Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Chocolate and peppermint... a match made in sweet heaven!

Jeff usually takes the last couple of weeks off work every year to enjoy the holiday time at home and finish up projects around the house that need to get done. This will be his last week at work this year, so I figured we should do something a little extra special for the final Weekly Wednesday Treat Day of 2007.

I gave Jeff a bunch of options ranging from cakes, cookies or different candies - one of them specially caught his eye and when I mentioned I had an idea to add a little something, he moved the rest of the recipes to the side and said we had to do these.

Chocolate-Peppermint Cheesecake Candy Cane BarsThe first change I had to this final treat, Chocolate-Peppermint Cheesecake Candy Cane Bars, was to fuss with the crust. The original called for those "famous" chocolate wafer cookies, but we decided to add a dash of decadence with a smidge of peppermint and use those Oreo-esque Candy Cane Joe-Joe's from Trader Joe's. Yes, you use the entire cookie, filling and all - this way we didn't need to add any of the sugar as listed in the recipe. The cookies are quite sweet, so a dash of salt in the crust helps to cut that down a tad. If you prefer to just use those wafer cookies, you'll need about 35 to 40 - you may want to toss in a couple tablespoons of sugar as well.

Chocolate-Peppermint Cheesecake Candy Cane BarsWhile the crust is baking, the filling is started by melting a combination of chopped semi-sweet chocolate with an equal amount of bittersweet. I did this in a bowl over simmering water, but you could just as well melt it in a microwave at 50 to 75% power. The slick chocolate is then poured into a mixture of a couple blocks of cream cheese that had been combined with sugar, sour cream and a few eggs. To ensure a very creamy filling, make sure the cream cheese sits out at room temperature for an hour or two before using it - the eggs will also mix in much easier if they are at room temperature. If you forget, you can just submerge the whole eggs in luke-warm water for a few minutes to take the edge off.

Chocolate-Peppermint Cheesecake Candy Cane BarsBecause there can never be too much chocolate, once the cheesecake was done, we prepared an exquisite glaze that included a healthy dose of bittersweet chocolate and another dose of sour cream. This is quite fluid when heated and spread on the warm cake, so it is easy to apply - instead of scattering crushed candy canes on top, we estimated how we were going to cut the cheesecake and placed a miniature cane in the "pretend" center of each bar.

This glaze firms up quite a bit, so the canes or crushed candy will not stick once the cheesecake has completely cooled. Because of this, when you go to divide out the cheesecake, you will want to dip your knife in a glass of hot water when you make each cut - if you don't, the top will crack and take away from that smooth finish on top. So the taste? Let's just leave it that I am too busy rolling my eyes in the back of my head, good. Dense, rich and an intense chocolate-y in-your-face flavor - I felt like I was like swimming through a chocolate pool while taking nibbles from a peppermint-laced wall when I was eating my piece. The crust has a firm peppermint bite against the creamy sumptuous filling - we did think that using half bittersweet and semi-sweet chocolate in the filling added a pleasant depth to these sweet treats. You could get away with just using one or the other though. Can I send the candy cane sleigh your way so you can indulge with me?

Chocolate-Peppermint Cheesecake Candy Cane Bars

16 comments:

  1. Love that last picture. So cute. I hope they enjoyed the last treat of the year. And also I'm wishing a good vacation to Jeff!

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  2. YES! Please send the sleigh this way, those sound absolutely amazing!

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  3. Wow, Joe, that's beyond decadent. Awesome :) (I'd probably take out the candy cane before I eat mine though :)

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  4. Joe, you are so freaking talented! Your food makes me want to come to Minnesota and stalk Jeff and work where ever it is that he works just so I can get some of the Wednesday treats! :)

    Seriously, I am in awe of your culinary and photography talents. I hope you and Jeff enjoy your vacation time.

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  5. Look at that perfect slice! Joe you are the best!

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  6. These look so decadently awesome! What an inspired idea. I think I may just have to make these soon. They look pretty easy and I can only imagine how tasty! Thanks!

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  7. ...Definitely send that candy cane sleigh my way!

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  8. Chocolate & peppermint is a must for December!

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  9. Helene - Yeah, but it was a little touch trying to get everything balanced!

    Brilynn - hee hee... thanks!

    Manggy - I know what you mean, it would be a little hard to bite through that candy cane!

    Laura - You are way too kind! I'll miss my weekly baking for them though... but the new year is just around the corner!

    Cynthia - Thanks!

    Bri - They are so worth it!

    Indigo - I need to make up some candy cane reindeer methinks!

    Jep - I agree!

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  10. i've been reading your food blog faithfully for the past couple of months... and i LOVE it! (i even bought a couple boxes of the candy cane joe-joe's after you mentioned it)

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  11. Jeeeeez, Joe, you're killing me!! There is no way I can get these and the gingerbread bars with orange frosting made for DH's work thing tomorrow, but OMG, I have to try them both!! These look soooo incredibly decadent. And I *love* chocolate and peppermint. I will be making a stop at TJ's this weekend and bringing these to the office next week. Thanks for another great looking recipe!

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  12. Oh my gosh! This is too much - I love it! How did you get the slice so perfect? Is it texture? Patience? The knife?

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  13. Lydia - What did you think of the cookies?

    Eva - I hope you enjoy both recipes! These really were so good and the peppermint was just enough - it added just enough without the whole thing tasting minty.

    Chris - all of the above! Patience, a warm knife and clean in between cuts!

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  14. I made these as one of my Christmas day desserts, and they were a huge hit. Very rich and decadent, and everyone loved them. Although mine did not look nearly as beautiful as yours. Apparently I overlooked your suggestion regarding the knife-in-hot-water trick. :o

    Still, they were very tasty! Thanks, Joe!

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  15. Eva - Woo! Glad you enjoyed this one too!

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  16. Delicious looking and gorgeous! I appreciate that you told us how to get such a smooth finish as you cut. I was wondering about that when low and behold you gave us the details! Ty.

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