Creme Brulee Cheesecake Bars

This week's SMS recipe is Coconut Pecan Frosting on the cake of your choice. We're not big on coconut, so I am posting this delicious recipe instead. SMS is being hosted by one of my blogging friends, Eliana of A Chica Bakes. Stop by her blog, I am sure her creation is amazing.

Have you met my blogging pal, Gnee of Singing With Birds? If you haven't, stop by her place and introduce yourself. Gnee shares the best recipes and takes amazing photographs.

What are your favorite desserts? For me it's anything chocolate, cheesecake and creme brulee. I am not a fan of fruit desserts. Why is that? I think it's because as my father said last weekend, I was raised on donuts and ice cream. When I saw Gnee's Creme Brulee Cheesecake bars, I knew I would be making them soon!

If you're watching what you eat, close this post now!! I can't even imagine the number of calories and fat grams in these bars. I'm sure that's why they are so decadent. It's a good thing I shared these with friends and co workers. Otherwise, I'd have eaten way too many.

Crème Brûlée Cheesecake Bars from Betty Crocker
Recipe Courtesy of Singing With Birds

1 pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker® sugar cookie mix
1 box (4-serving size) French vanilla instant pudding and pie filling mix
2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 eggs plus 3 egg yolks
2 packages (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup sugar
2/3 cup toffee bits, finely crushed

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Lightly spray bottom and sides of 13x9-inch pan with cooking spray. In large bowl, stir cookie mix, pudding mix, brown sugar, melted butter, 1 teaspoon of the vanilla and 1 whole egg until soft dough forms. Press dough in bottom and 1/2 inch up sides of pan.
2. In small bowl, beat cream cheese, sour cream and sugar with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Add remaining whole egg, 3 egg yolks and remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla; beat until smooth. Spread over crust in pan.
3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until set in center. Immediately sprinkle top with crushed toffee bits. Cool 30 minutes. Refrigerate about 3 hours or until chilled. For bars, cut into 9 rows by 4 rows. Store covered in refrigerator.
Makes 36 bars

My 1st Blogversary and My 50!

Happy Blogversary to you! Happy Blogversary to you! Happy Blogversary dear Little Bit! Happy Blogversary to you!

Seems like just yesterday, this blog was only a wild and crazy thought in my mind. A year ago, I was looking for something to challenge my brain and a purpose for my cookbooks and recipe clippings.

Except for a short period of time last summer when my health got in the way, I've been motivated to keep up my blog. I've tried recipes I would have never tried, like this one from Sweet Melissa Sunday's . I've met a lot of great bloggers and continue to meet new friends. There's so many talented and creative food bloggers out there, my list of daily reads continues to grow.

One thing that helps me stay on course is keeping a list of upcoming posts and recipes to try. A couple of weeks ago, I started thinking about my Blogversary, what recipe to post and what to write about. One of the reasons I began blogging was to make recipes from all of my recipe clippings and cookbooks. One of my 2010 blogging goals is to make more recipes from the 100+ cookbooks I own. What do I do? I keep buying more cookbooks. Currently I have a dozen or more on the list of ones I want to buy. My Blogversary recipe is a Creme Brulee from an old issue of First magazine. You know those recipes that are like old friends? You can always count on them? This recipe is one of those old friends. If you haven't made Creme Brulee before, give this recipe a try. You won't be disappointed!


Creme Brulee
6 Servings

2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup granulated sugar
5 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 to 12 tablespoons sugar

Heat oven to 300. Heat cream and 1/2 cup sugar in a sauce pan over medium heat until sugar dissolves and mixture is hot. Whisk egg yolks to combine. Slowly pour cream into yolks, whisking quickly so the hot cream doesn't curdle the eggs. Stir in vanilla.

Pour into 6 creme brulee dishes, custard cups or individual souffle dishes. Line the bottom of a roasting pan with paper towels and set the filled dishes on top. Set on oven shelf and pour warm water into pan to come half up the sides of the dishes.

Bake until a knife stuck in the center comes out coated with thickened custard, about 1 hour. (For souffle dishes and custard cups bake about 1 hour and 30 minutes). Let stand in water bath 10 minutes. Remove and cool completely. Chill overnight.

To glaze, sprink about 1 tablespoon evenly on top of the custard, smooth the surface. Using a kitchen torch melt the sugar to form the carmalized top.

I've been working on My 50, a list of recipes I haven't made before. There's lots of other recipes I want to make but these are those more "Julia Child like" recipes. With the exception of gnocci, I have never made anything on this list. I've made gnocci a couple of times but it's been at least 10 years ago. It wasn't all that good, certainly not that melt in your mouth gnocci you get at a good Italian restaurant. Compiling this list wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. I had a hard time coming up with 50 but in the end, I am happy with my list.

Julie's Top 50

BREAD
1 Bagels
2 Baguettes
3 Brioche
4 Croissants
5 Focaccia
6 Pretzels

DESSERTS
7 Baked Alaska
8 Baklava
9 Bananas Foster
10 Beignets
11 Carrot Cake
12 Crepes
13 Decorated Tiered Cake
14 Filled Cupcakes
15 French Macaroons
16 Lemon Curd
17 Merinque
18 Panna Cotta
19 Pie Crust
20 Pots de crème
21 Profiteroles
22 Pudding
23 Shortbread
24 Tres Leches
25 Trifle
26 Truffles
27 Bubble Tea

MAIN DISHES
28 Beef Bourguignon
29 Beef Tenderloin
30 Butter Poached Lobster Tails
31 Chili Rellenos
32 Croque Monsieur
33 Dutch Baby
34 Gnocci
35 Gumbo
36 Lobster Bisque
37 Miso Soup
38 Pad Thai
39 Paella
40 Pizza Dough
41 Puttanesca Sauce
42 Ravioli
43 Sage Brown Butter Sauce
44 Sushi
45 Vodka Sauce

SIDES
46 Duchesse Potatoes
47 Caesar Salad
48 Chutney
49 Polenta
50 Rice Pilaf

Do you have a favorite or no fail recipe for any of the dishes on my list? I'd love to hear about them, let me know!