No Need to Thank Me

We celebrated my husband's 30th birthday over the weekend

by throwing a joint birthday party with his best friend.

Don't hold your breath,

nothing really blog-worthy about it.

It was a great party,

involving many people, food, drinks, and a bar.

No cute decorations, games, or any such thing.

I did, however make a bunch of desserts,

and two were somewhat noteworthy.

The first was not even my own recipe.

Rather, this one that I found on Pinterest a couple of weeks ago.

At first take, it looks like a plain ole chocolate chip cookie recipe,

but I got so many compliments on them, I thought I should share.

I think the secret is in using coarse sea salt instead of regular salt.

The recipe also calls for cake flour, but I just used straight up all purpose.

So good.

The second dessert was my

Chocolate Kahlua Cheesecake

I'm not sure where exactly it came from,

but somehow ended up in my arsenal,

and it is always a hit.

Chocolate Crumb Crust:

1 1/3 C. Chocolate wafer crumbs (I just found out you can actually buy these now. just the crumbs! crazy.)

1/4 C. softened butter

1Tbsp. sugar

Combine ingredients. Press firmly into the bottom of a 9" spring form pan. Wrap bottom of spring form pan in foil to prevent leaking, and to prevent water from water bath from coming into the pan.

Filling:

1 1/2 C. semi-sweet chocolate pieces

1/4 C. Kahlua (let's be honest, I use more)

2 Tbsp. butter

2 large eggs, beaten

1/3 C. sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

1 C. sour cream

2 (8 oz.) packages of cream cheese, softened

In a bowl over a pan of simmering water (or a fancy double boiler), melt chocolate with Kahlua and butter. Stir until smooth. Set aside.

In a bowl combine eggs, sugar, and salt. Add sour cream and blend well with a mixer or a lot of elbow grease. Add cream cheese and beat until smooth. Gradually beat in chocolate mixture. Pour mixture into your prepared crust.

Place in a water bath (I fill a large roasting pan with about 3/4" water). This will allow the cheesecake to bake slowly and not to crack when it cools. Bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes or until center is just set. Let come to room temperature, then cool in the refrigerator for several hours (if you can wait that long).