Mini Cheesecakes are Cute as Buttons

I will admit right up front, I saw this pattern being made on top of something that looked like little cheesecakes in photos on someone's blog site. The fact that I had no clue what language this blog was written in is immaterial. The design is adorable. I decided to try out some little cheesecakes with other ideas I got while perusing various web and blog-sites, and they are just so cute. Apart from being really tasty, they really are "cute as buttons."

Lemon Blueberry Mini Cheesecakes

Five Appetizers Served at CorTrust Bank

I was helping to coordinate an event at CorTrust Bank yesterday. My husband and I had met with Northern Area Market President, and the Mortgage Loan Specialist, having done some other design work with them. At the last minute, there were dire blizzard warnings for that area around Sioux Falls, where some out-of-towners would be coming from, with the possibility that the whole event would be called off. Still, some brave souls ventured up here to Aberdeen and the event took place. The appetizers served at the event last evening were Green Pea Pancakes with Smoked Salmon Mousse, Flank Steak Rolls with Asiago and Arugula, Spanakopita Cups, Buffalo Chicken Wraps and Lemon Blueberry Mini Cheesecakes. 

The little cheesecakes, shown bottom right in the photo above, were made in mini muffin tins, making them about 1½ inch in diameter, or just about 2 - 3 bites worth. Tiny and adorable. Which makes them so irresistible.

The flank rolls have been made with many fillings and various marinades in past, but this marinade (below) is my favorite. Cutting thin logs (about ¼-inch diameter) of Asiago cheese, about 1½ to 2-inches long and tucking in a couple of peppery baby arugula leaves make these a hit at any party or get together. The Asiago and arugula combo makes this appetizer so easy to make.

Flank Rolls with Asiago and Arugula

Amount will depend on size of flank steak

Flank Rolls with Asiago and Arugula

About 30 to 65 rolls

½ cup olive oil
2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses or concentrate
3 cloves garlic, finely minced
1-inch piece fresh ginger, finely grated
1 to 1½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons chipotle chili powder

1 to 2½ pound flank steak

Asiago wedge, cut in ¼ x 1½-inch pieces
Baby Arugula leaves

Combine the first 6 ingredients in a zip-top bag and place the flank steak in the bag to marinate for at least 12 and up to 24 hours, turning occasionally so the marinade coats the steak evenly.

To broil, either grill on a very hot grill for 6 minutes per side (slightly more or less, depending on size and thickness of steak), or set the steak on a rack on a rimmed baking sheet and broil about 4-inches from the heat for 6 minutes per side. Tent the meat once done grilling/broiling for about 10 to 15 minutes before slicing very thinly, preferably at a bias, to achieve wider pieces. Using a length of about 4-inches, set a piece of the Asiago and 2 baby arugula leaves on one end. Roll the steak around these filings and skewer with a toothpick to keep closed. 

Back to the little Cheesecakes 

I thought about placing a fresh blueberry in the bottom of the tart shells, but for practice purposes, I had none available. I did, however, have a jar of Polaner All Fruit Blueberry Spread. I wanted something not terribly sweet, and this was as good as I could come up with quickly. I used a slightly rounded ¼-teaspoon of the fruit spread in each of the little pie shells, and then filled them with about 2 teaspoons of the lemony cheesecake mixture.

When I made the Mini Strawberry Cheesecakes recently, with a chocolate shell, I did not bake the chocolate pie shell first. I liked the soft texture of the shell with the strawberry cheesecake filling as it made the shell almost brownie-like in texture. For the new mini cheesecake recipe, I tried them without baking the shell first, and they were (to my own personal taste) good, but I felt that others would prefer a more crispy textured shell. Of course, once the mini shells are baked blind, they do shrink. It turned out that this way I could only use a level ¼-teaspoon of the fruit spread and possibly about 1½-teaspoons of the cheesecake filling. Altogether, somewhat smaller versions, but no less delicious.

Keep in mind that these were made in the tiny wells of mini-muffin tins and not regular muffin tins!

