#100 My 100th Post! Overview

12" Trial
Back to what I was saying in my previous cake post, I baked the large 12" cheesecake for 3 hours on 325 degrees and left it in the oven with the heat off for another hour. The result- burnt cheeseacake that didn't taste burnt but it was a darker amber color as opposed to light yellow. The result was also more dense so that 3" height was lost by the overbaking. Massive fail!!

10" Trial

Scared from the first trial and the massive fear of wasting 2 pounds of cream cheese and a dozen eggs, I baked the second cheesecake the same time as the recipe called for. The problem this entire time is trying to figure out a formula and time frame to bake such a large cheesecake without under or overbaking it. So, basically, it was my head the entire time. I baked it at a lower temp at 300 degrees and baked it only 15 min over the recipe called for, 1.5 hours and left it in the oven with the heat turned off for another hour(a little bit less). This one turned out as perfect as can be! It was white, light, fluffy, and beauuuuutiful!! EPIC SUCCESS!!!!

Icing Trials: Bourbon Caramel Cream Cheese, Cream Cheese, White Chocolate Cream Cheese
Duong, India, and I tried 3 different recipes and were each in charge of making that particular one.

Bourbon Caramel Cream Cheese (Me): Tasted amazing, but didn't necessarily match the cheesecake. Plus, the icing was loose and really sticky. This was a test to me too. Nope, will not.
Cream Cheese (Duong): Just a simple recipe, but same texture as above.
White Chocolate Cream Cheese (India): I actually dislike white chocolate and was wary of this recipe but decided to give it a try because it was the only one that was suggested by an actual cake-pan making company, Wilton. This turned out the best because it turned out white and melted almost perfectly with the fluffly white cheesecake. Major winner! I know I found the best one! It had this nice solid shell but was still maleable enough to smooth over. It resembled a real wedding cake which was SWEET! Major Success!!

# 98 Cheesecake trial #4 the real deal

On Saturday I went ahead and baked my 12" chz cake which after baking 3 tiny cakes this was the real deal. Epic fail! 3 hours in the over, + 1 hour in the oven w/the heat turned off = a burnt waster of a dozen eggs, 2 pounds of cream cheese, and effort. However, the 10" turned out AMAZING! Perfect 3" of fluffiness, white, with the  best icing ever.

# 86 Cream Cheese Cake Frosting

White Chocolate-Cream Cheese Frosting
SimplyRecipes.com

Wilton's Recipe
Bourbon Caramel Cream Cheese Icing

Stupid clipboard, won't let me access it. Well, that's what screenshots are for!

 Duong has been pressuring me to do a real trial run of the cheesecakes. I've been avoiding the issue like the plaque. Ok, well, no more, I've officially set myself to do it this Sunday and on Monday when she comes, we're going to frost it and tier it to make sure it'll stand. Geesh....

# 79 Cake Idea again

Ok so I said I was going to make my own wedding cheesecake. Aunt Kay(Thomas' close family friend) and Vonda drove all the way down from Huntsville to help me plan my wedding. She was so incredibly helpful and organized I couldn't handle it!!! I gave her a big hug. The next day, Duong and I went to a bridal convention in Mobile. It was really nice though we went late due to my fault and partly my mom's. I got more ideas of catering looks. Pink chocolate fountain? Uhm.... It looked more like Pepto Bismol pink but my mom reeeeeeally wants it pink. wtf... I really don't like white chocolate though but we'll see. I probably won't end up eating a lot of chocolate anyway that night so I probably shouldn't care and let my mom's input influence that decision. I'll talk to Kay about that. Add a few drops of food coloring and voila, pink fountain.

Ok I saw this cake- the ribbed texture is beautiful and hides imperfections. It reminds me of tree bark- very nature like. I think I'll do this. Or I mean, have Kat do this because she demands that I not work on my wedding day. I was actually very shocked- a DIY bride not allowed to touch anything?!?! Well, it did make me feel better. Whew!! About the cake, I said I would add height with pillars but cover the pillars with fresh flowers. I think I'll use a lot of greenery because I might not have enough garden roses to go around.

