Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Mini Cheesecakes

I wanted to bake something for my most recent wine tasting party. It was still a little warmer than I like it and I really didn't want to heat up the house too much.

Since Mini Cheesecakes bake in a cooler oven than lots of baked goods and they're mini, so they don't bake very long, I baked them!

I tweaked this recipe a little, that I found at About.com:Southern Food.

I don't really know what's southern about it. But it looked ok and it was wicked easy.

This is the doubled recipe.

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Easy Mini Cheesecakes
2 dozen vanilla wafers
4 pkgs (8 oz each) cream cheese
1 C granulated sugar
2 tsp vanilla (I used almond extract)
4 eggs

Preheat oven to 325F

Line two muffin trays with paper liners. Place one vanilla wafer in each muffin cup and set aside.
Beat cream cheese, sugar and almond extract until well blended. Beat in eggs.
When well blended, pour cream cheese mixture over vanilla wafers, evenly between the 24 muffin cups.
Bake for 25 minutes.

Cool completely and add your favorite toppings.

I left some plain, topped some with Lemon Curd and some with Chocolate Ganache.

These really couldn't be easier to make.

Line muffin cups with paper liners and place a vanilla wafer in each one.
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Spoon cream cheese mixture into cups and bake at 325F for 25 minutes.
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Cool completely.

They all sank in the middle after coming out of the oven. Not really a big deal. The plain ones looked a little funky. But the ones I topped had a built in cup for toppings!

I left 8 of these plain and just sprinkled them with powdered sugar.

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I topped 8 of them with Lemon Curd.
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I topped the remaining 8 with Chocolate Ganache.
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Personally... I thought that both the Lemon Curd & Chocolate Ganache really overpowered the flavor of the cheesecake. But opinions were split. Some people agreed and others thought both worked really well.

I think over all, this isn't a really flavorful cheesecake.

Definitely not bad and so quick and easy I'll definitely use it again. Maybe more extract... or extract plus vanilla... or some sour cream. I'll keep playing around with it.

They were good... and everyone liked them. I just don't think they were 'great'.

14 comments:

Denise said...

These are just lovely. Love the chocolate.

NKP said...

I love cheesecake! I will have a lemon curd one.. thank you!

pigpigscorner said...

That's easy and looks delicious! Perfect party food!

Bob said...

Those look wicked good. I love cheesecake, I don't think I needed such an easy recipe! Heh.

Hm, I wonder if the vanilla would give it a stronger flavor. I've found almond extract to be more subtle.

Ciao Chow Linda said...

They sure look good to me.

Jennifer said...

What a great idea, I love NIlla wafers too!

Donna-FFW said...

Perfect dessert choice for wine tasting. Love the way you varied the toppings.

Cathy said...

ooooh I love the lemon curd idea......making mental note to try real soon.

Lara said...

These look perfectly fun and delicious. I'm filing this recipe away for my next party!

Unknown said...

so THATS how you make them! hahaha, as often as I've seen these little guys, its nice to see how they're finally made :) YUMMY

Karen said...

Spryte, I always make these, try filling with a cherry or berry pie filling.

Ingrid_3Bs said...

I love mini desserts! I have a mini pan that I love!
~ingrid

What's Cookin Chicago said...

Adorable and I'm sure addicting to eat too!

Anonymous said...

Don't give up on these little cheesecakes. My niece requests them every time I am making something. Stick with the vanilla flavoring, and try topping them with fresh strawberries, raspberries or blackberries. I think you might taste more of the cheesecake that way. Enjoy!!!