Individual Cheesecakes and Lunch with the Girls

The girls (and friends) from work

The delicious and sleepy Elijah

The other day some of the girls from work had a little lunch together at Amy's house. We all brought something to eat so the food was pretty damn good. My contribution were these little individual cheesecakes which I also put strawberries on top of once I got there. I also took little individual caramel slices which I'll post about later. I made both of them in my little cheesecake pan. This holds 12 and each one has a removable base which makes them very easy to get out of the tin. The cheesecakes themselves were delicious (I mean is there such a thing as a bad cheesecake!?), and the strawberries really added to the flavour. I think I will making these more often. If you don't have one of these very cool tins, you can also make them in muffin tins but make sure you line them with muffin cases first.


Individual Cheesecakes

Crust

1 cup (100 grams) Superwine crumbs 

55 g crushed almonds

1 tablespoon (15 grams) granulated white sugar

55 g melted butter

Filling

450 g cream cheese, room temperature

2/3 c white sugar

1/8 tsp salt

2 large eggs, room temperature

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 tsp grated lemon zest

1/2 cup sour cream, room temperature

Cheesecakes 
Preheat oven to 150 C and place oven rack in the center of the oven. Line 12 muffin tins with paper liners.

For Crust
In a small bowl combine the biscuit crumbs, ground almonds, sugar, and melted butter. Press a heaping tablespoon of crumbs onto the bottoms of the 12 muffin cups. Press in to the base. Cover and refrigerate while you make the filling.


For Filling 
Beat the cream cheese on low speed until creamy and smooth. Add the sugar and salt and beat until combined scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until incorporated. Add the vanilla extract, lemon zest, and sour cream and beat until incorporated. Remove the crusts from the refrigerator and evenly divide the filling among the 12 muffin cups. 


Bake for about 18 - 22 minutes or until firm but the centers of the cheesecakes still wobble a little. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack. Let cool and then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate (a few hours or even overnight).


To serve, gently peel off the paper liners and place on your serving plate. Serve with strawberry or raspberry sauce, fresh berries, or drizzle with melted chocolate. These cheesecakes can be covered and stored in the refrigerator for several days.