No-Bake Mini Cheesecake Blossoms

Beauty! These no-bake mini cheesecake blossoms were so fun to make, mainly because I love desserts that feature some kind of floral decoration. What can I say? I love it when I get flowers!

Now, I've made my fair amount of cheesecakes before, and always found it agonizing when you place it in the oven and cross your fingers that it bakes evenly. Nobody wants cracks to show up on the surface of a perfectly smooth cheesecake. And there's the bain marie (or water bath) that you have to deal with. So if you're on the lookout for a no-bake recipe, this is one to try.

No-Bake Mini Cheesecake Blossoms
Shopping List: cream cheese, sweetened condense milk, icing sugar, vanilla extract, unflavoured gelatin, chocolate sandwich cookies, and fruit.

Let the cream cheese rest in room temperature for about an hour or so. Letting it soften up helps the mixing process a lot!

This is pretty simple and having a stand mixer makes it even easier. You throw in the cream cheese, sweetened condense milk, icing sugar, and vanilla extract and beat it until it's smooth.

In a small bowl, you mix the gelatin with boiling water and stir until it dissolves. Then add the gelatin into the cream cheese mixture.

Fill a piping bag with the batter and pipe cream cheese to cover the bottom of the mini cupcake liners or mini dessert jars. A good friend of ours bought me a set of mini dessert jars for my birthday and I was pretty excited to use them. The glasses are about two inches tall and I was able to fill nine of them. The recipe yields about 24 for mini cupcake liners.

Place one cookie (I used regular sized chocolate sandwich cookies, but use the mini versions if you're going with mini cupcake liners) in each and press it down so that some of the batter comes up on the sides. Pipe on the remaining cheesecake batter to cover the cookies.

Refrigerate for at least three hours or overnight.

I'm deviating a bit here, so if you're up for mango blossoms, read on. If you want other blossom ideas, watch this video to see how easy it is to decorate your cheesecakes with fruit.

Remove the skin from the ripe mango and slice all four sides around the mango seed. Next, lay the pieces down thinly slice them so you have many semi-circle pieces. Picking the right mango is crucial as you don't want one that is too firm because it won't bend and might break, and you don't want one that is too ripe for it'll become mushy if you try to curve it.

To create the blossom, take one of the shorter slices of mango and curl it up to form the middle of the bud. Place it in the middle of the cheesecake. Then, take medium slices and wrap it around. You want the curve side facing up and the straight edge on the cheesecake. Keep surrounding the middle piece with mango slices until you reach the edge of your bowl or cupcake liner.

You can probably work the opposite way and go outside in if that's easier. You also don't have to place the bud in the middle! Even if you start on the side, just keeping adding mango slices for a lovely layered look.

You can garnish your cheesecakes with whatever you like, maybe you know some chocolate fans, add some chocolate crisps or chop up your favourite candy. Drizzle on caramel sauce. Add dollops of jam and cream. But guys? Blossoms are pretty and impressive. ;)

Share your no-bake mini cheesecake blossom snapshots with @canadianliving on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram with the hashtag #CLIMadeIt.

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post by Canadian Living and I received compensation for it. There was no requirement to produce a positive review of this recipe. All opinions are our own.

Winterlicious: Scarpetta

Scarpetta

550 Wellington Street West

Toronto, ON M5V 2V8

Tel: (416) 601-3590

For our second Winterlicious dinner, we tried Scarpetta, a trendy restaurant in the Thompson Hotel (which we had the pleasure of visiting for a previous event). This was the Toronto location of the acclaimed Italian restaurant know for their signature spaghetti and polenta.

Scarpetta has their own entrance at the Hotel and we were greeted by friendly hostesses. Coats checked, they took our party of four to our table by the tall shelves of wine (which caused the customers beside us to shuffle out of their seats when the sommelier wanted to reach a certain wine behind them - ekks, not a great way to layout the restaurant).

Our waitress came by and asked if we wanted any drinks, we politely declined as we had just sat down and were debating what to order. I don't know about you, but we always look at food first, drinks (if we're in the mood) second. Here's the strange part, after she took our order and asked if we wanted a drink again, we said we would now take a look at the drink menu. But she took it away!

