One recipe this week is for our “Cooking School” ”“ easy, classic recipes everyone uses and a beginning cook is learning.

Simplest Cheesecake

2 packages cream cheese

2 eggs

3⁄4 cup sugar

Optional: 1 teaspoon flavoring: vanilla extract or almond, mint

Optional: 2 squares semi-sweet baking chocolate, melted and cooled until warm

Leave cream cheese out to warm up to room temperature. Whip in a large ceramic or glass bowl until light and fluffy. To whip by hand, you may use a fork, a heavy whisk, an egg beater ”“ or you may use a mixer, usually with its own mixing bowl, although avoid metal. Make sure that you leave no lumps.

Beat in sugar.

Beat in the eggs.

Then you are done! (Unless you want to beat in one of the flavorings and/or chocolate, which you do last.)

You can just make cheesecake like this but usually it is baked in a crust. (see recipe below.)

Graham Cracker Crust

1⁄2 to 1 waxed-paper package graham crackers, crushed to dust

2 to 5 Tablespoons butter, melted

(A bigger crust, with more graham crackers and butter, is easier to make and preferred by some.)

Stir together. Press the mixture onto the bottom and then the sides of a 9-inch glass pan.

Pour in cheesecake batter.

Bake at 325 for about 40 minutes or until the middle is set but still jiggles a little. Let chill in the fridge before eating. It’s usually better cold.

Then we have some easy tips and tricks that we often run. Here’s one now:

Last Minute Hot Fudge Sauce

You have ice cream for dessert but you want a delicious hot sauce to top it and you are out. Maybe it’s late and only the convenience store is open …

1⁄2 pound milk chocolate bar (with or without almonds), one big bar or a number of little ones, totaling 1⁄2 lb.

2 Tablespoons butter

Dash vanilla, to taste

4 Tablespoons boiling water or less

Melt chocolate and butter, very slowly over a very low heat or in the microwave. Do not overcook! Stir.

When melted, add boiling water, carefully, by the tablespoon and quickly and completely stir in.

Stop when hot fudge is the consistency you like. Add dash or more of vanilla to your taste. Serve immediately over ice cream.

Fruit Crisp II

11⁄2 cup flour

1 cup brown sugar plus 1 Tablespoon

11⁄2 rolled oats

dash cinnamon

1 teaspoon vanilla

drizzle oil

3⁄4 cup butter

2 to 3 pounds fruit, usually 2 or more kinds but you can use one kind

1⁄4 cup flour or 3 Tablespoons corn starch

3⁄4 cup sugar

Combine flour, brown sugar, oats and cinnamon.

Stir in vanilla and drizzle of oil.

Chop butter into tiny cubes and toss with dry ingredients and/or rub into dry ingredients so you form crumbs.

Chop your choice of fruit(s) and toss with flour or cornstarch and sugar.

Pour into a lightly greased, glass or ceramic 9-inch, fairly deep pie pan. Add crumbs on top, evenly.

Bake at 350 for 40 to 45 minutes, until crumbs are browned and fruit is bubbling.

— Mel Baker is an experienced chef, caterer and cafe manager. She resides in York County and has published “The Noisy Oven” since 2006. Email her a [email protected].

Flower Cupcakes

Nice for Easter or other holidays. These 12 dessert treats are richer than most of our breakfast cupcakes.

1 cup milk

1 Tablespoon vanilla

Few strands of saffron (made from crocus flowers and very expensive; if you can’t use it, try a tiny pinch of turmeric)

3⁄4 cup butter (keep a little bit separate for buttering cupcake pan), at room temperature

2 cups flour (ditto above)

2 teaspoons baking powder

Dash salt

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

Combine milk with vanilla and saffron.

Beat butter.

Combine flour with baking powder and salt.

Beat sugar into butter, then beat in eggs. Alternate adding flour and milk to butter mixture in 2 or 3 parts, beginning and ending with flour.

Use the little bits of butter set aside to butter the cupcake tin. Use the little bit of flour set aside to dust the buttered tins.

Pour batter into buttered and floured cupcake tins.

Bake at 350 for 15 or more minutes, until a skewer thrust through the middle comes out clean and the top of the cupcakes are firm and golden.

Let cool.

Icing III

A very rich icing.

1 cup butter, at room temperature

11⁄2 teaspoon vanilla

dash salt

2 cups powdered sugar

Beat butter until light and fluffy.

Add vanilla and dash of salt.

Beat in powdered sugar.

Taste and adjust flavoring.

Note: you may separate out 1⁄3 of the icing, add 1 cup or more of powdered sugar, until icing is stiff, and then divide into two or three parts and add food dyes: make deep-colored flowers, with green leaves, to top iced flower cupcakes. Small candies may be used as flower centers.