Japanese Cheesecake with Candy Sushi

This past Friday we held a celebratory send off party for my friend James over at Living Japanese. This guy is a beast, not only did he teach himself to speak, read, and write Japanese but he is also embarking on a year long study abroad program in Japan come August 31st. And what is a celebratory party without cake?! Nothing. It is nothing.

I have been wanting to try Japanese cheesecake for a while now, I have seen recipes floating around pinterest and after reading reviews, and google translating some things I finally came up with my own little recipe. Japanese cheesecake uses only half the amount of cream cheese that American cheesecakes require and they also incorporate whipped egg whites, making the texture very airy and almost mousse-like. I would recommend shutting the oven off and just letting the cake slowly cool down in the oven because it did sink quite a bit when I let it cool on a cooling rack. As for the candy sushi, they actually taste a lot better than one would think. I made them purely for a decoration and they ended up being quite delicious!

Japanese Cheesecake

7 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1/4 cup whole milk
1/2 cup sugar (divided)
3 eggs, separated
1/4 cup cornstarch (don't use flour)
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
water (for water bath)
1/2 cup powdered sugar (for topping)

Directions:

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9-inch cake tin with cooking oil spray.

2.Beat cream cheese with milk to soften. Add half of the sugar, egg yolks, vanilla, cornstarch and lemon juice, beat until smooth.

3.Beat egg whites in a separate bowl until foamy. Gradually add remaining sugar and cream of tartar, beating on high speed until soft peaks form, about 3-5 minutes. Gently fold beaten egg whites into the cream cheese mixture, then pour batter into cake pan and smooth the surface.

4.Place cake pan into a larger roasting pan and place in lower rack of oven. Pour enough water into the roasting pan to come half way up the side of the cake pan.

5.Bake 35-40 minutes, until a pick inserted in the middle of the center comes out clean. When the cake cools, shift a thin layer of powered sugar over the top.

Candy Sushi!

What you'll need...

- 1 box of fruit roll ups
- 1 bag of Swedish fish
- 1 small bag of twizzlers (cut to size)
- 1 (10oz.) bag of marshmallows
- 3 TBS butter
- 6 cups Rice Krispy cereal
- a reallllyyyyy sharp knife

Assembly:

It's pretty straightforward and 1,000 times easier than making real sushi. Simply unroll the green/blue fruit roll up and pat down a thin layer of prepared rice krispies and place two twizzlers at the base of the roll facing you. Roll up the sushi tightly, then cut into pieces. To make the "sashimi" roll I just rolled out a bit of rice crispy and places a Swedish fish on top then wrapped it with a piece of cut green fruit roll up.

Spooky Halloween Recipe Ideas

Here are some of my go-to dessert ideas for Halloween!

Sugar Cookie Witches's Fingers

makes about 24 fingers

note: you will probably need one of THESEI got mine at Michaels

for the cookie...

1 1/2 cups butter, softened
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
5 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsps baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 drops of green food coloring

Garnish:

-Sliced almonds
-melted chocolate
-icing

Directions:

1.In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix in food coloring. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour (or overnight).

2.Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Carefully press dough into finger mold, making sure that you level out the top as much as possible. Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely.

3.To decorate it's really up to you, you can melt some chocolate and pipe on knuckle marks, dark blood, etc.. you could make some red icing for some bloody stumps, or attach a sliced almond and the finger nail with some chocolate as well. Just have fun with it!

Midnight Mocha Spooky Cupcakes

note: you will probably need THESE, I also picked these up at Michaels

recipe adapted from Taste of Home, makes 12 cupcakes

For the cakes...

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup cold brewed coffee
1/2 cup canola oil
2 Eggs
3 tsps cider vinegar
3 tsps vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup baking cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Directions:

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.Line cupcake tins with liners and set aside

2.In a large bowl, beat the sugar, coffee, oil, eggs, vinegar and vanilla until well blended. In a small bowl, combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt; gradually beat into coffee mixture until blended.

3.Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack to cool.

Mocha Filling:
2 cup heavy whipping cream
1 cup confections sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 8 oz. package of cream cheese, at room temp.
1/4 cup strong coffee, cooled

Directions:

1.In a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat heavy cream until stiff, set aside.

2.In a separate bowl, beat cream cheese, vanilla, and sugar until smooth. Add coffee. Carefully fold in whipped cream until incorporated. Using a small knife, cut out about an inch wide circle out of the center of each cooled cupcake.

3.Using a piping bag fitted with a round tip, fill the cakes with the mocha filling, then place the cut out circles back over the center. For decoration, place the stencil on the cupcake and sprinkle powdered sugar until design is visible.