Vegan Pumpkin Pie

Pumpkin pie is my (and a lot of people's, I'm sure) favourite type of pie, and the type I have the least self-control around because it's so easy to just take a little slice from the fridge, and then one more little slice, and suddenly you've eaten a whole pie just like that.  Ryan has been wanting to buy a pumpkin pie for weeks now but I told him that since it would just be the two of us eating it (and I intend on eating much more pumpkin pie in the coming months!) I wanted to try making a healthy pie that we wouldn't feel guilty about eating!

This pumpkin pie is pretty healthy and also happens to be vegan.  The crust is made from low-fat graham crackers mixed with a bit of coconut oil, so the crust alone has a lot less "bad" fats than a typical butter or shortening-packed pie crust.  (Not that I have anything wrong with eating the occasional piece of traditional pie, but like I said, I wanted to make a healthier version!)  I could have made a healthier crust with nuts and dates but I wanted to keep this as easy and inexpensive as possible since we wanted it to be more of an every day dessert pie.

The filling is made up of pumpkin puree, unsweetened almond milk, no eggs, a reduced amount of brown sugar and some pure maple syrup for sweetening, cornstarch to help everything set, and of course the usual pumpkin spices.

For a topping, I made a batch of coconut whipped cream, which is a great vegan alternative to traditional whipped cream!  To make it, you basically put a can of coconut milk in the fridge for a while so that the cream separates from the liquid, then you scoop out the coconut cream and whip it in a chilled bowl until it's fluffy.  It doesn't need much sweetener but I added a tiny bit of powdered sugar and vanilla extract to mine.  It tastes amazing and the slight coconut flavour really complements pumpkin pie!  Oh She Glows has a great tutorial for making whipped cream if you've never tried it before!

I was worried that either the taste or texture of this pie wouldn't turn out right but it turned out so much better than I'd even hoped!  It had a really nice bold pumpkin flavour from all the spices and addition of molasses (you can cut back if you don't like a lot of spice though!), the filling set perfectly and was smooth and creamy, and the crust sort of softened but stayed firm.  I won't say that it tastes exactly the same as a traditional pumpkin pie, but we both loved this and will likely be making it again soon!

With (Canadian) Thanksgiving quickly approaching, this would be a great dessert if you'll have any vegans at the table, or just want a lighter option after a big meal!

Vegan Pumpkin Pie

Recipe inspired by and adapted from several sources, including Vegetarian Times, Minimalist Baker, and Oh She Glows

Makes one 9-inch pie

Ingredients:

For the Crust:

10 sheets of low-fat graham crackers (about 1.5 cups of crumbs)

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 cup melted organic coconut oil

For the Filling:

2 cups canned pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)

1 cup unsweetened almond milk

3-1/2 tablespoons cornstarch

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

1 tablespoon molasses

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1-1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F.  Lightly spray a 9” pie pan with non-stick cooking spray.

Pulse graham crackers in a food processor until they form fine crumbs. Transfer to a bowl and mix in the cinnamon with a whisk or a fork.  Add the melted coconut oil and mix together (I use a fork) until well combined.  Pour crumb mixture into the prepared pie pan and press evenly across the bottom and up the sides to form a pie crust.  Bake in preheated oven for about 7 minutes, then remove.  Leave oven on.

For the filling, mix all ingredients together in a large bowl, whisking together until just combined.  You could do the wet and dry ingredients separately if you like but I saved bowls and just mixed everything together in one.  Pour filling over the baked pie crust, return to oven, and bake for 55-60 minutes, until set. 

Remove from oven and let cool at room temperature for at least an hour, then transfer to refrigerator and let cool for 3-4 hours or overnight before slicing and serving.

Serve with coconut whipped cream, if desired.  Follow the link for instructions on making coconut whipped cream; note that your coconut milk will need to be in the fridge the day before so plan ahead!

