Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Mini Cheesecakes

Look how cute this mini cheesecake is! I love that it's possible to make mini cheesecakes without cumbersome cupcake liners to be in the way. These were made using a mini cheesecake pan.

Mini Cheesecakes

1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup butter, melted
12 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp flour
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg + 1 egg yolk
2 Tbsp milk

Combine graham crackers and butter in a small bowl. Spoon into each cavity of the pan, and press firmly. Bake at 350 degrees for 6-8 minutes, or until lightly browned around the edges.

Beat cream cheese and sugar for several minutes--until completely smooth. Add flour and vanilla, stir well. Add egg and milk. Mix just until combined and smooth.

Pour cheesecake mixture into pan, filling each cavity slightly more than 3/4 full. Bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes, or until cakes appear matte on top and do not wiggle when the pan is moved. It will look like they're exploding a bit over the top of the pan, but they will go down while cooling.

Cool to room temperature, then refrigerate for 2 hours.

Remove from pan and enjoy! Serves 12.

14 comments:

Angela said...

Rara,
I love your blog. I made the peanut butter banana cookies and honey mustard chicken fingers this week. YUM! I can't wait to hear more from you and I'm telling all my friends to visit.

Anonymous said...

Your recipes look fabulous! Did you develop them yourself?? Can't wait to try some! Came by through a link from Grocery Shrink.
Susan in BC, Canada

Rachelle said...

Susan--I don't usually come up with the basic recipe on my own. Typically I find the recipe online or in a cookbook, and then tweak it to make it work for me. In most cases, these are my adaptations of existing recipes. Thanks for visiting!

Anonymous said...

hi there miss rara...i would like to make a mini cheesecake for my friend..its her b'day..and i chanced upon your blog on the mini cheesecake! was super delighted..but..i would like to know if this cheesecake of yours is any different than those normal size cheesecake? like..does the mini cheesecake tend to develop cracks while it is being bake? and tastewise..is it any different? thanks,

Regards. :)

Rachelle said...

This cheesecake is not any different from a regular cheesecake recipe. I just took a recipe that I traditionally use and scaled it down to fit in the pan I was using. Yes, they might crack. I think 1 or 2 of them had some cracks last time I made this recipe. If you really don't want cracks, there are a few "crack proof cheesecake" recipes out there. Good luck!

Anonymous said...

Hi, I wang to know, do you use regular size cupcake tray or is it mini-cupcake?

It looks yummy!

Unknown said...

Hi there, my name is Maryam.

I loved ur mini cheesecake. its so organized. I tried it but i faced 2 problems. 1- the cracked biscuit wasn't lined straight like you did. 2- i dont know how to pull out the cheesecake from its pan ( my pan is the one you push to take the mini cheesecake) but still, i push in 1 hand and hold the cheesecake in my 2nd hand but the cheesecake sticks on my hand and ruined.
also after take the mini cheese cake from oven i let it cool down , is it ok if i refrigerate it?

Rachelle said...

Anonymous--I used the mini cheesecake pan that is linked to in the description above the recipe. You can also use a regular sized cupcake pan or a mini cupcake pan. The regular size cupcake pan would probably require a few minutes more for baking and the mini cupcake pan would probably require several minutes less.

Rachelle said...

Maryam,

In regards to the crust, getting it straight is dependent on how you press it into the pan. Scoop a small amount of the crumb mixture into the pan. Then use a spoon to gently spread it out evenly. Then use the spoon to firmly press the crust down.

Perhaps your cheesecake was not quite cooked enough if it smeared all over your hand. The cheesecake should be set enough that it can withstand gentle handling. Did you let them cool in the pan before attempting to remove them? They should be very cool before removing them from the pan. I think I put the whole pan in my refrigerator and then popped the cheesecakes out several hours later. Also, make sure that you push gently when you are trying to remove them. Another option may be to hold the pan upright, push the cheesecake up, and while pushing it up with one hand use your index finger and thumb on the other hand to gently grasp the crust.

Anonymous said...

which pans did you use

Anonymous said...

Do you have any tips for avoiding the cheesecake sinking in the center? You picture shows a perfectly flat cheesecake. I've made minis once, and they all ended up sinking in the center! They still tasted good, but didn't look at visually appealing!

Rachelle said...

The pan I use is the Chicago Metallic Mini Cheesecake Pan 12 Cavity, 13.90-Inch by 10.60-Inch.

If your cheesecake is sinking in the middle, it probably isn't cooked enough. Try adding a few minutes to the cooking time to see if that helps.

Anonymous said...

Hi I was wondering if you have tried freezing your mini cheesecakes and if they tasted just as good after thawing.

editor said...

Hi Rachelle,

I'm wondering if you forgot the sugar in the recipe for the graham cracker crust as I've never seen a recipe without it. I've already put my cheesecakes in the oven but then I tasted the graham cracker mixture and realized that something seemed off about it, now I'm concerned that I ruined the whole batch...