Chocolate Peppermint Cheesecake

One of my goals this week was to make a Cheesecake.  I had tons of cream cheese to use up as well as I haven't made one since before I moved back from France.  Needless to say, it was important that I make one this week while I was off.  I took the recipe from Good Housekeeping's cookbook which I will post later.  It was interesting because the recipe was for a make your own cheesecake.  To me it was much more difficult to follow it as I didn't know which combinations would work the best.  Mine had chocolate peppermint pieces in it as I thought it might be an interesting addition. 

 

 As you can see, I just had to try a slice before it went in the freezer.  I wouldn't want to serve it to guests and it taste bad, now would I? It tasted good but I am not sure I liked my crust and might have to change the brand of graham cracker crumbs that I use for next time.  That and there was too much butter in the crust (not that I tasted it) because it leaked in the oven and on my counter. Good things to know for next time!

My first cake in a year!

So after having moved in to my new house and asking a friend of mine to move in for the summer, i decided to dust off the old cricut cake and design a birthday creation for my brother's bday. My brother left for Vegas today so it was only fitting that i do a Vegas themed cake.

It has literally been a year since i made a fondanted cake answer even longer since i used my cricut! The only difference and motivation for doing it now is that i don't have to dig deep in the basement for all the materials! I have my own kitchen full now!

My roomie who had never cake decorated before, happily helped out to gain some experience .

I tried a new cake mix by duff called "zebra" and as much as it was hard work getting it to look like a zebra, it was mega fun!

Hope you enjoy!