Bite-Size Cheesecakes (Adapted from Junior's recipe)

I love baking bite sized dessert since it is portion controlled and convenient. I used to buy these little cheese tarts all the time from Asian bakeries. They are light, fluffy and cheesy thus it satisfies your craving but will not do any harm to your waistline (if you have one or two).

So I browsed for mini cheesecakes that I can bake using my muffin pan and muffin liners. A lot of recipe required extra work to create restaurant style mini cheesecakes except for this simple and fast recipe:

http://novice-baker.blogspot.com/2008/01/meet-rest-of-little-fellas html

Little Fella Chocolate Swirls
adapted from Junior's Cheesecake Cookbook: 50 To-Die-For Recipes for New York-Style Cheesecake (Juniors)

two 8-ounce packages Philadelphia Cream Cheese (use either full fat or 1/3 less fat Neufchtel), at room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
2 extra large eggs (I used large eggs)
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1.5 tablespoons unsweetend cocoa powder
Chocolate curl (optional, for decoration)
One 12-ounce jar hot fudge ice cream topping (optional), warmed

It is not a 'cake' per se since it does not contain flour but I love custard-style kind of cake too so I decided to give it a try. Plus, the recipe is adapted from Junior's Cheesecake. I love Junior's Cheesecake but did not go anymore since the news came up when the restaurant at Brooklyn was closed due to rats infestation.

Since I did not have any cocoa powder I just skipped the chocolate part altogether and created plain cheesecake instead. I also did not have heavy whip cream so I used Lactaid's reduced fat milk. I reduced the recipe to half, yielding 6 cheesecakes.

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line muffin pan with muffin cups.
2. Beat 1/2 pack (4oz) room temperature Philadelphia cream cheese until soft.
3. Add in 1/6 cup granulated sugar and 1 tablespoon cornstarch. Continue beating until creamy.
4. Blend in another 1/2 pack (4oz) cream cheese and 1/6 cup granulated sugar. Beat until creamy.
5. Add 1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract.
6. Add 2 large eggs, one by one. Beat well with each addition.
7. Add 1/2 cup milk and mix until just combined.
8. Scoop mixture into muffin cups, filling it 7/8 full.
9. Bake for 45 minutes in a water bath.
10. Let cool on wire rack then refrigerate (overnight, recommended).

I took this while it was fresh out of the oven thus it looks soggy and unflattering. It looked much better after refrigeration but I didn't manage to take any pictures.

If you are into heavy dense cheesecake then this is not the recipe for you.The cheesecakes came out soft, light and custard-like. I will make the marbled effect once I get a chance to buy cocoa powder.


Note: Great recipe.