And then the Little Designs

As I mentioned at the beginning of this blog, I saw this idea on a blogsite that was written in another language. Not a language I recognized, either! but a picture is worth a thousand words, they say, and this picture was too good to pass up. The photos showed what appeared to be a sort of cheesecake-like batter in a small tart shell. Five, straight <¼-inch lines were drawn onto the batter. I used gel food color to make the lines, using a toothpick. Once the five lines are drawn, you draw the toothpick down through the center of the five lines in one smooth flow, and then out the bottom and curling out a bit (shown on the top three in the diagram below). This gives the appearance or suggestion of something like lavender flowers. I used "violet" food color, yet the designs came out looking deep blue. 

Creating the patterns

As I got familiar with the feel of using the toothpicks and gel food colors, I decided to try something new. I used a pink gel food color and sketched 5 "petals" moving upwards from the base of each "petal" and curving slightly. Next, using green gel food color, I drew a stem downwards, and then a leaf, also dragging downwards toward the stem. Trying to draw the leaf from the stem up and out, created a break in the pattern of the stem. This process is shown in the bottom three in the diagram above. All in all, this was one really easy way to make these tiny gems even more adorably irresistible.

Making Designs on Cheesecakes

Lemon Blueberry Mini Cheesecakes

Makes 30

Lemon Blueberry Mini Cheesecakes

SHELL:
1 cup all purpose flour
3 ounces cream cheese
4 tablespoons unsalted butter

FILLING:
8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
⅓ cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons sour cream
1 egg
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons lemon zest

Polaner Blueberry Fruit Spread 
Gel Food Colors: Purple, Pink, Green

Make the shells: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place the flour into a bowl. Add in the 3 ounces of cream cheese and the butter and cut in as for pie pastry. Once the ingredients start to form larger bits, begin working with fingers, bringing it all together in one solid mass. It takes a minute or so, but will come together completely. Break off or cut 30 equal sized bits of the dough. Flatten or roll the dough pieces into about 3-inch pieces and fit them into the mini muffin tin wells, pressing so they stick up above the well slightly. They will shrink in the oven! Bake the shells for 9 minutes, until they begin to turn golden. Reduce oven to 350 degrees.

Allow the little shells to cool for about 10 minutes. Use a ¼-teaspoon measuring spoon to scoop a level amount into each of the little baked shells. Set aside.

MAKE the filling: In a small bowl, stir together the granulated sugar and the cornstarch to combine. Set aside. In a mixing bowl, using a hand mixer, beat the 8-ounces of cream cheese until softened. Add the sugar mixture and beat to just combine. Add in the sour cream, then the egg, beating just to combine. Add the lemon juice and zest until mixed.  

Scoop about 1½ teaspoons of cheesecake filling into each of the little wells with blueberry spread. The filling should cover the blueberry completely, leaving a little surprise when they are bitten into. Before baking, scoop out a small dot of each of the food colors onto a plate. Use toothpicks (a separate one for each color) and create patterns as shown in the diagrams above. Once all are decorated, bake the cheesecakes for 8 minutes, or until set.  Cool completely, then refrigerate for at least an hour before serving. 



My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

Mini Strawberry Cheesecakes and Buffalo Chicken Rolls

Yum!

A local realtor asked if I could create some appetizers for an Open House for a high-end home in town this coming Sunday.

Strawberry Cheesecake Tarts with Chocolate Pie Shell

Of course, appetizers are probably the largest list of foods in my blog, so I could have so easily just gone there for inspiration. Yet, I did not, for the same reason that I am relatively prolific in creating new recipes: mainly, that I love trying new recipes or tweaking old ones. I sat at my computer searching online for inspiration, because there is an awful lot of inspiration out there these days. I came up with at least 8 different ideas, some just sort of tweaks of others, but still. And one idea gradually seeped into my brain after seeing a photo somewhere of a chocolate graham cracker with some cheesecake "dip" and a bit of canned cherry pie filling on top.

The idea began when I thought of replacing the chocolate graham cracker and making my chocolate pie pastry, or some variation thereof. Okay. Then, I thought no problem on making a cheesecake filling. Yet once I got down to it, I realized I still had some pulverized freeze-dried strawberry powder in a little container, so I went the route of flavoring the filling with that. I originally thought of using the cherry pie filling for the top, but once I used strawberry powder to flavor the cheesecake, it seemed odd to then use cherry on top. SO.
 

