Alright friends, gotta share what went down in my kitchen yesterday. Decided it was high time to actually make a couple of those “desserts starting with R” I keep bookmarking. Sounded easy enough. Hah. Famous last thoughts.
First Attempt: Raspberry Ripple Cheesecake
Saw this gorgeous photo online – smooth cheesecake with bright pink swirls. Looked fancy but the recipe said “easy.” Lies. Started simple: dumped cream cheese, sugar, and some vanilla into my mixer.
Where It Went Wrong:
- Picked up those expensive raspberries for the ripple. Mashing them looked like I’d murdered something. Seriously pink goop everywhere – counter, arms, even the cat dodged splatter.
- Poured the cheesecake mix into the crust. Gently spooned the “ripple.” More like violent pink splotches sinking straight to the bottom.
- Threw it in the oven. Instructions said “bake until set.” What does that even mean? Poked it twenty times. Looked jiggly forever.
Finally took it out looking suspicious. Let it chill forever. Sliced it – surprise! Pink ripples? More like faint pink ghosts hanging out near the crust base. Tasted fine though. Sweet, creamy, messy. My counters still bear the evidence.
Round Two: Rhubarb Crumble
Okay, cheesecake drama behind me. Onto something seemingly foolproof: Rhubarb Crumble. Bought stalks that looked like mutant pink celery. Chopped ’em up.
Lesson Learned the Crumbly Way:
- Recipe said “toss rhubarb with sugar.” Did that. Put it in the dish. Raw rhubarb smells… weird. Like planty-sour.
- Made the crumble topping. Flour, oats, butter. Felt like proper baking. Rubbed it together with my fingers – messy, satisfying.
- Dumped the buttery crumbs on the sour rhubarb mess. Hoped for the best.
- Back into the oven it went. Smelled… interesting. Then burned sugar smell panicked me! Pulled it out – topping looked a bit too toasty. Whoops.
Let it cool down some. Spooned it out. That weird sour rhubarb thing? Totally transformed! Went soft and sweet-tart. Burnt bits on top actually added a nice crunch. Scooped some onto vanilla ice cream. Boom. Simple, ugly, absolutely hit the spot. Way less stressful than the cheesecake, honestly.
So yeah, “R” desserts conquered. Mostly. Cheesecake needs ripple redemption another day. Rhubarb crumble? That messy pile of delicious is staying in my rotation. Kitchen’s a warzone though. Still finding raspberry seeds.