Blueberry Maple Cornmeal Cobbler

This past weekend, my family got together to do some cherry and blueberry picking, which was my first time berry picking in years (when you don't have a car, berry fields are kind of inaccessible).  Fortunately, blueberries and cherries are probably the easiest things to pick - no prickly thorns to watch out for and no crouching down getting your shorts covered in berry stains.  It was crazy hot out, but it was pretty nice ending up with bags full of fresh berries with fairly minimal work involved.

Of course, I now have a ton of blueberries to eat, but that's not going to be much of a problem for me because they're one of my favourite berries to eat on their own.  If you like your blueberries more in dessert form (or if you just love blueberries in any form), this is the dessert for you!

I love crisps and cobblers because they're such the perfect summertime dessert - they can be thrown together quickly and with minimal dishes, there's only one dish in the oven to worry about, they highlight summer berries, and they're a fairly light tasting way to end a meal out in your backyard on a summer evening.

Which is exactly how we enjoyed this blueberry maple cornmeal cobbler on Saturday night.

And because I made this for my family to enjoy, I didn't style and photograph it the way I normally would for a blog post, making sure I have optimal lighting, accessorizing with napkins, and cleaning up the sides of my bowl from berry stains.  Instead, what you see is exactly what we saw before we all devoured our servings. 

The only difference you may see in your own version is that your biscuit topping will probably be a bit puffier because unlike me, you probably know how to follow recipe directions.  I realized only 15 minutes after I had put the cobbler in the oven that I completely forgot to add baking powder to the biscuit dough.  I had a minor little meltdown thinking it would turn out to be a disaster, but luckily, it still turned out wonderfully!

I had reduced the amount of sugar in the blueberry filling and added pure maple syrup (plus some cinnamon) for flavour, and I loved the hint of maple in the sweet, warm berries.  I also loved the crunch of cornmeal in the topping that paired so well with the blueberries, along with the crunch from the turbinado sugar on top that also added a lovely sparkle to the dish!  The original recipe called for forming biscuits and placing those on top, but I just dropped my dough across more evenly so every piece could have some of the delicious cornmeal biscuit dough with it!

The only thing missing from the servings pictured was vanilla ice cream - I didn't think to add it when I first served it but it would have been the perfect addition to cool down and cut the sweetness of the filling a bit.  My sister tried some of the leftovers with ice cream and assured me that it was the way to go - so make sure to serve this with ice cream (and don't forget the baking powder)!

Blueberry Maple Cornmeal Cobbler

Adapted from a recipe in Rustic Fruit Desserts

Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon unsalted butter at room temperature, for greasing the baking dish

Filling:

3 dry pints (2 pounds) fresh blueberries

1/2 cup sugar

3 tablespoons cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

Biscuit Topping:

1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup fine cornmeal

2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, cubed

1 cup cold heavy cream

1 tablespoon turbinado sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375°F.  Butter a 2 or 3 quart glass baking dish.

To make the filling, wash and drain the blueberries and place in a large bowl.  In a small bowl, whisk together the sugar, cornstarch, salt, and cinnamon.  Toss with blueberries to coat.  Pour in the lemon juice and maple syrup and stir to combine.  Transfer to the prepared dish, using a flexible spatula to scrape down the bowl and get all the juices.

To make the biscuit topping, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon in a large bowl.  Add the butter and use a pastry cutter or your fingers to cut in the butter until the mixture reaches the texture of large crumbs. Pour in the cream and stir just until the mixture comes together (it will be wet).

Drop the dough by large pieces on top of the blueberries, leaving some gaps.  Sprinkle turbinado sugar on top.  Transfer to preheated oven and bake for 45 minutes, or until biscuits are golden and filling is bubbling in the middle.  Serve warm, but let servings sit for a few minutes before eating as the filling will be very hot!  Serving with ice cream will help with this too (and is highly recommended).  Leftovers will keep for a few days at room temperature, covered with a tea towel.

Shortbread Cookies with Candy Cane & Dark Chocolate

Even though I don't like candy canes, I love them in cookies and other baked goods, and lately I feel like I've been putting candy canes and peppermint extract in everything! And as my favourite cookies are shortbread, it didn't take long for me to think of making candy cane shortbread!

