Could someone help me interpret this recipe?

[s_mack]

Mother's Day! I'm a new father and our son owe's his mother a cheesecake. He gave her gestational diabetes so she couldn't eat any sugar before he was born, and he has a milk protein so she couldn't eat any milk (transfer to breast milk) after he was born... put those two together, and we figure he owes her a cheesecake every mother's day for the rest of her life!

Anyway... she likes my cheesecake just fine, but I thought I'd search and see if I could come up with something different. I settled on this recipe for caramel apple cheesecake. I'm not much of a baker, so I have some questions I hope someone can answer:

1. The vanilla bean. I *think* I scrape the seeds to use in the cake and keep the shell/husk (whatever you call it) and put that in the apple topping mix for flavor, much like a bay leaf in a soup. So I'm not expecting it to dissolve or anything, right? It doesn't mention the bean again so I just wanted to be sure.
2. Graham crackers. It calls for 8 "whole" crackers. I bought some from Wal-mart yesterday and the box has 8 "sheets" that are divided into two major sections with a big score-mark... each of those are then divided into 4 smaller squares (about 1.5" sq). So I'm confused if its 8 small squares (that seems too little) or 8 whole sheets (which is the whole box!)... or perhaps 8 of the half sheets? Or maybe I should just go to a different store where they have a major brand like Honeymade and it will be more obvious?
3. It calls for "muscovado" sugar. I understand that's a high-molasses content sugar. I've been to every store in my small town and nobody's even heard of it. Is "Dark brown" good enough? I've also found "Demerara-style" and "Turbinado".
4. Similarly, "light brown" sugar doesn't exist here. "golden yellow" does. Same thing? I've also read Turbinado described as "light"
5. Apple brandy... OK to just use more apple juice? Neither of us drink at all, so its not like I have some laying around, and the liquor store's cheapest is $35.

Thanks, I appreciate the timely input.

- Steven


ps. Ha. Just an anecdote: When I tried to register to post this message, it said my name was taken. Curious, I searched for posts by my username and found out it was me! From a decade ago. Lol, I was just starting on the Internet then and obviously I found it important to track down a forum to discuss something I bought (here's my post. The item I bought/linked to is no longer there. I do still have and use it though!)

 

[Andy M.]

1. Take the vanilla bean shell out after cooking and toss it.
2. 8 whole crackers means 8 of the whole sheets before you do any subdividing.
3. Dark brown sugar is fine
4. Don't know if golden=light
5. Yes. To intensify the apple flavor, boil down some cider to concentrate flavor then measure the amount you want.

 

[Steve Kroll]

This recipe seems needlessly complicated, with regard to the light brown and muscovado sugars. I would use whatever brown sugar you have available for both and call it a day.

I agree with Andy on everything else.

 

[s_mack]

Thanks.

One more Q I forgot:

"Heavy cream". Another item not available here. I have:

Light cream - 6%
Half and Half - 10%
Coffee cream - 18%
Whipping cream - 33%


I'm guessing coffee cream?

 

[Steve Kroll]

Whipping cream is what you want.

 

[Andy M.]

If whipping cream is the highest percentage available, use that. Heavy cream is 36% or higher. Its counterpart in heavy whipping cream.

 

[s_mack]

Thanks! Glad I asked.

 

[Addie]

1. Take the vanilla bean shell out after cooking and toss it.
2. 8 whole crackers means 8 of the whole sheets before you do any subdividing.
3. Dark brown sugar is fine
4. Don't know if golden=light
5. Yes. To intensify the apple flavor, boil down some cider to concentrate flavor then measure the amount you want.

Andy, FYI. Apple Cider and Apple Juice are two different animals. Cider is fermented juice and cloudy looking. Juice is strained, straight from the apple and bottled. Clear looking. But he can boil down the apple juice til almost syrupy. You can get drunk on Apple Cider. Just ask Grandpa!

You should know considering you planted an apple tree instead of a money tree for grandson.

 

[Addie]

s_mack,

Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk has a recipe for a Chocolate Chip Cheesecake that is to die for. You might want to take a look at it for next year. It is simply easy. My daughter loves Pumpkin Cheese Cake, but my Grandson and his father fight over the Chocolate Chip one. Daughter gets a 9" cheesecake, grandson and father get a 12" C.C. one every Christmas.

 

[s_mack]

Sounds like I've got a plan for next year then

Thanks.

 

[Andy M.]

Andy, FYI. Apple Cider and Apple Juice are two different animals. Cider is fermented juice and cloudy looking. Juice is strained, straight from the apple and bottled. Clear looking. But he can boil down the apple juice til almost syrupy. You can get drunk on Apple Cider. Just ask Grandpa!

You should know considering you planted an apple tree instead of a money tree for grandson.

Sorry Addie, I disagree. Once upon a time in colonial New England, apple cider was a fermented product but today you can walk into any supermarket in the Commonwealth and buy apple cider that is sweet and not fermented.

Either way, if you boil down apple juice/cider you concentrate the flavors.

 

[Addie]

Sorry Addie, I disagree. Once upon a time in colonial New England, apple cider was a fermented product but today you can walk into any supermarket in the Commonwealth and buy apple cider that is sweet and not fermented.

