Sunday recipe time

It's Sunday again. The hardest thing I have to do each Sunday is decide which recipe to share today. Should it be a side? a main? a dessert?

The SU and I eat so much rice and chicken that many of the dishes we have will sound the same or be variants on the same old same old. It's a challenge.

Today I'm offering up Mini Cheesecakes. I found this recipe, originally in an old cookbook that I have had forever and a day (but lost when we moved from the house to the condo and have not been able to replace it). It was purchased from a street vendor, the ones that come around to your office to sell books and I've never seen it in a store. I'd love to replace it though. It was, I believe, called The Encyclopedia of Cooking. I got some very good recipes out of that book but this was my favourite.

I have made only one small change in the recipe from that book. In the original recipe it calls for cottage cheese that has been allowed to drain over night (so that it is dry) but I don't bother with this, just use the cottage cheese as is.

You will need small muffin tins, and small or med (I usually use med) paper muffin liners.

I have this old set of muffin tins that were my mothers, I love them as they are straight sided, most modern mini pans have angled sides. My mothers tins are probably older then me, show their age and are not pretty but they are perfect for this recipe.

If you have a large food processor this recipe couldn't be simpler but you will wow your friends and it will become a signature dish. I started to make these cheesecakes about 20 years ago and I cannot show up to a family function or friends event without them. I make them as gifts, by request and for parties I'm not even attending.

Mini Cheesecakes

For the cheesecakes
1 8oz package of Cream Cheese
1 cup of Sour cream (250 ml container)
2 cups of Cottage cheese (500 ml container) --Optionally drain overnight
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup of sugar

For the graham crumb crust

1.5 cups of Graham crumbs
3/4 of a stick of melted butter.

Instructions

Melt the butter in a small saucepan (or in the microwave) and pour over the graham crumbs.
Line the muffin tins with the paper and press about a tsp of the graham crumb mix into the bottom of each paper cup. Don't make it to thin. A shot glass is ideal for pressing the crumbs down and firming them up.

Note: This recipe makes 48 mini cheese cakes (if you use small muffin tins - fewer if you use bigger tins). So you may have to make it in batches if you don't have enough tins. I have 16 (2 pans of 8) so I make it in 3 batches.

For the filling. This gets complicated so pay attentions.

Into the bowl of a food processor, place the cottage cheese, sour cream and cream cheese.
Turn on the mixer and allow to mix for about a minute.
Add the eggs, one at a time, while the mixer is running (through the feeder)
Add the vanilla, while the mixer is running (through the feeder)
Add the sugar, while the mixer is running (through the feeder)
Continue to run the mixer for 1 minute until the mix has a consistency of melted ice cream.

Spoon the mix into the lined cups, 2-3 tbsp per liner. In my small cups this fills each cup.

Bake in an oven preheated to 350F for 12 minutes exactly. The surface will dome up and look crusted or slightly firm but will collapse down a bit as they set.

Allow to cool for 10 minutes in the pan, remove and allow to cool completely. At this point the cupcakes can be frozen in a sealed container, if it's just you and you don't want to eat the whole batch.

Serving suggestions:

The original recipe recommended using 1 can of Blueberry pie filling and topping each cake with a tsp of the filling, chill for 2-3 hours before serving.

I've done this with Blueberry and cherry filling.

Alternately, I've taken the cupcakes plain and set up a topping bar, of prepared and sugared fruits to top the cakes at the event, just setting the toppings in dishes around the cakes with small spoons and let people add their own.

Most generally, I will serve about a 1/3 of them plain, 1/3 with blueberry and a 1/3 with the cherry. Many people seem to really prefer these just plain, and actually that is the way I prefer them.

Fat savings: Since you're already only having 1/48th of the recipe (if you stick to only 1 cake) the caloric content of each cake isn't that bad. However you can reduce that further by using low fat cottage cheese, low fat sour cream and low fat cream cheese. I've used all three at the same time and no one had commented on any flavour difference.

The texture of these cakes is lite and not heavy at all, some cheesecakes are so heavy and rich I can't eat them, but these little suckers are so light, it doesn't even feel like you're eating a cheese cake at all.

Enjoy and pass it on.