My first try at candy cane shortbread turned out to be more of the crunchier shortbread than the melt-in-your-mouth variety.  Still good, but not quite what I wanted.  So I tried again with this recipe and ended up with just what I wanted!

These are just a standard buttery shortbread cookie with crushed candy cane sprinkles throughout the dough, along with a dip in dark chocolate and sprinkle of candy cane for a festive chocolate peppermint flavour.  They're really easy to make and look so pretty with all their red and green and sparkles!

I cannot believe there's only about a week until Christmas!  I just got back from a little weekend trip and realized that I still have about a billion recipes I had planned on trying out before Christmas, I've only bought about half the gifts I need to, and almost none of the ones I have purchased have arrived yet, as I ordered most of them online.  You'd think I'd have learned my lesson from last year when a couple of my gifts didn't arrive on time, but I just can't resist the convenience of online shopping! 

So I'm going to be a busy girl this week baking, shopping, and constantly checking the mail for parcels, but hopefully I'll be able to squeeze in a few more recipes to share with you guys!

Shortbread Cookies with Candy Cane & Dark Chocolate

Adapted from Naked Cupcakes

Makes about 2 dozen cookies

Ingredients:

3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup cornstarch

1/2 cup icing sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

~1/4 cup crushed candy canes (I crush mine in a food processor so I have a mix of fine powder and chunks)

~1/3 cup dark chocolate chips

Directions:

In a large bowl, beat the butter until light and fluffy.  In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornstarch, icing sugar and salt.  Add the dry ingredients to the butter in two additions, blending after each to combine into a soft dough.  Stir in the candy cane.

Refrigerate mixture for at least 30 minutes.  Preheat oven to 300°F.

Roll cookies into 1” round balls and place on cookie sheets lined with parchment paper, a couple of inches apart.  Note that the parchment paper is important – I tried baking some on an ungreased cookie sheet and some on Silpat and both spread, but the ones I baked on parchment paper kept their shape.  Use a fork to flatten each ball. 

Bake for 15-20 minutes, until edges are light golden brown.  Let cool on cookie sheet for 5 minutes before carefully transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Once cookies are cool, melt chocolate chips in a small bowl.  Dip the edge of each cookie into the chocolate and set back on the wire rack, over a pan or parchment paper to catch any mess.  Sprinkle crushed candy cane over the chocolate.  Let chocolate harden before storing cookies in a container.

Raspberry Cherry Crumb Bars

If I had to choose my favourite of all the summer berries, I think I'd have to pick raspberries.  I'm pretty sure there's no better taste than a sweet, plump, fresh local raspberry that you let melt in your mouth because you want to hold on to the flavour as long as you can. I picked some up at the farmer's market a couple of weeks ago that were the best tasting raspberries I've ever had!  Of course, there was a special price if you mixed and matched three different berries, so I grabbed some blueberries, and on a whim, I decided to try out some cherries. 

I've always thought that I didn't like cherries and have always avoided them, but after I tried one, then another, and another, I realized they're pretty darn good!  I think that all this time that I thought I didn't like them was because I associated them with that artificial cherry taste and those overly sweet maraschino cherries from the top of ice cream sundaes.  Real, fresh cherries, however, remind me a lot of plums, which I love!

I immediately started thinking of ways to pair my raspberries and cherries together and came up with these delightful crumb bars!

Fruit crumb bars are one of the easiest desserts to make and are such a great way to highlight the wonderful flavours of summer fruits and berries in a light and summery dessert.  And all you have to do is make one sweet buttery dough that you use for the base and topping, then sandwich a gooey layer of sweet berries or fruit in between.  In this case, the middle layer was made up of cherries and raspberries, which is surprisingly a combination that you don't see a lot in recipes.  I don't know why, because they worked so well together!

These bars turned out even better than I'd hoped!  I could have eaten the whole tray myself, but I decided to share, and everyone else loved them too.  Not only do they taste great, but they look stunning with their gorgeous deep red colour from the cherries and raspberries, and they're so easy to make!

