Cheesecake and brownies and salad, oh my!

It's college season, and that means that several of our peeps at work are heading off for the year. It's my tradition to make a special dessert for anyone leaving, and last week I took in both Patric and Chad's requests.

Chad wanted cheesecake, and that's easy. It feels like I make those all the time. My springform pan is really starting to fritz though (it won't hinge-lock, therefore it's not a tight seal), and while it was baking, I called up my Pampered Chef® consultant and ordered a new one. I made two cheesecakes, and I gave 1.5 of them away, saving just three pieces for us (Philip doesn't like cheesecake). Chad received half of a cheesecake, and it was a TON on the plate. And even though I cut the cakes into eight pieces, they were still too large and too rich to eat in just one sitting - eep! Chad yummed his cheesecake up with strawberry topping, but I like mine plain, thank you.


Classic Cheesecake.

Patric requested Brownie Cookies, which I'd never heard of before. I feared that he would only enjoy a family recipe - "Gram's Trusty Brownie Cookie" - or something of that ilk, but he promised me that anything I came up with would be wonderful and appreciated. So I set about researching recipes. In the end, I settled on a super-rich recipe: Double Fudge Brownies, and then I added three types of chocolate - Hershey's® Special Dark™ (one of those really large bars), a tin of Godiva® Dark Chocolate Pearls™ (about the size of my palm), and Nestlé® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips (half a bag). The batter was very thick to work with, and when I scooped out the dough, it looked like I was serving up chocolate ice cream!


Close-up of the scoops.

And the final result, which the author suggests pairing with an ice-cold glass of milk:


Brownie Cookies.

I also made up a batch of Snickers® Apple Salad for Allison. It wasn't her last day, but I have a ton of leftover Snickers bits, and it's so easy to make. I ate a small serving of it, and Philip liked it enough for two bowls' worth, and then I took the rest to work for her to have. I believe she claimed her tastebuds were dancing. ;-)

And now Dan has requested me to make Butterfinger Brownies for him, and also a girl in the National Office has agreed to do a payroll item request for our store, but only IF... and she was very clear on this... I agree to make Peanut Butter Cup Brownies and mail them again!