Tiny Cakes

Tiny Cheesecakes!

For Christmas last year, my mother bought me a couple of jumbo cupcake tins. I enjoy making muffins and cupcakes with them but wanted to put my extra cheesecake batter to use.

I made a 10 inch cheesecake tonight. It's a big pan for just 1 cheesecake recipe, so I used 1.5x the recipe instead of doubling it so I wouldn't have so much left over. It worked out perfectly.

I made my usual shortbread crust. I love making shortbread crusts for my cheesecake because they turn out light and simple. This shortbread recipe could work out great if you wanted to make shortbread cookies as well.

Basic Shortbread

1 pound butter (whipped 'til it yelps, or about 5 minutes)

1 cup powdered sugar

3 1/2 cups flour

a dash of cinnamon

3 tbsp vanilla

Whip the butter. Add the powdered sugar slowly to the butter. Add the rest of the ingredients and whip until incorporated. Spread over the bottom of a springform pan lined with parchment paper. If you'd like to make cookies, simply drop a spoonful onto an ungreased pan. If you'd like, put a nut or piece of chocolate on top. Bake until golden brown.

After my shortbread crust is over the springform pan, I make my cheesecake.

Tonight, since I had quite a bit shortbread and cheesecake batter left over, I grabbed those jumbo muffin tins and got to work. I put a large spoonful of shortbread into the bottom of the liners, smooshed it flat, and then added a few dollops of batter on top. I only filled the cups a tad over halfway full. I have yet to bake them-- I am baking my large cheesecake for 40 minutes, then I will add my tiny cakes, and let them both cook for an additional 20 minutes before turning the oven off and letting them cool there.

I have found that one place offers a great deal on individual cream cheese packages--- The Commissary. They offer Cooper Brand Cream Cheese for $0.99. Usually, Walmart or Safeway offers Philadelphia Cream Cheese for only $1.50 on a good day. I could of course go to Costco or Sam's Club to purchase the 3 pound blocks of cream cheese for $5.00. Only saving a buck, but hey, it's a buck.

Do I tire of making my cheesecakes? No. Sometimes I feel silly buying 8-16 packages of cream cheese at a time. " Making a large cheeseball?" you ask? Sort of. :)

I found another job--- which is wonderful financially. That avenue will be good upon which to continue testing my recipes and promoting the restaurant. I'll still bake my goodies for the restaurant. I just wish we could bring in a tad more business to give us some breathing room to really explode with new recipes and dishes.

On a side note, I made that chocolate cake again but this time with a mixer. The results were not as good as when I mixed it by hand. No, it wasn't that the cake tasted amazing the first time because I poured my heart and soul into whisking and stirring that heavy batter! Literally, the cake was less flavorful and not as fluffy as the original. I didn't switch out ingredients or anything. Interesting...eh?

Hope you are well!