Jack Nightmare Before Christmas Cheesecakes

Jack Nightmare Before Christmas Cheesecakes

By Erin

Ok so HOW cute are these Jack Skellington cheesecakes? Halloweentown’s beloved pumpkin king, is turned into a delicious Nightmare Before Christmas Cheesecake! Perfect to serve during spooky season, any Nightmare Before Christmas fan will get a kick out of these!

Makes 12 mini cheesecakes

Jack Fondant Piece

1 4 oz white fondant
1 black edible marker
1-2 inch circle fondant cutter Cornstarch

Directions
Follow directions on the back of the package to roll out the fondant. Cut out 12 circles and place onto a cookie sheet overnight. The next day, use the edible marker to draw on Jack Skellingtons face and set aside.

Crust Ingredients

1 package of oreo cookies, creme filling removed and finely crushed, 3 tablespoons of sugar
1⁄2 cup of butter, melted

Sally Cheesecake

2 – 8oz cream cheese, softened 2⁄3 cup sugar
1⁄4 cup sour cream
2 teaspoons of pure vanilla extract

2 large eggs
Teal, Pink, Neon Yellow and Black gel food coloring , Halloween sprinkles

Topping
Fresh whipped cream

Directions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees and line the cupcake/muffin pan with the cupcake liners.

Using a medium bowl, whisk the oreo cookies, sugar and melted butter until a wet sandlike mixture forms.

Scoop 1 1⁄2 tablespoons of chocolate cookie crust into the cupcake liners and press into an even bottom using a flat bottom glass or measuring cup.

Bake the crust in the preheated oven for 5 minutes. Remove and allow to cool completely.

Preheat the oven to 350.

Using a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and sugar until combined and smooth. Beat in the sour cream and vanilla until combined and smooth.

One egg at a time, beat until combined.

Divide the batter into four bowls,

Starting with the yellow, add in 1 tablespoon of the cheesecake batter into the crust.

Add in 1 tablespoon of the pink batter on top of the yellow batter.

Add in 1 tablespoon of the teal batter on top of the pink.

Add in 1 teaspoon of the black batter on top.

Use a toothpick and swirl the batter together.

Place into the oven and bake for 25-35 minutes or until the center is set!

Remove and allow to cool on the counter until room temp before moving to the fridge overnight.

Top with fresh whipped cream and halloween sprinkles and place a Jack fondant piece in the center of the whipped cream.

“My skull’s so full, it’s tearing me apart.” — Jack Skellington

Enjoy!

Blueberry Cheesecake Popsicles

Blueberry Cheesecake Popsicles

By Erin

It’s summer and it’s really starting to heat up outside. These Blueberry Cheesecake Popsicles are the perfect way to cool down! Three of my favorite things: Blueberries, Cheesecake, and popsicles, all wrapped up into one tasty treat! It doesn’t get better than that! Featuring fresh Blueberries and limes from Melissa’s Produce.

Blueberry Cheesecake Popsicles

Ingredients

(makes 6-8)

1.     1 ½ cups blueberries (fresh or frozen)

2.     1 8-ounce cream cheese packet

3.     ½ cup Greek yoghurt

4.     5 tbsp honey (divided)

5.     1 tsp lime juice

6.     ½ tsp lime zest

7.     6-10 Shortbread Cookies

8.     2 tbsp melted butter (25g)

9.     2 tbsp water (if using fresh blueberries)

Blueberry Cheesecake Popsicle Ingredients

Method

Blueberry Compote

·      If using frozen berries, remove and leave to thaw for at least 1 hour before starting. Drain most the liquid, leaving about 2 tbsp.

·      Put blueberries and 1 tbsp of honey into a small saucepan over medium. If using fresh blueberries, add the 2 tbsp water too. Cook until the blueberries soften, mashing about half the blueberries up with the spoon. Leave the rest of the blueberries whole.

·      When done (almost jam-like consistency), remove from the fire and leave to cool a little

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Send Off Summer at Grimaldi’s Pizzeria This August!

Send Off Summer at Grimaldi’s Pizzeria This August!

