Tag: S_02_#18

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If Not Cake?

When you start to write a post about cheesecake, the first thing to do is research this tasty dessert.

Further study reveals a startling fact … 

Cheesecake is NOT cake!

We’re crazy for that graham cracker crust.
So is it pie? Round, custard filling with crumb crust …
sounds like pie.

 

*”Despite the confusing terminology, cheesecake is by no means a cake. Also, since cheesecake isn’t topped with pastry, it cannot be a pie. Cheesecake is, and forever will be, a tart”*.

Our baking experiments continue with these little guys. We tried three sizes and found we liked this small cupcake shape. The ratio between graham cracker crumb to cheese filling was great!

An early form of cheesecake was served to Olympians in 776 B.C. But it didn’t resemble what we now think of as cheesecake. Romans took the “recipe’ from the Greeks, made some changes, but all of these early forms of the dessert used a Ricotta-style cheese.

Immigrants brought it to America.  In the late eighteen hundreds a Philadelphia Dairy man invented cream cheese which found its way into what is now commonly called the new york style cheesecake.  This is what most think of when we say cheesecake.

It may not be cake, or pie, or a tart, but we can agree . . . it is a great dessert.

Print Recipe

Mini Cheesecake

These little cheesecakes are baked in a muffin pan just like cupcakes.
Servings: 16

Ingredients

CRUST

  • 6 graham crackers, broken into pieces We used cinnamon graham crackers.
  • 2 tsps sugar
  • 3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 pinch salt

FILLING

  • Two 8 oz pkg cream cheese, at room temperature
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup sour cream
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 tbsp flour

Instructions

Prep

  • Preheat oven to 325. Line 16 cups (of two muffin pans).

To make crust

  • In bowl of food processor process the graham crackers to fine crumbs. You should have 2/3 cup.
  • Pour crumbs into bowl and add sugar, melted butter, and salt.
  • Use a fork and stir until crumbs are evenly moistened.
  • Divide mixture evenly among the prepared muffin cups (about 1 tablespoon per cup).
  • Press crumbs into bottom of cup.
  • Bake until lightly golden, about 4 minutes. Set on wire racks.

To make filling

  • In a clean food processor bowl, process the cream cheese until smooth, about 3 minutes.
  • Add the sugar until smooth, about 30 seconds. Scrape down the bowl.
  • Add the sour cream and vanilla until combined.
  • Add the eggs one at a time, processing well after each addition.
  • Add the flour and process until combined. Scrape down the bowl and process one more time.
  • Divide the filling evenly among the prepared muffin cups, filling each three-fourths full.
  • Bake until the cheesecakes puff and are set, about 23 minutes. Let cool completely in the pans.
  • Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled, at least 3 hours or up to overnight.