Location: Steakhouse 55 – Disneyland Hotel – Disneyland

Source: Kitchen Magic with Mickey Cookbook

Hey beautiful bakers!

Life has a way of being ironically funny sometimes. An hour ago I was sitting at my office desk thinking about how I need to find time to write a few blog posts. I just didn’t know where I was going to find the time.

Now I’m sitting in a hospital emergency with chest and back pains. The waiting room is packed, and I’ve been told it will be a long time before I get triaged. Then after that, it will be at least five hours before I get called. That’s not seeing a doctor, that’s just the moment I leave the waiting room. Apparently, heart attack symptoms do not jump you to the front of the line over the people with a cold. OK, that’s being extreme but my upper back and chest are hurting. Of course, everyone here probably thinks they are the worst.

So long story short, life has now handed me two things. One, signs of a heart attack and two, hours of time to distract me and write.

Want to hear the really ironic part? This hospital is connected to a leading Heart Institute where my father is currently a patient. He has an artificial heart pump and is having issues with retaining water.

Oh, Life.

Well, to distract myself I’m going to use this time to write. I’m really just trying to not think about it. Sitting alone in the hospital emergency gives a lot of time to think about things that can go wrong.

I know that might sound crazy but it’s something at least.

Let’s talk about Steakhouse 55’s Vanilla Bean Yogurt Cheesecake. It’s so easy to make and has now become my staple cheesecake.

Before we start I do want to say I think it’s odd there is orange zest in the recipe but it’s not in the name. You can definitely taste the orange and the recipe name pretends it’s not there. What did the orange zest do to be ignored in the name?

Ingredients Crust:

• 1 1/2 cups crushed graham crackers

• 5 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

Ingredients Cheesecake:

• 1 1/2 cups sugar

• 3 tbsps flour

• zest of 1/2 orange

• 4 cups cream cheese, room temperature

• 1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise, scraped and seeds removed (save the seeds)

• 5 whole eggs

• 2 egg yolks

• 1/2 cup plain whole milk yogurt

 

Instructions Crust:

1. Wrap an 8-inch springform pan in aluminum foil. The recipe says it’s best to do two layers. I carefully did two and still had some leakage. Next time I would do three layers of the foil.

2. In a medium bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs and the melted butter. Mix it well together.

3. Press the mixture into the springform pan. Press down and make sure it’s firmly pressed into the bottom.

4. Place in the refrigerator to chill.

Now to the tasty filling.

1. Preheat your oven to 300F.

2. In a small bowl, mix together the sugar, flour and orange zest. Using a form, mix until the mixture is well combined.

3. In a large bowl or stand mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth and creamy.

4. Into the creamed cheese, beat in the vanilla bean seeds. Beat until well combined.

5. Into the creamed cheese mixture, beat in the sugar mixture and beat well. That’s a lot of “beat it” in a row. Goodness now I have the Micheal Jackson stuck in my head. Make sure to scrape down the bowl too.

6. Doing so one at a time, add the eggs, mixing well after every addition. Scrap down the bowl after every egg is mixed in.

7. Add the yogurt and beat well, scrape down the bowl.

8. Place the filling in the prepared springform pan. Loosely cover the pan with aluminum foil.

9. Place the springform pan in a large roasting pan. Fill the roasting pan halfway up with hot water. I don’t have a roasting pan anymore so I just purchased a cheap aluminum one from the grocery store. The kind you buy for potlucks and things like that. Place the pan in the oven and be careful not to spill the water into the cheesecake pan.

10. Bake for one hour. You want the center to be firm but still slightly wiggly. Place it to cool in the refrigerator for several hours to chill and solidify.

Note: Mine wasn’t done after one hour. The middle was set but later when I cut into it a section was still slightly liquidity. Next time I would bake it for an extra 5-10 minutes just to be sure.

So that’s it. Not to bad right?

In case you are wondering, I’m still waiting to see a doctor. I’m still waiting to go to the section to see a doctor. I think it’s been about two hours now. I still have a while to go.

I haven’t told my husband that I’m here yet. How mad do you think he will be? I know I would be pissed if he went without telling me. He worries so much about me and I don’t want him too. He has things he needs to get done today that was super important and he already stressed out about those. If I called him he would drop everything and come here. Yup this is defiantly going to be a conversation later on.

I’m sure nothing is wrong and it’s probably just stress. Stress causes chest pains right?

Happy baking friends.