# 55 Wedding Cheesecake Trial #2 & #3

WEDDING CHEESECAKE TRIAL #2
8.17.09
I used 1/2 of the Cheesecake Factory recipe. I think I misjudged the time it took to bake the cheesecake because it turned out brown and very custardy. The recipe asked for 5 eggs and to halve it, I just used 2. Was very mediocre. I think I put too much flour in it as well. Overall, bland, rubbery sucker with stale graham cracker crust from the 20s. It said to bake for 1.15 hours and leave it in the oven for another hour with the heat turned off. Baked for 1.15 hours and left in the oven for an extra 15-20 minutes. WAYYYYY epic. NG.(not good)

WEDDING CHEESECAKE TRIAL #3
8.27.09
I didn't want to give up on the Cheesecake Factory recipe so for Thomas' bday I tried again. Oh. My. God. I think this is the one. I used slightly more sour cream and vanilla with a NOT rotten lemon in this batch and added an egg so instead of 2 eggs I opted for 3(in the 1/2 recipe). I took it out of the oven a little earlier than 1.15 hours- maybe 1 hour. I didn't even leave it in the oven to bask in its glory. I tell you- let it refridgerate overnight and the flavors will blossom. I felt like a fatty the next day. Score.

------------TASTE TEST: DONE

---------------------SIZE TEST: not

The next trial I need to go ahead and buy my springform pans so I know how long to leave the cheesecakes in the oven. While I'm at it, I need to make the cream cheese icing so that it'll look polished. CC is so temperamental! I am getting the hang of it though!!

I found this blog called cakemonger.com which has this great post: "Cheesecake Wedding Cake."

# 9 Tutorials: Cake Stands!

Wowsers! Sometimes perusing blogs and wedding magazines make my head spin- sometimes I am happy to see other people's ideas, sometimes not because then that'll make me think that I'm copying. However, this is one exception that I am glad to have seen and will not feel guilty about using. Tangarang shows how to make your own cake stands! OMG all it is is just epoxy and thrifty cute plates. Boo Boo Boo! So easy my brain hurts. Oh well, I am happy I ran into it because there are lots of random details I already planned on making.

2. Tree Pedestal Cake Stand
Wow- another no brainer, yet I'm just dumbfounded that I haven't thought of it yet. This would be the most appropriate- I have to figure out if I want the wood look or not- after all, our wedding toppers thus far include a hand-carved wooden gummi rabbit by my boo back in high school. Very sentimental- hopefully he will be able to carve a wooden frog or rat to match me! (I'm the rabbit)

# 7 Wedding Cheesecake_Trial 1

Did I mention I wanted to try and take on making and decorating my own wedding cake? Not only cake, but NY styled cheesecake.

I never even CONSIDERED it until I sat down and thought about 1) the price ($800-1,000), 2) the expensive part of the cake was the labor in decorating it, and 3) I actually really wanted to decorate it. So, the hard part for me would be in baking it at the right time and temperature in the right size. The straw that broke the camel's back was when I called a baker to see if she available on my wedding day and she said no. However, I could pick up the cake the day before if I wanted to. Screw that- I'll be paying for an expensive cake that couldn't be decorated on site, aka I'll be doing it myself anyway after paying someone! Negative. Another hard part for me would be trying to find the time to decorate my cake- cheesecake can actually be frozen for weeks so when I need it, all I have to do is make the tiers, add the flower oasis in the middle, stick the flowers in the middle few days before the date, and just construct the whole pre-done piece the day of! Easy peasy! I'll probably make the cake 1-2 weeks prior, freeze it, and do the flower arrangements few days prior with my bridal party (aka bouquets, boutonnières, cake flowers). LOVE it!

LINKS:

3-Tier wedding cheesecake

how stuff works

how to make fondant

TRIAL #1: Philadelphia New York Sour Cream Topped Style Cheesecake

Why: It was a deliciously easy and very basic template for a cheesecake. I used it before and the taste was great but the execution was terrible so this time I opted to not to use such a large recipe, used a blender, and cooked it all the way this time.

Result: Tasted great! I halved the recipe just to see if I could nail it down without wasting expensive cream cheese. I know the sour cream made it taste great. The only thing I thought that could have made it perfect was getting it fluffier in texture.

Above: Without the white frosting on the cheesecake (ew), I was going to have a median filler to 1) make the take look SUPER tall and 2) that would be the easiest way to decorate the cake because I'll be so busy with other elements of the wedding day of.