I only made an 8x8 pan of bars, but the original recipes I based this on were made in a 9x13 pan.  Sometimes cutting bars in half this way doesn't work because an 8x8 pan isn't exactly half of a 9x13 pan, but in this case it worked fine, so if you want to feed more people then you can easily just double the recipe below and bake them in a 9x13 dish.

I'm so sad that raspberry season is ending so quickly after it began here, but if you can't find good raspberries anywhere, I think these would be just as great with a cherry-blueberry filling, or cherry-peach, or peach-blueberry!  The combinations are endless, and there's still plenty of time left of summer to try them all out :)

Raspberry Cherry Crumb Bars

Adapted from All Recipes and Beach Bakeaholic

Makes 16 squares in an 8x8 pan

Ingredients:

For the Filling:

1 cup chopped fresh cherries (pits and stems removed)

1 cup fresh raspberries

1/4 cup sugar

1-1/2 teaspoons cornstarch

For the Dough:

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1/2 of a large egg (whisk one egg in a bowl then divide in half and use only half)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line an 8x8 pan with parchment paper or aluminum foil and spray with non-stick cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, combine the cherries and raspberries with the sugar and cornstarch, and toss to coat.  Set aside while you prepare the dough.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugars, baking powder, and salt.  Add the butter and use a pastry cutter or food processor to mix in until coarse crumbs form.

In a small bowl, whisk together the egg and vanilla.  Add the egg mixture to the dough and mix until combined (using a fork, spoon, or your hands).

Press half the dough into the bottom of your prepared pan, patting it down evenly in one layer.  Spread the berry mixture evenly over the dough.  Crumble the remaining dough overtop.  Bake in preheated oven for 35-40 minutes, until dough is golden brown.  Let cool completely before cutting into bars.

Mini Strawberry and Peach Pies

Ryan and I recently went to a barbecue and I wanted to bring a dessert that would feed about 50 people, didn’t require plates or serving utensils, and was appropriate for summer.  I’ve always wanted to try my hand at making mini pies but have been too intimidated in the past, so I decided that now was the time to finally give it a try, because I couldn’t think of a dessert more perfect for the situation than mini pies!

I read a lot of recipes while trying to choose one to follow, and they all scared me off a little with people saying how difficult they are to make.  But I soon realized that most of the problems seemed to stem from working with pie crust – either with problems keeping it cold enough, the bottoms not baking properly, or the lattice strips just not working.  So I decided to try to prevent any such problems by using a simple cream cheese dough that I already knew worked well from my mini pumpkin tarts.  It may not a traditional pie dough, but I knew it tasted good and was really easy to work with.

For the fillings, I decided to do two different types of pies to please everyone: strawberry and peach.  We still have some local strawberries here in Ontario but we're not quite in peach season yet, but since I know many of you down in the States are already past strawberries and well onto peaches, this combo works out well!  I decided to take a stab at doing lattice tops on the strawberry pies (my first time!) and stick to a simple crumble topping for the peach pies.

By now you’re probably wondering how they turned out, and if you couldn’t already tell from the pictures (which are a bit dull due to poor lighting, sorry!), they were amazing!  I couldn’t get over how adorable they were, especially the strawberry pies with their little lattice tops!  The crust browned up perfectly, there was a good ratio of filling to crust, and each of the fillings was sweet and juicy.  I couldn’t decide which one I liked better - I loved the bright flavours of the strawberry pie and the warm spices in the peach pies.

The downside is that even with my shortcut on the dough, these took a pretty long time to make!  I think they took about three hours total from start to finish, although not all that time was actively spent in the kitchen. They’re certainly not difficult to make, just time consuming, particularly with forming the dough and the lattice tops.  Of course, I made a LOT of pies, and if you don’t need to feed 50 people, you could easily cut the recipe in half and thus cut your time in half too.  And if you decide to use a crumble topping on all your pies instead of doing the lattice top, you’d cut even more time off.

