Mini Cheesecakes

These turned out really well. I made them for the annual sportsball party at a friend's house. I followed this recipe but made a few changes, documented below:

http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/jam-topped-mini-cheesecakes

Based on the comments on the recipe website, I doubled the cheesecake portion of the recipe. I used standard-sized cupcake papers.

(Note: the recipe below makes one cheesecake pie or 12 cupcake-sized cheesecakes. Use a standard sized Keebler graham cracker pie crust if you don't feel like making it from scratch.)

1 cup (approximately 7 "sheets") graham cracker crumbs
3 tablespoons butter, melted
2 packages (16 ounces) cream cheese, room temperature
2/3 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 eggs, lightly beaten
Assorted jams or other toppings (cherry pie filling, lemon curd, salted caramel, chocolate syrup, etc.)

Directions
Pre-heat oven at 350, place a pan of warm water on bottom rack. This helps keep the cheesecakes from cracking.

In a food processor, combine graham crackers and melted butter (or just buy the pre-crushed graham cracker crumbs, and mix them with the melted butter in a bowl). Press about 2 tablespoons of the graham cracker/butter mix gently into the bottom of 12 paper-lined muffin cups (I used a flat-bottomed shot glass to press the crumbs evenly.) In another bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until smooth. Add egg; beat on low speed just until combined. Spoon about 1/4 cup of the cream cheese mixture over crusts. (I use an ice cream scoop.)

Bake at 350° for about 25 minutes or until centers are set. They might puff up when cooking, but they settle back down as they cool. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack to cool completely. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour or overnight.

Remove paper liners; top each cheesecake with jam or other toppings, or provide a variety of toppings and have your guests customize them as they wish. I usually provide lemon curd, cherry pie filling, and chocolate syrup.

Yield: 1 dozen



KEEWERD

Coconut Mini Tartlets with Chocolate Ganache Filling

So this is my second attempt at making a Martha Stewart recipe that I found online. This is my second time failing at making a Martha Stewart recipe that I found online.

http://www.marthastewart.com/899475/coconut-macaroon-tartlets

INGREDIENTS

FOR THE CRUST
1 1/2 cups shredded unsweetened coconut
2 large egg whites
1/4 cup sugar

FOR THE GANACHE
1 cup bittersweet chocolate (60 percent cacao), finely chopped (I used Ghirardelli chocolate chips)
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 teaspoons honey
1/8 teaspoon coarse salt
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS

Make the crust: Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine coconut, egg whites, and sugar until mixture holds together when squeezed.

Form 1 heaping tablespoon coconut mixture into a ball. Press ball into a 2-inch brioche or tartlet tin (or mini muffin cup), making a thumbprint in the center and pressing out so mixture forms a 1/4-inch-thick crust. Repeat with remaining coconut mixture. Place tins on rimmed baking sheet. (I used a small pestle to make the indentations uniform.)

Bake crusts until golden brown, about 25 minutes. Set crusts aside until cool enough to handle. Unmold crusts onto a wire rack to cool completely. (I checked on the crusts midway through the baking process, and found that some of them had puffed up, and the indentations had basically disappeared. So I used the pestle to re-make the indentations.)

Make the ganache: Place chocolate in a heatproof bowl; set aside. In a small saucepan, combine cream, honey, and salt; bring to a boil over medium-high heat. (I just put the ingredients in a glass measuring up and heated them up in the microwave.) Pour cream mixture over chocolate and let stand until chocolate is melted, about 5 minutes. Whisk to make smooth.

Strain chocolate mixture through a fine mesh sieve into a medium bowl; stir in vanilla extract. Pour ganache into baked tartlet shells, spreading with a spatula to make smooth.

So here is where I made my mistake: I used mini muffin tins, but I neither greased the pan, nor did I think to use muffin liners.

The crusts look gorgeous, don't they?



Sadly, they completely stuck to the pan. I was able to scrap them out, but wasn't able to keep even a single one intact. I put the bits in a bowl and crumbled them up. Then I poured the ganache over them and mixed it all up. I put the mixture in the fridge for an hour or so. Then I made the mixture into truffles, and rolled them in unsweetened coconut flakes:



These were quite delicious. The hubby really likes them as well. I froze some to take to an event next weekend.
KEEWERD