Nana Cheesecake

Best Cheesecake Recipe Ever !! (By: Joan Hesch <3)

Filling : 2lbs cream cheese (softened)
11/4 cp sugar
6 eggs
1 tbsp melted butter
1 tbsp flour
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 cp sour cream

Crust : 1/2 box nilla wafers (crushed)
11/2 tbsp melted butter
1 tsp sugar


Filling : Mix cream cheese and sugar, add remaining ingredients and mix well. Pour into a spring form pan and bake at 300 degrees for one hour. Turn off oven and leave cake for 1 hour.
Crust : Combine ingredients in bottom of pan and press firmly into pan. Pour in batter.

After baking let cool for at least 2 hours. ( refrigerate)

Bakery Review !!

Today I was privileged to interview Owner and Baker Thomas Shipley of the new bakery in Bellmore, The Cake Gallery.
After trying a couple of Thomas`s delicious treats and cakes, I thought I might let you guys know how his stuff is. I personally have tried a Blondie, Brownie Cheesecake as well as a Birthday Cake. All three were amazing, The birthday cake had yellow cake, chocolate fudge as the filling and chocolate mousse as the "frosting". I must say I am not that old but in the couple of years of me being involved with baking and pastry I have not tasted anything this good in a long while. His cakes are extremely well priced starting from $10.50 and up.
During the interview I asked a couple of questions about our new Bellmore Baker .. Such as
why Thomas wanted to become a baker. He told me he actually did not want to become a baker at first, he wanted to be a gym teacher, or a rock star, but he always went back to baking because he was good at it. Although he did not get any formal baking and pastry training Thomas worked at Riesterer`s Bakery in West Hempstead for many years where he obtained much knowledge about his profession. He also taught at The Culinary Institute Of America, for those of you who don`t know what that is, it is pretty much the Harvard of Culinary Schools.
Thomas went on to tell me that one of his favorite cakes he has ever made was his very own wedding cake, as well as his daughters 1st birthday cake.
The Cake Gallery is a great addition to our town and i suggest everyone go to try it.

Phone number - (516)809-7131
Hours Of Operation - Mon.-Sat. 8-7 Sun. 8-4
Website - www.thecakegalleryny.com

Black And Whites

Black And White Cookies

2 Cps Granulated Sugar
1 Cp Unsalted Butter
4 Lg Eggs
1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
5 Cps Cake Flour
11/2 Tsp Baking Powder
1/2 Tsp Salt
1 Cp Milk


- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 2 baking sheets.
- Mix sugar and butter until fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla, and mix until smooth.
- In a separate bowl, combine and mix flour, baking powder and salt. Add half of flour mixture to the wet ingredients above. Stir lightly. Add milk and stir lightly again. Add remaining flour mixture. Combine just until mixed; DO NOT over-mix. Using a soup spoon, drop mixture on cookie sheets 2 inches apart. Bake 15 minutes, just until edges are brown. Allow to cool before icing.

Black And White Glaze

For White Glaze:
3 Cps Sifted Confectioners Sugar
3/4 Tsp Vanilla Extract
1/4 Cp Milk

For Black Glaze:
3 Cps Confectioners Sugar
3/4 Tsp Vanilla Extract
6 Tbs Unsweetened Sifted Cocoa Powder
1/2 Cp Milk

- For white glaze, combine confectioners sugar, vanilla and milk and mix until smooth. If mixture is too thick add more milk 1 Tsp at a time until the glaze is just spreadable.
- For black glaze, follow the above instructions, this time including 6 Tbs of unsweetened sifted cocoa powder and increasing the milk to 1/2 Cp.
- To frost cookies use a knife and frost the vanilla side first, and frosting the chocolate sides allow cookies to dry until the frosting sets.