My suggestions to help the time go faster?  First, don’t get too caught up in measurements.  I saw other recipes with strict measurements for the strips and circles of dough, but I honestly just used my best judgement for both and didn’t bother measuring.  It made everything much less stressful when I wasn’t getting out a ruler and trying to precisely measure each piece of dough (and it still turned out fine)!  Second, get yourself a helper!  Having someone to help shape the dough and make lattice tops with you will make your life so much easier!  Just try not to get too mad at them when they do it wrong :)  Third, listen to some music or watch tv while you work - a lot of the steps are pretty mindless and it helps to have a distraction. 

Now if I haven’t scared you off yet, give these a try for your next gathering!  They’re a perfect little bite-sized treat to feed a crowd without the mess and dishes that full-sized pies would require, and they are so tasty!!   

Mine were a big hit at the barbecue I brought them to - even though I thought I’d made way too many, they disappeared in probably under ten minutes!  Seeing how much everyone loved them definitely made it worth the work :)

Mini Strawberry and Peach Pies

Dough and crumble topping adapted from these pumpkin tarts, peach filling my own, strawberry filling adapted from Rainy Day Gal

Makes at least 50 mini pies

Ingredients:

For the Strawberry Filling:

4 cups diced strawberries (stems removed)

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar (not packed)

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 teaspoon vanilla

Dash of cinnamon

For the Peach Filling:

1-1/2 cups diced peeled peaches

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons cornstarch

Pinch of salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

For the Peach Crumble Topping:

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

For the Dough:

3 cups all-purpose flour

1-1/2 cups unsalted butter, softened

12 oz cream cheese, softened

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Mix all ingredients for the strawberry filling in a large bowl.  Set aside.

Mix all ingredients for the peach filling in a second bowl and set aside.

Combine ingredients for the peach topping in a small bowl, using a fork or pastry cutter to mix ingredients until crumbs form.

Prepare the dough:  Mix butter and cream cheese in a large bowl with a handheld mixer until smooth.  Add flour in three additions, mixing slowly after each addition until a smooth dough forms.

Roll dough out on a flat surface (I like to use a sheet of parchment paper for easier clean up) as thinly as possible.  To assemble the pies, I found it easier to just tear off a small piece of dough, flatten it between my palms so it’s as thin as it can get without tearing, then press it into a tin of a 24-cup mini muffin pan, making sure it’s pressed down evenly in the bottom and up the sides of the tin.  Then I tear off any excess dough around the edges.  If you like though, you could use a two-inch cookie cutter to cut out circles of dough and press them into the tins, then continue rerolling the scraps and cutting out more circles.  I just found it easier without having to worry about getting the dough as thin as I could with a rolling pin and then cutting out exact circles.  You should have enough dough to make at least 50 mini pies with lattice crusts. 

First we’ll do the strawberry pies.  Spoon strawberry filling into each of the 24 pie crusts, trying to make sure you use plenty of strawberries and not just the liquid.  Roll out some more dough as thinly as possible and use a pizza cutter to cut out thin strips of dough to form the lattice tops.  Use four small strips of dough, about the length of each muffin well, and weave them to form a lattice crust over each pie.  Pinch the edges of each strip into the base dough.  This isn’t difficult, but will take a long time, so try to find a helper!

Bake strawberry pies for 25-30 minutes, until crust is lightly golden brown.  Remove from oven and let cool for just a minute or two, then use a butter knife to pop each pie out of the muffin tin and transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.  They should come out easily.

Wash and dry the muffin tin, then repeat the process of forming the pie crusts, but this time fill with the peach filling.  Top each pie with the crumble topping, and bake for 25-30 minutes, following the same process as before.

At this point, I had leftover dough and some leftover strawberry filling.  I would have had enough dough to form lattice crusts on the peach pies instead of using a crumble topping, but I found the crumb topping much easier and I thought it paired with the pies really well.  Instead, you should have enough ingredients to make at least 12 more mini strawberry pies with lattice tops, if desired.  I already had enough pies so I ended up just using my dough and strawberry filling to make a quick turnover instead, which was delicious!