Regardless, our bread basket came out shortly and we found ourselves enjoying a delicious roll of pizza bread. At the moment, we also asked someone if we could see the drink menu. Seeing us looking through the menu, our waitress returned to take our order. We had a few in mind, but also asked for drink recommendations and she explained to us that she hadn't tried any so that she wouldn't be able to let us know which ones were good! We did end up trying a couple of drinks but felt that she could have done a better job explaining the items.

Let's move to the food, which was why we were there in the first place!

The guys at the table ordered the braised short ribs of beef with vegetables and farro risotto. No complaints here, they both agreed that it was very tasty.

The rest of us tried the spiced winter squash soup with goat cheese dumplings and farro. When it was set down on our place mats, this soup smelled amazing! It reminded us of a really good pho broth - which was very surprising, how does squash end up smelling like pho? If you're wondering, they soup did not taste like pho, but a very nicely composed squash soup. My only complaint would that I would have liked it to be hotter in temperature. But those goat cheese dumplings? So delicious and fun to eat!

While I was mocked and laughed at by Howard for ordering spaghetti, I was going to try their signature dish! It may look like a small pile of spaghetti, but even portioning off most of it to the rest of our group to try, it was really filling. Some parmesan cheese would have been a nice touch!

Howard went with the roasted chicken with cauliflower, cippolini (onions), and finger noodles served with a fegato sauce.

Our friend tried the striped bass with a parsnip purée, hedgehog mushrooms, and a brown butter froth.

This is probably a first that every main was ordered by our dinner party! The last one was the pancetta wrapped pork tenderloin with mustard seed braised lentils, butternut squash, and fresh guanciale (a pig's cheek bacon).

The same went for desserts, we tried all the items on the menu.

The Amedei chocolate cake with Baileys ice cream and an espresso sauce. The cake was incredibly rich and had a little bit of molten happening.

The cheesecake with carmelized port marinated berries. The cheesecake was nice and soft, didn't have an overpowering cheese flavour - a nice balance that I enjoy.

We had two of these at the table. A selection of ice cream and sorbet. That night's trio was an apple sorbet, cinnamon ice cream, and Baileys ice cream. From the shrieks of delight, the apple sorbet was the night's winner.

The verdict? While the food was good and service was acceptable, the four of us don't see a ourselves returning in the future. But it was great to have the opportunity to try it!

Afternoon Tea at Butter Avenue

So we returned. Didn't I say we would?

So more about the Afternoon Tea at Butter Avenue. We were greeted by the friendly staff, most of whom remembered us from our first visit. Our table was reserved and we were given the choice from two sets: Lumière and De Luxe. Since we grabbed lunch at The Burger's Priest nearby, we went with the Lumière set. We were a bit nervous that we would be too full, as you get a bit more desserts and drink choices if you go with the De Luxe one.

The fun part was being able to smell and read the description of all the available tea choices. I went with one of the more popular teas (as our hostess informed us). A tea with sweet, roasted, and caramelized almonds with sweet apple pieces. The red colour comes from adding beetroot.

From the samples of tea, Howard picked Darjeeling, one that he was comfortable and familiar with.

Our amuse-bouche arrived! A mini croissant with smoked salmon and dill, brioche, and two mini bacon and cheese quiches. Anything with smoked salmon wins over Howard's heart. The brioche was delicious. The quiches had the texture of a light and airy egg sponge, also very tasty.

Along with our tray of tarts and cakes, we also got to choose a macaron from the display cases.

Our hostess suggested we start from the left to the right. We had a taste of the pistachio cream puff with a white chocolate glaze. A nice and easy way to start off the tasting.

Then, the cassis (blackcurrant) mousse topped with a blueberry.

Their newest cake, cheesecake garnished with a sliver of strawberry. I'm not usually a fan of cheesecake because I find them too dense and heavy (but Howard loves them), this however, I enjoyed! It was very light and soft, just the right texture for a bite size.

Raspberry mousse, deliciously tart and light!

Their terre et neige cake, a matcha mousse, chocolate sponge cake, and vanilla mousse.

Finally, we finished with the nutty dark chocolate cake with dark chocolate mousse, chocolate sponge cake,  and a chocolate rice crispy base.

I have to say, everything was delicious and delightful, but I was a little bit disappointed with the macarons this time around. I had purchased some extra ones to take home and some of my macaron shells were too hard and hollow inside.

Junior's

Junior's
386 Flatbush Avenue
Brooklyn, New York 11201
(718) 852-5257

Yup. We went to Junior's for cheesecake. While Howard and my brother aren't all that crazy about sweets, they won't turn down cheesecake. Especially if it is cheesecake that everyone recommends.