Either way, if you boil down apple juice/cider you concentrate the flavors.

I acquiesce. Although I have never seen cider in the stores. Only juice.

Those leaves on the aple tree are really dollar bills. But I won't tell grandson.

 

[Steve Kroll]

Sorry Addie, I disagree. Once upon a time in colonial New England, apple cider was a fermented product but today you can walk into any supermarket in the Commonwealth and buy apple cider that is sweet and not fermented.

That's true in the US, but it isn't a universal truth. I've been educated otherwise by the members of a British-based forum I also frequent. In most of the world, cider refers only to the fermented beverage - as it once did here. It was only during prohibition that the name got muddied when "alcohol free" cider (aka apple juice) was sold.

But I'm guessing that the original poster lives in the US, since he mentions Wal-Mart.

 

[s_mack]

Canada... which is why I think I can't find Muscovado sugar (nobody's even heard of it). I've found countless other posts by Canadians asking where to get it with no good answers.

Anyway, here "cider" is even more confusing. Its sold in grocery stores (where we do not have alcohol in any form other than cleaning and medicinal), is not fermented, but is cloudy. It can rarely be found unsweetened, but typically is sweetened (I searched at Christmas for unsweetened and was unable to find it). In our liquor stores, one can find "cider" that also isn't really what you're talking about... it seems to be a synonym for "cooler" - flavored alcoholic beverage that's kind of like an alcoholic soda pop. I doubt there's any natural apple in it at all.

Anyway, I get the idea... reduce apple cider/juice down until its more concentrated. I just didn't want to spend $35 on a bottle of apple brandy if it wasn't necessary.

- Steven

 

[s_mack]

Back to my post...

I'm back to being confused on the graham crackers. The store-brand I originally bought had 8 sheets that were the breadth of the box with 8 crackers about 1.5" square each. I know one of you said not to break up the sheet... but that means I'm using the WHOLE box, which is 400g or almost a pound. That's a lot of graham cracker! So I went and bought a box of Honeymaid thinking that would be more "standard"... I just opened it and they're individual 2" squares! 8 of those would be far too little, I'm sure! The simple crust recipe on the box calls for 22 squares so I can't imaging just using 8.

I ABSOLUTELY HATE how recipes don't use proper units. "whole crackers" doesn't mean ANYTHING. Grr.

Anyway, I'm invested in this recipe now... so I'm looking for best guesses.

I'm thinking of using 16 squares after reading some post somewhere that an American describes their Honeymaid as being "sheets" containing 4 rectangular crackers ~2" x 1". So that's the equiv of 2 of my squares. 8 "whole" crackers by that measure would be 16 of these squares.

Thoughts? I'm making this tomorrow morning.

- Steven

 

[PrincessFiona60]

Back to my post...

I'm back to being confused on the graham crackers. The store-brand I originally bought had 8 sheets that were the breadth of the box with 8 crackers about 1.5" square each. I know one of you said not to break up the sheet... but that means I'm using the WHOLE box, which is 400g or almost a pound. That's a lot of graham cracker! So I went and bought a box of Honeymaid thinking that would be more "standard"... I just opened it and they're individual 2" squares! 8 of those would be far too little, I'm sure! The simple crust recipe on the box calls for 22 squares so I can't imaging just using 8.

I ABSOLUTELY HATE how recipes don't use proper units. "whole crackers" doesn't mean ANYTHING. Grr.

Anyway, I'm invested in this recipe now... so I'm looking for best guesses.

I'm thinking of using 16 squares after reading some post somewhere that an American describes their Honeymaid as being "sheets" containing 4 rectangular crackers ~2" x 1". So that's the equiv of 2 of my squares. 8 "whole" crackers by that measure would be 16 of these squares.

Thoughts? I'm making this tomorrow morning.

- Steven

In my world, a sheet of graham crackers is four 1x2 inch crackers. Your guess sounds about right.

I haven't done a graham cracker crust in so long, I've forgotten what I used for a cheese cake. I would likely use the above measure for a 9 inch cheesecake.

 

[s_mack]

Thanks. Your world has made my world make some sense.

I still think Mr. Flay was... well... a bit stupid for using "whole graham crackers" as a measurement. "whole" could just mean as opposed to "crumbs" so we still don't know if that means 1x2", 2x2", 2x4", 3x6"... that's a BIG difference! Even if we agree that "whole" means "sheet"... what sheet? US Honeymade? Canadian Honeymade? Wal-mart brand (3x6)?

He really may have just as well said "crush up some graham crackers... whatever you feel like really".



Anyway... wish me luck

- Steven

 

[PrincessFiona60]

You're welcome! Good Luck!

 

[Zereh]

Full "sheets" of graham crackers are stacked on top of one another; a "half-sheet" is propped up against them.

That entire stack, which would all be in one nifty little package inside of a larger box, would yield about 1.25 cup of crumbs.

 

[Andy M.]

I make a 10" cheesecake. The recipe calls for

2⅓ C Graham Cracker Crumbs
(⅔ of a 14-15 Oz. Box, 10 oz.)