Mini Heart Shaped Raspberry White Chocolate Cheesecake

With just over two weeks until Valentine’s Day, cute heart-shaped things are starting to pop up all over the blogosphere, and I couldn’t wait to join in! I’m actually not that big into mushy Valentine’s Day stuff and I certainly don’t need to receive any gifts (I always seem to kill flowers within a day and I don’t even like chocolate), but I do enjoy the spirit of the holiday, and am super excited to bake Valentine’s themed treats!

My first Valentine’s Day recipe this year was this mini heart-shaped white chocolate cheesecake, and it turned out so well that I almost want to quit now while I’m ahead, because I don’t think I can top this!

My mom got me this mini heart-shaped springform pan last year and I was eager to test it out last Valentine’s Day. At first I had a hard time finding any recipes online that would fit the pan, so I was excited when I found this gorgeous cheesecake from Pennies on a Platter, with raspberry swirls in a white chocolate batter over an Oreo crust.

I wanted to make something similar to hers because I love white chocolate and raspberry together, but her recipe was for an 8” cheesecake so I had to play around with the ingredients quite a bit to figure out how to make just the right amount for a 4” pan. I was close with my first try last year, but still ended up with too much leftover batter. The cheesecake was just as delicious as I expected though, so I was more than happy to give it another try this year!

This year, not only did I get the amount of ingredients just right for the mini pan, but I also discovered that spreading raspberry sauce across the top of the cheesecake (instead of swirling it into the batter) makes it even prettier! I loved the colour contrast of the red, white, and black together, but I loved the flavour even more! Each forkful gives you the perfect combination of raspberry, cheesecake, and chocolate, and the texture of the cheesecake was creamy and rich and everything a cheesecake should be.

After I started photographing the cheesecake I realized it needed something else on top, so I melted some white chocolate and wrote a simple Valentine’s message on it. Obviously chocolate isn’t the best choice for this type of thing because it hardens in the fridge, so you’ll probably want to use an icing instead, but the chocolate still worked well if you’re in a pinch!

Cut in half, this is just the right size to serve two people, making it perfect for a Valentine’s date. I actually cut each half in two so that I could share it with my sister and parents, and the smaller pieces were a nice size for a snack or light dessert that doesn’t leave you feeling stuffed, but we were all wishing for more after because it was so good!

I shared this link in Sweets for Saturday over at Sweet as Sugar Cookies.

Mini Heart-Shaped Raspberry White Chocolate Cheesecake

Adapted from Pennies on a Platter

Makes one 4-inch cheesecake, Serves 2-4

Ingredients:

For the Oreo Crust:

1/2 cup Oreo cookie crumbs
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons melted butter

For the Cheesecake:

4 oz (half a brick) cream cheese
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 a large egg (whisk one egg in a bowl first then divide in half)
2 tablespoons sour cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2 oz melted white chocolate

For the Raspberry Sauce:

5oz raspberries
1 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1/4 cup water

Directions:

For the Oreo Crust:

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Mix Oreo crumbs with sugar and melted butter in a small bowl, until all crumbs are all moistened with butter. Pour into a 4” heart-shaped springform pan and press down with your fingers to cover the bottom of the pan and slightly up the sides. I ended up with a bit of extra leftover crumbs.

Bake in preheated oven for about 7-10 minutes. Remove and leave on a wire rack to cool.

For the Cheesecake:

Mix cream cheese and sugar in a small bowl until completely softened and smooth. I just used a whisk and mixed this by hand, but make sure you mix the cream cheese well. Add the half egg and mix until combined.

Add the sour cream and vanilla and mix until combined. Lastly, add the melted white chocolate and mix until combined.

Transfer the cheesecake to the springform pan with the cooled crust. Bake at 350°F for 20-30 minutes, then lower oven temperature to 250°F and bake for another 45 minutes to 1 hour. Turn off oven and let cheesecake cool in oven for 1 hour or until it’s cool enough to touch. Remove and let cool at room temperature until completely cooled.

For the Raspberry Sauce:

Bring raspberries, sugar, cornstarch, and water to a boil in a small saucepan. Let boil about 5 minutes, until thickened. Press through a fine mesh sieve to discard the seeds.

