Hazelnut Cheesecake

Holiday season and that means tons of sugar and giving in to sweet cravings. This Christmas I drew inspiration from a recipe I saw weeks ago about making no-bake cheesecakes and thought of surprising my super lovely friends.

So here is a sweet and short tale on how to go about making that yummy no bake hazelnut cheesecake.

The below estimates are for 12 mini cake glasses.

Ingredients:
Oreo Cookies - about 8-10
Unsalted butter - 4 tbsp, softened

Hazelnut with cocoa flavored Nutella spread - 1 cup
Original cream cheese - 8 oz, softened
Vanilla extract - 1/2 tbsp
Frozen whipped cream topping - 1 cup

Whipped cream frosting
Dairy Whipped cream topping - creamy
Chopped hazelnuts

Recipe:
In a bowl, add the crumbled Oreo cookies and the softened butter and beat them well so that no cookie lumps remain. Add about half an inch layer of the mixture to each of the mini cake glasses. Put it in the refrigerator while you work on the filling.

In a large bow, add the Nutella spread and the softened cream cheese and beat it very well so that the mixture is absolutely uniform. Add the vanilla extract and give it a stir. Add the frozen whipped topping and give a few more stirs. Fill up each of the glasses to half an inch from the brim and evenly so that the tops are smooth. Cover the glasses with plastic wraps and keep them for about 1 hour in the freezer for the filling to solidify.

After the filling has settled in, take out the glasses and fill the remaining half inch of the glasses with the whipped cream frosting. Add  the whipped cream topping on top and add the chooped hazelnuts to garnish.

Serve the sweet treats and enjoy!

Bruschetta

Thanksgiving and Christmas pushes me to try newer finger food each year. I usually my favorite stuffed mushrooms every year and while I promise to put that recipe up too on the site someday, right now I will let you enjoy this amazing appetizer that is both quick to made and to munch on.

Ingredients:
1. French bread - any french bread, a single load
2. Butter - salted
3. Pinto beans - half a can
4. Jalapeno - 2 big
5. White Onion - 1 medium sized
6. Tomato - 1 large or 2 medium
7. Goat cheese
8. Mexican cheese mix
9. Spring onion
10.Dried parsley

How to?
In a pot of boiling water, add the onion, tomatoes and jalapeno and cook for 5-7 minutes (or alternately, broil them in the oven). After taking the vegetables out of the heat, cool them in running water and finely chop them. Mix baked pinto beans to the chopped vegetables in a bowl.

Pre-heat the oven to 325 degrees. Slice the french loaf and rub them well with butter on both sides. Toast them in the oven, till it is moderately toasted (around 5-10 minutes).

After taking the toast out of the oven, add goat cheese first to each toast to create a cheesy bed and then add a tablespoon of the vegetable mixture on top of each slice. Add finely chopped spring onions on top and some mexican cheese mix. Garnish with the dried parsley.

Serve Hot!