocolate and the velvety tangy cheesecake. Mmmm... sooo good.. Next time you have a party, make this and I'm sure you'll impress your guests with this easy, elegant, and tasty dessert :)

Birds on a Wire

Remember Pixar's short animation "Birds on a Wire"? It was shown before a cartoon movie (don't remember what it was) and the birds in it were soooo cute! They were all frumpy and grumpy, and I really liked the simple yet funny story line. I'd been wanting to make a cake related to that animation and this weekend I thought of making Birds on a Wire cake pops. I searched for pictures online and this was the best one I found.

Look at the birds! Aren't they cute? I was so excited until I realized how difficult it was to make the cake pops to look similar to the birds in the animation. The shape was difficult to form, the color was not the same, and don't even talk about the expressions. My birdie cake pops turned out to be more similar to old men's faces than birds. You won't know that they are birds if I don't tell you. Gaaahhhh!! I was frustrated!! But after I took a few pictures of them, I thought they were kind of cute in their own way, just don't compare them with the animation. So, here are the pictures of the cake pops..

What do you think? Do they look like birds to you? Probably no -____-"  Oh well, I still kind of like them :p

Summer Time is Ice Cream Time

I love ice cream, especially during summer. I can eat a whole pint of Ben & Jerry's Half Baked and end up wanting more. Luckily, there are a lot of great ice cream parlors in Minneapolis. Izzy's, Sebastian Joe's, Pumphouse Creamery, etc.. They all make unique ice cream flavors, such as summit oatmeal stout and Mexican chocolate,  and most of them are very delicious. However, sometimes I crave for the most unusual flavor for people from the western hemisphere: Avocado Chocolate.. Yes, avocado chocolate ice cream. Sounds weird? Well, not for me. See, we eat our avocadoes sweet Indonesia, not with onions and jalapenos. We usually blend avocadoes with sweetened condensed milk, chocolate/mocha syrup, and ice or mix those ingredients together to make ice cream. Trust me, it makes a superb dessert for a hot summer day. Despite the abundance of ice cream parlors in Minneapolis, none has avocado ice cream. One Chinese restaurant actually has avocado smoothie on its menu, but I feel like they put so much ice that the avocado flavor is kind of diluted. So, I decided to make my own!

Last weekend, I went to the farmers market with my friends and bought some ripe avocadoes for really cheap price. Another good deal that I found was a pint of organic blueberries for $2. Hmm... blueberry cheesecake ice cream, yummm.... I just bought a new ice cream maker and it came with 2 bowls, so why not? After I came home, I immediately started mixing the avocado and blueberry cheesecake ice cream base. They are so simple and you don't need egg yolks at all!

Avocado Chocolate Ice Cream

Ingredients:
5 small or 3 medium ripe avocadoes
1 15-oz can sweetened condensed milk
1 1/2 cup half-and-half
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

Directions:
1. Mashed the avocadoes and mix them with the other ingredients.
2. Chill the mix in the fridge for at least 24 hours. Put your ice cream maker bowl in the freezer for 24 hours as well.
3. Pour the mix into the ice cream maker and follow the machine's manufacturer's instructions.
4. Freeze the ice cream until firm or eat it right away as soft-serve.

*I used homemade chocolate ganache to make the chocolate ripple in the avocado ice cream. You can use store-bought ganache or make your own by mixing equal parts of hot heavy whipping cream and chopped chocolate. Swirl in the ganache before freezing the ice cream.

Blueberry Cheesecake Ice Cream

Ingredients:
11 oz (1 8-oz + 1 3-oz packages) of cream cheese
1/2 cup of mascarpone cheese
1 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
1 1/2 cup half-and-half
1 pint blueberries, chopped
1 cup graham cracker crumbs

Directions:
1. Beat cream cheese, mascarpone, and sugar until fluffy and lump-free.
2. Add vanilla, lemon juice, and half-and-half and mix thoroughly.
3. Chill the mix in the fridge for at least 24 hours. Put your ice cream maker bowl in the freezer for 24 hours as well.
4. Pour the mix into the ice cream machine and follow the machine's manufacturer's instructions.
5. Fold chopped blueberries and graham cracker crumbs into the churned ice cream before freezing.
6. Freeze the ice cream until firm or eat it right away as soft-serve.

(top: blueberry cheesecake ice cream, bottom: avocado chocolate ice cream)

Yum yum yummmm!!! It is a bowl full of rich, decadent, creamy,  yummy goodness :) For those of you who are still skeptical about the avocado ice cream, try it once and you'll know what you've been missing out all this time. Alrighty, happy summer and ice cream time ^o^v