Phyllo Wrapped Cheesecake

750g cream cheese, at room temp

1 3/4 cup sugar, divided 

4 eggs

2 tbsp vanilla 

1 1/2 cup heavy cream

2/3 cup sour cream

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup cornstarch 

1/4 cup melted butter 

2 tsp cardamom

5 sheets of phyllo

1. Preheat oven to 400f. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat cream cheese with 1 1/2 cups of sugar. Add in eggs, scraping down the sides as you beat to ensure a smooth batter. Add in vanilla, cream, sour cream. Stir in salt and cornstarch.

2. Grease a 9inch spring form pan. Mix cardamom with remaining sugar.

3. Paint melted butter on a phyllo sheet and sprinkle with about 1 tablespoon of cardamom sugar. Repeat with 4 other sheets, layering them into the springform. Press the layers into the crevices of the pan, allowing the sheets to hangover the edges.

4. Pour the batter into the pan. Fold the phyllo sheets over the batter and paint the top with remaining butter

5. Bake at 400f for 20 min. Turn down oven to 350 and bake for another 40 min.

6. Let cheese cake rest for MINIMUM 3 hours. Serve with favourite jam!

Choco Chunk Cookies: the perfect kind

Ive read hundreds of blogs, and instagram posts and cookbooks guaranteeing the best chocolate chip cookie recipe. You know what…The best chocolate chip cookie is always the one that’s fresh out of the oven and warm and in my hand and then in my mouth.  I don’t care if you’re in a dorm room and you drag it out of a toaster oven and it came from a pillsbury premix. You’re sitting there, high as a kite and I guarantee you’re not thinking of any other cookie that you’ve eaten or might eat sometime in the future.  I’ve tweaked my chocolate chip cookie recipe over a dozen times. Is my recipe the best? Of course not. But also…maybe. It doesn’t have brown butter or pricey chocolate. There’s no fermenting period or 24 hours in the fridge. You just mix it and portion it and then jam them in the oven. Once they’re baked, and you pour yourself a cold glass of milk (or oat milk because that’s what people seem to be into right now), I guarantee you’ll forget every other chocolate chip cookie you’ve ever eaten before. 

I use a scale when I bake because that’s how baking works. If you don’t have a scale then buy one and use it to make this recipe. 

Ingredients

390 grams all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

250 grams salted butter, at room temperature

320 grams light brown sugar

100 grams granulated sugar

10 grams vanilla extract

2 large eggs, at room temperature

300 grams semisweet chocolate, chopped

flakey sea salt, to finish

Directions

1. Heat the oven to 350°F. In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, and baking soda and set aside.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter until fluffy, then add the sugars. Beat until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes, then add in the vanilla and eggs. Mix until fluffy again, then add in the dry ingredients. Mix until just combined, then stir in the chocolate chunks, do not to over mix.

3. Divide the dough into 20 equal-sized balls and place on parchment paper-lined baking sheets. I use a 1 5/8 oz ice cream scoop. You’ll get 20 perfect scoops. Bake until just set, about 15 minutes. Sprinkle with salt when they are fresh out of the oven. Cool slightly before eating.