f you
love cheesecake and usually make your own, you know they take a long time to
bake and really need a day or two in the fridge before serving. There are times,
however, when we want something simpler. Of
course, I am not suggesting that we throw away our favorite cheesecake recipe,
only that there is an easy alternative, one that takes little baking time (under
20 minutes) and can be eaten within a few hours of baking. We
do this by making individual cheesecakes that are baked in muffin cups. I
will admit that the one problem I have always had with doing it this
way, is how do you get the cheesecakes, made with a graham cracker crust, easily
out of the muffin cups. Luckily, Donna Hay solved this
problem by suggesting we first line each muffin cup with
a strip of parchment paper. The parchment strips are cut long enough to hang over the
edges of each cup, so that they act as a handle making it very easy to remove
the baked cheesecakes. These are excellent plain, but I think cheesecake always
benefits from being served with fruit, either fresh (like berries) or else in
sauce form (strawberry or raspberry are excellent).
The most important thing to
remember when making a cheesecake is to have all the ingredients at room
temperature. Beat the cream cheese just until it is creamy and smooth (no
lumps) and then add the sugar. Make sure you scrape down the bowl often to
remove any lumps and beat at low speed to reduce the amount of air incorporated
into the batter. Cheesecakes are baked in a slow oven to prevent cracking
and are done when the filling has set. Let cool before covering and placing in the refrigerator.
You may not know that cream cheese is an American invention. Even
though cheesecakes have been around since the 15th century it was not until the
end of the 19th century that a New York dairy farmer came up with a
rich cream based cheese that later became known as Philadelphia Cream Cheese. This creamy smooth, white and spreadable cheese contains at least 33% butterfat
with gum arabic added to stabilize and to increase its shelf life. But not
all cheesecakes are made with cream cheese. Some are made from cheeses
like ricotta, curd cheese, mascarpone, and/or cottage cheese.
Line 12
-
2 3/4 x 1 1/2 inch muffin cups
with one - 2 inch (5 cm) wide x 6 inch (15 cm) long strip of parchment paper.
(The ends will hang over the sides of the cups to be used as handles to lift out
the baked cheesecakes.) Preheat oven to 300
degrees F (150 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven.
For Crust: In a small bowl
combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and melted butter.
Press about a tablespoon of crumbs on the bottoms of the 12 muffin cups lined
with parchment paper.
Cover and refrigerate while you make the filling.
For Filling: In the bowl of your electric
mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the cream cheese on low speed until smooth.
Add the sugar and beat until combined. Scrape down
the sides of the bowl and add the eggs, one at a time, beating about 30 seconds. Add the vanilla extract
and sour cream and beat until incorporated. Remove the crusts from the
refrigerator and evenly divide the filling among the 12 muffin cups.
Bake for about 18 - 20 minutes or until firm
but the
centers of the cheesecakes still wobble a little. Remove from oven and place on a
wire rack. Let cool and then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate
(a few hours or even overnight).
Remove cheesecakes by
first running a sharp knife around the inside edge of the muffin cups to loosen
the cheesecakes. Then, taking hold of the two strips of parchment paper, carefully lift each cheesecake from the muffin cups. Gently peel off the parchment paper
and place on your serving plate. Top with strawberry sauce and/or fresh
berries.
Makes 12 individual
cheesecakes.
Crust:
1 cup (100 grams)
graham wafer crumbs or crushed digestive cookies
1 tablespoon (15 grams)
granulated white sugar
4 tablespoons (55 grams)
unsalted butter, melted
Filling:
2 - 8 ounce (454
grams) packages of cream cheese, room temperature (use full fat, not reduced or fat
free cream cheese)
All content on this site is
either original or has been significantly modified and changed from its
credited original source. Use of materials on Joyofbaking.com is
entirely at the risk of the user and Joyofbaking.com or Stephanie Jaworski
will not be responsible for any damages directly or indirectly resulting
from the use.
This
website and the contents thereof are not endorsed or sponsored by the owner
of the "Joy of Cooking" series of books or its publisher Simon & Schuster,
Inc.
Content in any form may
not be copied or used without written permission of Stephanie Jaworski,
Joyofbaking.com. Students and non profit educators may use content without
permission with proper credit.
Page loading ... Please wait.
f you
love cheesecake and usually make your own, you know they take a long time to
bake and really need a day or two in the fridge before serving. There are times,
however, when we want something simpler. Of
course, I am not suggesting that we throw away our favorite cheesecake recipe,
only that there is an easy alternative, one that takes little baking time (under
20 minutes) and can be eaten within a few hours of baking. We
do this by making individual cheesecakes that are baked in muffin cups. I
will admit that the one problem I have always had with doing it this
way, is how do you get the cheesecakes, made with a graham cracker crust, easily
out of the muffin cups. Luckily, Donna Hay solved this
problem by suggesting we first line each muffin cup with
a strip of parchment paper. The parchment strips are cut long enough to hang over the
edges of each cup, so that they act as a handle making it very easy to remove
the baked cheesecakes. These are excellent plain, but I think cheesecake always
benefits from being served with fruit, either fresh (like berries) or else in
sauce form (strawberry or raspberry are excellent).
