Sweet Cheesus…..

This weeks post is different for a few reasons…..

1. I did a dessert dip to accompany an amazing dinner made by a friend and her husband (pics of the dinner to follow)

2. I must have amnesia, b/c I forgot the dip in LA (the dinner was in San Dieg0) so I was the ONLY one who tasted this weeks creation.  You will just have to take my word for it 🙂

I met Jason( http://TEKSTartist.com/)  & Alli( http://foodieheart.com) I love how we identify people with a website now a days, at my moms wedding back in October.  They had already been a huge part of both my mom and brothers life, so now through the love of food they are becoming part of mine.

Let’s put it this way, Alli & I had been talking about this dinner since New Years Day, planning, texting, drooling…so for me to forget not only the dip, but the essential truffle oil, was just unforgivable.   My punishment, was I needed to eat this whole bowl of cheesecake yumminess alone.  Alas, I have done just that!

Now a truffle (to me anyway) is the most amazing thing to ever grow out of the ground.  They are crazy expensive, but worth every penny.  My brother was nice enough to send me truffle oil, and truffle pasta from Italy, sadly only the pasta made it to the dinner on Saturday.  Alli made this http://trissalicious.com/2010/08/29/my-favourite-pasta-dish-buon-ricordos-truffled-egg-pasta/ was amazing, not as hard as I thought it would be (I also didn’t have to poach the eggs) and was tasty, despite the missing ingredient.

So, that brings us to the dip, the whole point of this conversation.  I wanted to make something light as I knew that the dinner was going to be heavy, and we would need something sweet, but not overpowering.  I went back and forth between a ricotta, marscapone, and this cheesecake dip….obviously we know which one took home the prize.

Ingredients:

3 ounces white chocolate, coarsely chopped (if you have a mini chopper this would be the best method)
1/3 cup whole cream or 1/3 cup half-and-half
8 ounces cream cheese, softened (I used light, I don’t think non-fat is a good idea)
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon orange zest
1 teaspoon orange extract

How to:

1. In heatproof bowl set over saucepan of hot (not boiling water, melt white chocolate with cream, stirring gently until smooth. Let cool to room temperature.

now remember boys and girls, this bowl with be HOT!!! don’t just pick it up, and surprisingly I remembered to use pot holders

2. Make the zest, it’s easy, it’s fun….it’s dangerous, no one wants to eat your skin, so please be careful 🙂 (although the chocolate grating is WAY more dangerous without a mini chopper, so go buy one, all your guests will thank you)

3. In separate bowl, beat cream cheese with sugar until fluffy; beat in orange rind. Stir in chocolate mixture and orange flavoring.  I used my food processor again, love that thing!

4. Viola….dip

The recipe says it can last for up to 2 days in the fridge, but it’s just cream and cream cheese, which both had dates of March 2013 on them, so I say you should be ok for a few days!

Dippables:

I had grand plans for this dip.  I bought pretzels, berries, and pizzelles….I was thinking pound cake, but I gained 10lbs thinking about it, so nixed that idea.  Sadly, all the goodies made it to SD and that is where they live now, SO I used strawberries, and literally had to pry the spoon out of my hand….THIS IS AMAZING.

I think you will all be very happy with this recipe.  I know I was and since I am the only who tasted it, and thus the only one who matters, I give it a 10!

Happy Dipping!