Pour raspberry sauce over the cooled cheesecake and smooth with a spatula. Transfer cheesecake to a covered container and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight before serving.

Giveaway: (now closed)

Now I know a lot of you are thinking you won't be able to make this because you don't have the same pan I used. Well not to worry because all this lovey-dovey stuff has put me in a generous mood, so I'm giving one reader the chance to win their own Wilton mini heart-shaped springform pan!

How to Enter:

Leave a comment on this post telling me What would be your ideal Valentine's Day dessert?

Optional Additional Entries:

If you want the chance for up to 2 additional entries, you can do either or both of the following (just be sure to leave a separate comment here for each one, in addition to the comment mentioned above):

• Like Once Upon A Cutting Board on Facebook and leave a separate comment on this post to say you do.
• Subscribe to Once Upon A Cutting Board's RSS Feed and leave a separate comment on this post to say you do.

Rules and Details:

1. This giveaway is only open to those with Canadian or U.S. shipping addresses.
2. Include your name and a valid email address with each entry so that I can contact you (the comment system will ask for your email address but it will not be published).
3. Entries must be submitted by Monday, January 30 at midnight EST.
4. I will randomly choose the winning comment on Tuesday morning and email the winner. That person will have 48 hours to respond with their shipping address or a new winner will be selected.

Good luck!

This post/giveaway is in no way sponsored by or affiliated with Wilton. I just like this pan and want to share it with someone else!

UPDATE: The giveaway is now closed and a winner has been selected. Thanks to all for your entries!

Chicken and Apple Sauté

The farmer's markets are brimming with apples lately, and I'm starting to collect more apples in my fridge than I know what to do with. Since I'm still on a bit of a pumpkin kick in the baked goods department, I've been using my apples more for snacks and savory dishes. One dinner that I've really enjoyed lately is this quick and easy chicken and apple sauté.

This is a perfect weeknight meal because it doesn't take long to put together, it doesn't use any strange ingredients, and it's pretty healthy but still filling. All you have to do is sauté some apples, onions, and a bit of garlic until they're soft and fragrant, cook your chicken in some apple juice so it ends up nice and juicy, then combine everything together and serve it over some rice for a complete dinner. You could also throw in a side salad or vegetables to add a bit more nutrition to your meal.

The apples pair really well with the chicken, and the thyme brings an added punch of flavour that keeps the dish from being too sweet. This is definitely a great recipe to have on hand when you need to use up your apples, but it's also worth buying apples just to make this tasty meal!

Chicken and Apple Sauté

Adapted from Diana Ratray at About.com

Serves 2

Ingredients:

2 teaspoons olive oil

2 tart apples, peeled and chopped

1/2 a medium yellow onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

2 boneless skinless chicken breast halves, pounded thin

1 cup apple juice

1/2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon cornstarch

salt & pepper

1/2 cup uncooked instant brown rice

Directions:

Heat one teaspoon of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the apples, onion, garlic, thyme, and cinnamon, and cook until apples and onions are soft, about 5-6 minutes, stirring often. Transfer mixture to a bowl and set aside.

Add remaining teaspoon of olive oil to the skillet and cook chicken breasts, turning once, for about 5 minutes total or until golden brown on both sides. Leave chicken in pan and reduce heat to medium low. Set 1 tablespoon of apple juice aside and pour the remaining apple juice in the skillet along with the apple cider vinegar. Cover and simmer for 6 to 8 minutes, until chicken is cooked through and juices run clear. Remove chicken and transfer to a platter or wrap in foil to keep warm (but leave the sauce in the pan).

Meanwhile, as the chicken is cooking, cook the rice according to package directions.

After you’ve removed the chicken from the pan, combine the cornstarch with the reserved tablespoon of apple juice in a small bowl, then stir it into the skillet juices and cook over medium-high heat, scraping up any browned bits, for 2 minutes or until juices are thickened.

Add the apple-onion mixture to the skillet and cook until heated through. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

To serve, place chicken atop cooked rice, and spoon apple mixture on top of the chicken.