Patience and cheesecake

No, I'm not using cheesecake as a reward for patience. The process of making it, however, takes quite a bit. At least with the kitchen I have available. Seriously. No rubber spatula. No spring-form pan (I realized this after I had made the filling already T_T). An oven which can't realistically go above 400F (and even that temp takes about an hour to get to). And amidst a myriad of other minor issues, the only sugar in the house was in sugar packets. You know, those dinky little things with less than a teaspoon of sugar in them... Yeah, there went a good half hour of my life. Scraping down the sides of the bowl with a spoon between additions took another decent chunk, but if you are going to do something, you might as well do it as best you can with what you have.

And now I'm sitting here, waiting... waiting for the cheesecake to cool down so I can actually try a piece. Oh, and I'm actually waiting on two to cool. Turns out the recipe made a LOT of cheesecake... That or I'm using tiny little cake pans. Either way, they look good, but I'm a little worried they might not be cooked all the way through.

In addition to the trials and tribulations of today's baking spree (the cheesecakes, several loaves of bread with only one bread pan, pitas [they puffed up perfectly this time, btw], and home made hot pockets for someone's lunch), the three little girls were unbelievably energetic and loud. The youngest would not stop screaming, the middle child made a horrific mess, and the eldest's new favorite phrase is a toss up between "COME BACK HERE AND APOLOGIZE!" and "no!" The lot of them were ushered outside for a little while before it started raining (still raining, twelve hours later), but that only seemed to give them more energy. Normally in such circumstances I'd seek solace on a nice LONG bike ride, or at the very least hide away from all the chaos, but being shackled to that demonic oven (I actually managed to burn myself on it while adjusting the time) kept me in the middle of it all.

Since I'm talking about baking, the other day I made yet another black forest cake (I can't remember if I posted about the first one, though technically it was only a BFC in spirit, it was still good and made the perfect sentimental anniversary gift). This one was amazing. Since this was a rather special occasion, I decided to have my brother pick up a bottle of kirsch, and even the small amount I used really did add to/bring out the cherry flavor. I had a bit of an issue with the cherries I used for the filling though, and the bottom layer was a touch soggy, but meh. Chocolate + cherries = happiness, however brief. And whipped cream. That helps too.

I think next weekend my hostess is going to request croissants, which I love, but amg it's a lengthy process. Layering in all that butter, letting it chill between folds, eating them all in about two seconds flat... *Ahem*