The Auto Show, a Birthday Tradition

My husband is officially older than me for the next week and a half. We had a whirlwind couple of days in celebration.

On Friday, we unexpectedly received tickets to the Cleveland Auto Show preview night. So we got some Mexican food and margaritas (Did you know Friday was National Margarita Day?) with our friends before heading to the IX Center. We had a good time checking out the cars and I got to do the Jeep Experience.

Here’s Brad’s video from the 2012 Jeep Experience (it didn’t change much… just the years of the vehicles)

I also rode the IX Center Ferris wheel for the first (and last) time. The view of the airport at night is pretty cool, but the gondola-style seating freaked me out. We were up very high and there aren’t seat belts!

On Saturday (Brad’s actual birthday) the guys went back to the auto show to do the ride and drive events. They got to drive a Cadillac CTS-V, which was the main event as far as the guys were concerned. That evening we introduced my in-laws to the Great Lakes Brewing Company and their amazing food (and beer, but that’s a given).

We capped off a wonderful evening with birthday cheesecake.

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When given my Pinterest board of recipes last year, Brad decided that he’d like the Bailey’s Irish Cream Cheesecake. This year he requested it again and I’ve gotten the recipe tweaked to where I like it finally!

Rachel’s Coffee Bailey’s Cheesecake (adapted from this recipe)

Ingredients:

• Oreo Cookie Crust (instructions below)
• 1/2 cup white gourmet chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup Coffee Bailey’s Irish Cream
  
• 1  pound reduced fat cream cheese, room temperature (2 8oz packages)
• 1/3 cup Domino Light Baking blend (Stevia/granulated sugar mix)
• 2 large eggs
• 4 teaspoons flour
• 1(ish) teaspoon pure vanilla
• Pinch of salt
• Handful of dark chocolate chips (optional)

Cookie Crust:

• 10 Oreos or chocolate sandwich cookie, crushed
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• Prepare baking dish (I use my Pyrex 9-inch glass pie plate)
• Mix crust ingredients and press into bottom of baking dish

Cheesecake Filling:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Place pan of hot water in bottom of oven.
• Melt white chocolate with Bailey’s either in a double boiler or the microwave. (Don’t let water come in contact with the chocolate. Remove and keep warm, you can always rewarm it later.)
• Using a high-speed mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar/Stevia blend until creamy.
• Add eggs and beat until fluffy, scraping sides of bowl a few times and mixing after.
• Add flour, vanilla and salt, beat again and scrape down the sides.
• With mixer on medium speed, add melted white chocolate and Baileys mixture. Do not over mix. Mix just until creamy and all lumps are gone.
• Throw in a handful chocolate chips and stir (optional)
• Pour the cheesecake batter into pan on top of the cookie crust.
• Bake at 325 degrees F for about 60 minutes. Avoid opening the oven door to minimize cracking. The cheesecake is generally done when the sides are set and a little puffy and the very center is slightly wiggly.
• Remove from oven and set out to cool (2-3 hours)
• Run a sharp knife around the sides. Leave cheesecake in the pan and refrigerate for at least 8 hours or overnight.
• Makes about 14 small pieces