Look at all that press!

My aunt and uncle drove us to Junior's Brooklyn location just so we could buy cheesecake. They sell cheesecakes and cakes at Junior's whole and by the slice. They are also a restaurant with a few locations in New York City.

The dessert list goes on for awhile...

But let's focus on those cheesecakes. They just pile the fruits on...

And on...

The cupcakes here were gigantic! Just look at them compared to the size of the cheesecakes! The cakes here at 6" so those cupcakes must be reaching 4"!

Clown-head cupcakes anyone?

We ended up getting one of their swirled cheesecakes!

No this isn't Brooklyn anymore. Just thought I would share the view from Queens. I love how the Manhattan skyline looks. =)

Tokyo Bakery

Tokyo Bakery
4385 Sheppard Avenue East, Unit 7
Scarborough, ON M1S 1T9
(416) 335-5500

My mom, aunt, brother, cousin, and I had lunch today and stopped in Tokyo Bakery (same plaza). I have to say, Howard was the one that introduced us to this hidden gem. He had heard co-workers rave about the cakes there, so we had tried it last year, and bought one for a birthday celebration.

Since then, my parents have been ordering cakes from them. They are fresh, tasty, and look very pretty. The cakes come in different fruit/cheesecake flavours and are not too sweet - the perfect amount of sugar for my non-sweet-tooth parents (and their friends). So far, the favourite of the family is their blueberry cheesecake.

We couldn't resist taking a peek to see what was at the bakery, so imagine our delight when we spotted these tiny cakes in the back. We quickly asked if those were for sale (a lot of the cakes were already claimed from pre-orders), and she said "yes!" We patiently waited the 5 minutes for the baker to put on the finishing touches. And that is the story of how we ended up with 5 different flavoured "cut cakes" to try. =)

Raspberry Mango Cheesecake

Pina Colada

Mango and Chocolate

Blueberry Cheesecake

Mango and Tapioca
I told my mom the next time she made tapioca, I will try to incorporate it into cake!

As a blogger, I informed everyone that I had to take photos first. So no one was allowed to take a bite yet! Once I snapped these photos, we all dug in. The cut cakes were gone within the hour, probably less... maybe less than 30 minutes! =)

If you are looking to get a cake from Tokyo Bakery, I would highly recommend that you call ahead and place an order. They don't have many cakes in the display case, so you might be out of luck that day!

Cheesecupcakes

Another birthday celebration! The birthday guys (yes this was a double birthday) love cheesecake, so we simply had to make cheesecupcakes! We always try to make decorations that are edible, but we're not sure that fondant would go well with cheesecake. Plus these men like really simple desserts.

Egg shells and graham crackers.


Cheesecake batter and graham cracker base.

Cheesecupcakes
Adapted from Kraft's What's Cooking
(Makes about 12 cupcakes)

2 packages (250 g each) of softened Cream Cheese
1/2 cup of sugar
2 eggs
1 cup of graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup of melted butter

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) and have cupcake liners ready in the tray.
2. Combine the graham crumbs and butter. Divide the base evenly between the 12 cupcakes. Press firmly onto the bottom of cupcake liners.
   
3. Beat the cream cheese and sugar on medium speed until well blended.
   
4. Add eggs, one at a time, beating on low speed after each addition just until blended.
5. Fill cupcake liners evenly with batter.
6. Bake for 20 minutes or until centres are almost set.
   
7. Cool and refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight.

Cheesecupcakes with chocolate ganache topping.

For decorations, we handmade these Boo and Toad toppers. Why Boo and Toad? Because when they play Mario Party, those are the characters they choose! On Google Images, we searched for "Boo from Mario" and "Toad from Mario" and found these two images. Printed them out on card stock (you can use any thick paper really) and attached them to toothpicks.

Boo and Toad, half of the cheesecupcakes had yummy chocolate ganache.


Boo!

Chocolate Ganache
(Makes about 1/2 cups)

1/4 cup of heavy cream
1/4 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Heat the heavy cream over a double boiler until the edges begin to bubble.
2. With the chocolates in a heat proof container, pour the heated cream in. Let it sit for a minute and then whisk the chocolate and heavy cream together. It should be smooth and shiny!
   
3. Apply generously to dessert!