This is not my dad’s pudding. This is not pudding belonging to your dad either, dear reader, unless you are that particular ex-boyfriend that left this recipe behind all those years ago. It turned up at the bottom of a box the other day. It’s not a pudding as much as a volcano cake or pudding cake. I like to scoop the steaming hot pudding-cake goodness into a bowl and pour milk over the top. You need to make this mixture in a casserole dish that is also safe to use on the stove.

Bring the following three ingredients to a boil in a casserole dish on the stove:
2c boiling water
1c brown sugar
1 T butter

In a bowl mix:
1 1/2c brown sugar
1 T butter
1/4c milk
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1c flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp allspice

The dry ingredients will be loose and crumbly. Drop the dry stuff by spoon-fulls into the syrup while it is still boiling. DO NOT STIR ANYTHING. Immediately remove the dish from the stove top and bake in a 350 degree oven for about twenty minutes.

My daughter Jasmin wanted a cheesecake to celebrate her 14th birthday and I was not going to disappoint my little girl. I don’t have to tell you this cake is a few steps away from my normal health-focused cooking endeavors. Basically this cake is insulin sensitivity on a plate. It was damn good too!

I will give credit to the baking & love blog for the recipe framework, but I made some modifications. I didn’t stir any cookie crumbs into the batter, I used three times the nutella, and I used a layering technique to try and keep the Mars pieces evenly spread through the height of the cake. I think it turned out really well.

Nutella Mars Bar Cheesecake

makes one tall cheesecake

Crust
1/2 box (200g) oreo cookie crumbs
6 Tbsp melted butter

Batter
4 blocks cream cheese (or 2 lbs or 32 oz) at room temperature
4 eggs
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 cup heavy cream (I used whipping cream)
a pinch of salt

Fillers
3/4 cup nutella
8 Mars bars, chopped into small pieces

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Combine cookie crumbs with melted butter. Press into the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan. Set the pan in the center of a large sheet of aluminum foil. You will be cooking the cake in a pan of water and the foil will keep the water out of the cake pan.

With beaters or a mixer combine the cream cheese and sugar and beat until smooth. Add the eggs, one at a time, and continue beating to incorporate. Gently beat in the cream and salt.

Heat the nutella in a small bowl in the microwave or in a small pan on the stove. Heat it just enough to make it easier to spoon/stir, but not too hot.

Pour 1/4 of the cake batter into the pan. Drop 1/4 of the nutella in spoonfulls onto the batter. Use a knife or toothpick to swirl the nutella into the batter. Spread 1/3 of the chopped Mars bars evenly onto the batter. Repeat with 1/4 batter, swirl in 1/4 of the nutella, and 1/3 of the chopped Mars bars. Once more and you’ve used up all the Mars bar pieces. Pour the remaining cake batter into the pan, swirl in all of the remaining nutella.

Bring the foil up the sides of the cake pan and set the whole thing in a larger pan with an inch or two of water. Bake the whole contraption for about 80-90 minutes. Crack the door of the oven and turn off the heat. Let the cake cool in the oven for an hour, then remove it to the fridge to chill for at least a few hours before unmolding and serving.

18 whole oreo cookies, finely crushed
2 tablespoons butter, melted
32 oz cream cheese, softened
1 1/4 cups sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips, divided in half
1 cup fresh strawberries, stems removed
1/4 cup whipping cream

Mix the oreo crumbs and butter; press onto bottom of 9-inch springform pan.

Combine 24 ozs of the cream cheese and the sugar, mixing at medium speed on electric mixer until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Blend in sour cream and vanilla; pour over crust.

Combine remaining 8 ozs cream cheese and 6oz chocolate chips. Microwave in 30 second intervals until chocolate chips melt, mixing at medium speed on eletric mixer until well blended. Puree the strawberries in a blender or food processor. Add to the chocolate cream cheese mixture. Drop rounded spoonsfuls of chocolate cream cheese batter over plain cream cheese batter, do not swirl.

Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour and 25 minutes. Let cool before releasing the sides of the pan.

Melt chocolate pieces and whipping cream over low heat (or in microwave), stirring until smooth. Spread over top of cheesecake. Allow to harden – you may chill the cake to speed up the process.

1 16-oz Can pear halves or slices
3 c All-purpose flour
2 1/2 t Baking powder
1/2 t Salt
1/2 lb Unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 c Sugar
3 Large eggs
3 T Grappa, rum, or brandy
1 t Vanilla extract
Confectioners’ sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 10-inch Bundt pan.

Drain the pears and reserve the liquid. Chop the pears into half-inch pieces. You should have about 1 1/4 c pears and 1/2 c liquid.

In a medium bowl; stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

In the large bowl of an electric mixer; beat the butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about five minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the reserved pear liquid, the grappa, and vanilla. The batter will look curdled, don’t freak out.

Reduce the speed to low. Add the flour mixture, scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary and beating just until blended, aboout 1 minute. With a rubber spatula; stir in the pears.

Scrape the batter into the prepared pan. Bake until the cake pulls away from the sides of the pan and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 1 hour and 15 minutes. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes.

Invert the cake onto a rack and remove the pan. Let cool completely.

Sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar before serving.