Restaurant Wars 2013 - Cheesecake Factory

I wonder why I don't make cheesecake very often.

No wait, I know exactly why I don't make cheesecake very often.  It's because I would weigh nine hundred pounds.  Cheesecake is delicious and I have no self control around it.  This is why I was so excited about having the Cheesecake factory next on my list.  I was looking forward to that cheesecake menu.

For the most part, I have never been that impressed with the Cheesecake Factory's food menu.  I think it's because they have way too many options.  I want a menu with ten to fifteen great options, not seven pages of  sandwiches, burgers, pasta and entrees.  The power that Cheesecake Factory holds over me is in their two page cheesecake menu.

Boyfriend and I enjoyed a pretty basic lunch.  Apparently Cheesecake Factory realized that most of their menu items were super high in calories and has introduced a Skillylicious menu.  I ordered a salad and BF got a lunch-sized portion of pasta carbonara.  (He really likes carbonara and will order it off of just about any menu)  Since it was lunchtime, there was no way I was going to be able to eat my salad and a slice of cheesecake.  Luckily, they have these great to go boxes!

I asked the waitress which two cheesecakes were their most popular.  She suggested their white chocolate-raspberry cheesecake and their limited edition Oreo cheesecake.  I took a slice of each home and found out that I would be eating all of this cheesecake myself.  Boyfriend apparently doesn't like cheese in his dessert.  And he was the whole reason I got the Oreo cheesecake!  I guess I'm still learning new things about the guy I've been with for over ten years!

And you would all be so proud of me!  I had total self control with these two slices of cheesecake.  I had a bite of each once we got home from our day out and promptly put them in the fridge.  It took me until the end of the week to finish eating them!  I think it took me so long, because they weren't mindblowingly delicious.  The limited edition Oreo cheesecake was uber rich and had four layers of mousse, cheesecake, ganache and crumb.  It was just too much, you can see how it was falling over after a short ride in the car.  The white chocolate-raspberry cheesecake was half and half.  The top layer was amazing, but the raspberry-less bottom layer was just meh.

I decided to neglect the entire food menu of Cheesecake factory and try to recreate their white chocolate-raspberry cheesecake, in miniature form.  There was no way that I was going to have an entire 10-inch cheesecake sitting in my house, so my recipe makes six cupcake sized cakes!  I can handle having that many cute little cheesecakes in the house (especially since I'm the only one living in this apartment who likes cheesecake!).

Make these mini cheesecakes at home and enjoy the best part of going out to dinner at the Factory.

NYC Food Blogger Bake Sale

Are you going to be in New York City this weekend?  If you are, you should come out and see me in Brooklyn!  I'm so excited to be in town and free to participate in the NYC Bake Sale for No Kid Hungry.  I was out of the country last year, so I made sure to plan my spring vacation after I found out when the bake sale was!

But it's not just me!  I'll be joining 35 other NYC area bloggers at the Brooklyn Flea with homemade treats from our kitchens.  I've spent the past few weeks trying to decide what to make for the bake sale.  I wanted something that would just scream WITK.  I came up with - Mallomars.

I've made many different varieties of mallomars here at WITK.  From simple flavors like key lime and blueberry flavors to holiday flavors like peppermint and pumpkin.  For the NYC bake sale, I decided to give everyone what they want - Funfetti!

I used my classic almond sugar cookie base and swapped out the vanilla extract for cake batter flavoring (I got it at my local gourmet food shop) and added a copious amount of rainbow sprinkles.  My classic vanilla marshmallow was also pumped up with the cake batter flavoring.  The marshmallow batter smelled Ah-mazing.  I was seriously licking it off the spoon (after I was done piping the cookies).  The whole shebang was topped off with a coating of rainbow sprinkles.

If you can make it to the city this weekend, come visit me and taste test these bad boys!  If you can't make it out/across the country for the bake sale, I included the recipe for you to try at home.  Be sure to buy this cake batter flavoring, you can also add it to milkshakes and ice cream (which I totally plan on doing this summer).

Don't worry, even if you can't come out and visit us at the Brooklyn Flea this weekend, you can still take part in the NYC bake sale for No Kid Hungry.  You can enter to win a whole bunch of different raffles!  From Divine chocolate to Le Creuset stoneware, amazing cookbooks to sweet gift boxes.  You can win these without even being in New York City!  Enter them all!

Wilde Week #14

1. It's been a long week in the lab.  I've been working on a tricky new synthesis and have spent the majority of my time on my feet, running around the labs.  As of Friday, I'm happy to report that I completed the synthesis and made my project leader and boss very happy.  Along the way I ran a nickel reduction and during the course of the reaction, the nickel became magnetic.  Enjoy the magnetic lines formed as my newly magnetized nickel dances around my magnetic stir bar.

2. It was a week of ups and downs.  Like Sunday, when I discovered my iPad screen had shattered somehow.  It's still a mystery to me.  Then moments later I noticed there was a Groupon for iPad screen replacement.  

3. Why Jimmy Fallon was so good and so terrible on SNL.  Enjoy the top 10 crack-ups of SNL.  Love it.

4. I wore these shoes to work Friday.  The only thing most people said to me was "Whoa!  Those shoes are bright!"  My girlfriends told me they were awesome.  I believe both groups of people were correct!  Please note, these are just hot pink ballet flats.  Not hot pink four inch heels.  Wait till they see my lime green Sperry wedges this summer!

5. Why yes magazine, I am grossed out by walking around the yoga studio in my bare feet.  Am I willing to drop $110 for some adorable pink and orange polka dotted foot wraps?  Maybe...

6. If I could, I would make everything in a muffin tin.  You too?  Here are some cool ideas, some that I'd never even thought of before.  Love the mini lasagnas.

7. I'm spending this weekend prepping for the NYC bake sale that is happening next Saturday at the Brooklyn Flea.  If you're in the city next weekend, stop by and support No Kid Hungry by picking up some tasty treats made by some of your favorite NYC area food bloggers and bakeries!  There are some raffles you can enter, even if you aren't in the NYC area!  Enter Here!

Have yourself a great week and hopefully I'll see you next weekend at the Brooklyn Flea!