By Erin

*I was invited in to Grimaldi’s for purposes of this post. All thoughts and opinions remain my own*

The summer is sadly coming to an end, but that doesn’t mean the fun or flavor has to end. Throughout the month of August, Grimaldi’s Pizzeria in El Segundo invites you to come on in to try their new Spicy Chicken Sausage and Broccoli Rabe Pizza, Caramel Apple Cheesecake, and its Chocolate Cheesecake.  If delicious pizza and mouth-watering cheesecake weren’t reason enough to make a visit, Grimaldi’s continues to celebrate the summer with Tuesday Tastings, which offers guests half-off all glasses, carafes, and bottles of wine. With more than 50 wines to choose from, sample the extensive wine selection at restaurants nationwide through September 30.

Grimaldi's Pizzeria

Grimaldi’s El Segundo is located at 2121 Rosecrans Ave., in El Segundo, CA, it boasts some gorgeous indoor and beautiful patio dining (just look at all the beautiful palm trees and enjoy the glorious California weather), as well as a private room for parties of up to 40 people. Traditional red and white checkered table cloths dress the tables, New York’s history is celebrated with some black and white photography throughout the restaurant and Sinatra can be seen in the background creating an energized setting for an exceptional dining experience.

Patio-Grimaldis

I absolutely loved the decor of the wine bottles being used for light, hanging from the ceilings and on the tables. The kitchen is glass-encased so you can see everything that goes on in there, showcases the 25 ton coal brick ovens that crisp every pizza to perfection at nearly 1200 degrees.

Grimaldis-Atmosphere

Once we were seated we took a look at the menu and placed our drink orders. It was lunch time, so I didn’t want to get anything too crazy or strong, so I went for a nice refreshing White Sangria. It was perfect.

Grimaldis-Sangria

If you’re looking for something more on the lighter side, the Grimaldi’s House Salad is a good choice. Since we were sharing and also getting pizza, we opted for the smaller sized salad. We also added on Fresh Mozzarella and Genoa Salami to it. It was plenty for two of us to share. It comes with Romaine Lettuce, Red Onion, Cherry Tomatoes, Oven Roasted Sweet Red Peppers, Mushrooms, Sicilian Green Olives, & a Vinaigrette Dressing .

Salads-Grimaldis Then it was time for pizza!! First we had the special Spicy Chicken Sausage and Broccoli Rabe Pizza. This seasonal pie comes with quite the kick– it’s topped with spicy chicken sausage, sautéed broccoli rabe and ricotta cheese. Its bold and zesty flavor is perfectly balanced by the creamy ricotta cheese.  If you love a little spice, then you’re sure to love this fiery new addition. The size shown here is a personal sized pizza, so if you are not completely starving and plan on having a salad and dessert along with your pizza then this should be plenty enough for you to share with another person.

Chicken Pizza-Grimaldis

I am a total Pesto lover, so I just had to order a pesto pizza. If you know me, then you also know I’m a total bacon lover. My creation here has pesto, cheese, bacon, and green peppers and it was amazing! I really need to go back and have another one of these.

Pesto-Pizza-Grimaldis

Oh my it makes me hungry just looking at these again. I had to take a close up just so you could see how yummy their toppings are. Just look at that bacon. And Pesto. And everything else…

Grimaldis-Toppings

Oh and this, I love how they have these pizza towers so you can easily have more than one or 3 pizzas at your table at a time and still have plenty of room to eat it all.

Pizza-Tower-Grimaldis

Then it was time for dessert. Not just any dessert either, but my favorite! Cheesecake!! Since we wanted to try both of their special fall cheesecakes; Caramel Apple Cheesecake and Chocolate Cheesecake, and we were already getting pretty full we opted to get the Dessert Trio for $10.  With the Dessert Trio you get to select a sampling of any three of Grimaldi’s delicious dessert options, including the house-made cheesecakes, Cannolis, and Tiramisu. We chose to get the two special cheesecakes and the tiramisu. The Caramel Apple Cheesecake is a rich caramel and green apple cheesecake, topped with caramel and whipped cream. The Chocolate Cheesecake is served with chocolate syrup and topped with whipped cream and chocolate chips. My favorite of the three was the Caramel Apple Cheesecake! I almost wished I had a full size piece of it, but it’s probably a good thing I didn’t.

Cheesecakes-Grimaldis

 What are your favorite pizza toppings? Would you spice up your pizza with the Spicy Chicken Sausage and Broccoli Rabe Pizza? Oh and that cheesecake… which one would you try first? 🙂 Be sure to check Grimaldi’s out the next time you are in the Los Angeles area or any of their other locations if you cannot make it down to El Segundo.