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| RER 2.13.16 |
Valentine’s Day already feels like a thing of the past;
buried deep in nostalgia, underneath lesson prep, parent teacher student
conferences, and Poe. But it was a sweet thing. A stuffed puppy hidden in my
bag and a box of chocolates to be nibbled. A night of homemade pizza and
recorded television and peppermint patties. A moment that came and went far too
quickly and was hardly relished due to long hours and sad losses.
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| RER 2.13.16 |
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| RER 2.13.16 |
As in the
past, I made an edible
gift for my beau. This time, I went for mini
red velvet cheesecakes inspired by Sally’s
Baking Addiction. These little confections looked fun and they are a blend
of things that my love loves most.
Anything red
velvet has instant appeal. And red is a Valentine’s Day given. Cheesecake
is divisive: sweet and tangy, smooth, creamy, voluptuous, sensual. So these
smaller versions of a classic favorite definitely fit the bill.
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| RER 2.13.16 |
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| RER 2.13.16 |
While piling the
enchanting red cookie dough into the bottom of the lined tin, I was elated,
stunned by the perfect color and taste of the amalgamation. With the cookie
bases in the oven and the sweet smells of chocolate, sugar, and butter,
pervading the kitchen, I whipped up the cheesecake topping adding that
requisite dollop of thick Greek yogurt. Hardly cooked dough served as the
foundation for a fat scoop of almost white cheesecake, which made a plopping
noise on the pliable surface. Plop, swoop, spread… they were in the oven,
complete and beautiful.
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| RER 2.13.16 |
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| RER 2.13.16 |
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| RER 2.13.16 |
And then, the
trouble began. The cheesecake part took longer than expected to firm from a
spreadable mixture to a bouncy texture. With each additional moment in the
oven, the chocolate aroma intensified and deepened to discomfort. Those pretty
red cookie crusts deepened to dark dense scarlet. They were overdone and
crunchy, making the proportions of cookie to cheesecake overwhelming and out of
touch.
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| RER 2.13.16 |
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| RER 2.13.16 |
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| RER 2.13.16 |
The mini
cheesecakes tasted ok, but they were not what I was dreaming about. They were
not the gift I wanted to give. My too-done treats involved too much crunch and
not enough creaminess. There was, however, the pleasant play of sweet and
tangy, chocolate and butter. All was not lost. Every
experience is a learning experience. There’s always next year.
Hope you all had
a happy Valentine’s Day, too!
RER
2.13.16
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| RER 2.13.16 |
