If you look in the middle of the bowl and to the right you’ll see my dark chocolate and white chcolate truffles. As I mentioned earlier, I had a small problem with the chocolate’s cocoa percentage, but once I had the correct chocolate the truffles were quite simple (I swear).

1 part chocolate
1 part heavy whipping cream

Mix in double boiler until smooth. Refrigerate until cool and firm. Form into truffles. Cool again until firm. Roll truffles in cocoa powder, sliced almonds, or go all out and cover in ganache.

Simple, right? They are. I’m sure many other chocolatiers would think this wrong as many recipes call for different fats (shortening or butter), but this one is simple and gets rave reviews. I will note that if you use this recipe for white chocolate truffles, you may want to use 1.5 parts chocolate to 1 part heavy cream because of the different consistency of white chocolate. The white chocolate truffles I coated in shaved white chocolate.

Then the chocolate reminds the baker that she is but merely a chocolate novice.

Yes, I was indeed happily concocting truffle ganache when the chocolate and fat completely separated into a grainy, oily mess. This had never happened before. I was at a loss. That is until I noticed the cocoa percentage on my chocolate — 85%. Somehow at the store, I had grabbed some bars of 85% and some 70%. I made another batch with my 70% cocoa percentage bars and continued on; however, I have not yet found the chemical reasons for this problem.

While I immediately knew that a 85% cocoa percentage was too high, I continue to search for a scientific explanation for the mishap. In the meantime, I’m sticking to the safe 70% range.

The site boasts a large number of contributors which allows it to cover a wide range of topics. However, I wasn’t sold until I stumbled upon their scathing reviews of Sandra Lee including a complete rating of the foods prepared in her semi-homemade Christmas special. Until I saw this, I wasn’t sure if anyone but The Sister ™ and I had such disdain for her baking. Take for example her Christmas yule log which consists of a store-bought jelly roll and frozen whipped topping. Is that not the crappiest recipe ever?

Okay, so I’ve digressed quite off topic, but based solely on the merit of their pointed insights on the Food Network (is it being “dumbed down,” for lack of a better phrase), I must give them a four out of five rating.

• Candy Plus molds
• Large Swirl Chocolate Truffle Mold
• Wilton Truffle Mold

Now, hopefully, Hobby Lobby has the Wilton one so I can use it this weekend!

I’m happy to report that the Spiced Pumpkin Cheesecake recipe noted earlier is in fact excellent (or “outstanding” depending on to whom you are speaking). What follows are a few action shots.

The pecans post-toasting. To toast the pecans, I placed them evenly on a pan and baked them at 300 degrees for about 10 minutes, stirring often. Be sure to take them out prior to the golden brown stage as they will continue to bake some after leaving the oven.

Utilizing my beloved KitchenAid to mix the batter. This is the most awesome way to mix cheesecake batter.

The cheesecake chillin’ in its water bath prior to baking. This is the best baking method ever. Tin foil in triplicate around the pan and baked in a roasting pan filled with about an inch of hot water.

The cheesecake after baking, once again chillin’ in its water bath — this time for 30 minutes to slow the cooling process (temperature of the cheesecake lowers slower making it less likely to drop excessively).

The sauce was excellent, although I think it might be better made with vanilla instead of bourbon. I’m not sure that the bourbon was a necessary flavor in the sauce.

Why salt a sweet thing, you ask? Salt serves to enhance other flavors, not contribute a salty flavor. If it tastes salty you’ve added too much. Every baking recipe should have at least a small amount of salt in the dry ingredients, if it doesn’t, you should add a little. The issue of salting leads me to butter. Most baking recipes call for unsalted butter, not because salt is bad, but because it is better for you control the amount of salt in the recipe with your measuring spoon or thumb and index finger, than through mass quantities of butter (not that mass quantities of butter is bad). If you have to use salted butter in baking, adjust the salt accordingly.

In summary, use salt and unsalted butter - it makes your baked goods better.

Although the Caramel Bourbon sauce part certainly piqued my interest, I’m more intrigued by the pecan-based crust of the cheesecake (see the previous cheesecake crust discussion).

I’ll be baking it this week, and I aim to return after the holiday with a full tasting play-by-play.

My advice is to stick to graham cracker or chocolate cookie crusts only (for non-chocolate and chocolate-based cheesecakes, respectively). As a short cut, I always buy the boxes of crumbs which have suitable recipes on the back. However, make one alteration to the traditional graham cracker crust recipe, don’t, under any circumstances, use the melted butter suggestion. Using melted butter causes the crust to harden more during baking. Instead use only room temperature butter (you can, in a pinch, get away with softening it on the microwave’s defrost setting).

Of course, the absolute most important factor in a good cheesecake crust is the cheesecake pan. A high quality pan will ensure that the crust is not overbaked.

Have any of your own tips? Let me know in the comments.

So what’s great about this particular cookbook? Every recipe I’ve tried in it from cheesecake brownies to peanut butter cookies have had rave reviews from my coworkers. Additionally, each recipe or recipe section includes a great rundown of basic information about the recipe and the test kitchen’s process of creating the best recipe (e.g. our first test wasn’t peanut buttery enough so we tried adding chopped peanuts in the next run).

Maybe now I should give you time to go get your own copy so you can play along.

* I should really be paid for this endorsement shouldn’t I? If only.