Freeze dried strawberries made into powder

The only complaint I have about these little tarts is the fact that the strawberry flavor was very hard to detect. It didn't harm the overall flavor at all - these little things are addictive! - but I plan to add more when making them for this coming weekend. One 1-ounce package of freeze dried strawberries, pulverized and sifted to remove seeds, results in a scant ¼ cup of strawberry powder. I only used 2 tablespoons of the powder in this first try, so I will be using at least 3 tablespoons in the next batch I make. This will leave about 2 teaspoons to make the little heart stencils on top.

Of course, if I have not previously made a recipe, I do need to test it out before using it for anyone else. And of course, being Superbowl Sunday, my husband was elated to test out my creations during his game watching. I toyed with the thought of putting a little chunk of fresh strawberry on top once they were ready to serve. I didn't have any on hand though. Instead, I cut a little heart out of a piece of paper and used it as a stencil. I set the cut out on top of each little cheesecake tart in turn, and sifted the strawberry powder on top. Carefully removing the paper, it left behind a perfect little deep pink heart.

Heart stencil on top of cheesecake tarts

These came together easily with only what I already had at home. Granted, everyone may not have the freeze dried strawberries, but aside from a yummy snack, they are great for coloring and authentic flavor.

Making and fitting the chocolate pastry shells

The chocolate pie shells were ease itself. Just mix the dough (no added liquids) and it is so easy. I rolled little balls, pressed them flat to about a 3-inch diameter and fitted them into the mini tart wells. The cheesecake batter was also simple and the use of a little "ice cream scoop" (about 2 teaspoon capacity) made filling the shells a breeze.  

Filling the chocolate shells

Strawberry Cheesecake Mini Tarts with Chocolate Shell

Strawberry Cheesecake Mini Tarts with Chocolate Shell

Makes about 30 tarts

CHOCOLATE PASTRY:
1 cup all-purpose flour, less 2 tablespoons
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
3 ounces cream cheese
¼ cup unsalted butter (4 tablespoons)

CHEESECAKE FILLING:
8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
⅓ cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons sour cream
1 egg
½ teaspoon vanilla
1½ tablespoons cornstarch
1 (1-ounce) package freeze dried strawberries

Making Pastry: Measure the cup of flour into a mixing bowl. Remove 2 level tablespoons of the flour and return to the original bag or container of flour. Add the 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder to the scant cup of flour in the mixing bowl and stir to blend. Add the cream cheese and butter and cut in as for pie pastry. Gather the mixture with hands to bring all the stray crumbs together into one ball. Cut into 30 equal pieces and roll each piece into a small ball. Take one ball on the counter (no extra flour is needed) and press flat with your hand, or roll with a rolling pin into about a 3-inch diameter circle. Peel the round from the counter and set the circle over a well in a mini tart pan, pressing into the well and against sides. Repeat with all the balls of dough. Set pans in the refrigerator while working with the cheesecake portion of the recipe.

Making the Cheesecake: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. First make powder from the bag of freeze dried strawberries. Sift the powder through a fine-mesh sieve to remove any whole bits and all the seeds, discard the seeds. You should have approximately 3 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons. Set the 2 teaspoons of powder aside if making the stencil for the top.

In a mixing bowl, with a hand mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add and beat in the sugar and sour cream, then add the egg and vanilla and beat in. In a small bowl, stir together the cornstarch and 3 tablespoons strawberry powder. Add to the cream cheese mixture and beat until no streaks remain.

Remove a tin of the mini chocolate shells from the refrigerator and fill each chocolate shell with about 2 teaspoons of the cheesecake mixture. Bake the mini cheesecakes for about 10 minutes, or until set.

Set them aside to cool slightly before stenciling the tops. I used a plain white square of paper, drew on a little heart about ½-inch diameter, then cut the heart shape out. If the cheesecakes are too hot, the paper will stick to the top, so they should be slightly cooled before stenciling. Set the paper over top of a little cheesecake and use the fine mesh sieve to tap a bit of the remaining 2 teaspoons of strawberry powder over the heart cut out. Gently lift the paper, tapping excess powder back into the bowl before placing it onto the next cheesecake. Repeat for all the mini cheesecakes. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once I made these little gems, I was looking to make something savory and easy, so I made some Buffalo Chicken Rolls. This type of recipe is all over the place on the internet, but generally made with cream cheese only. I am one who loves blue cheese and so is my husband, so I added blue cheese crumbles to the mixture and these were absolutely delightful. My husband said they were at the high point of his heat tolerance level. To me, they were perfectly but lightly spiced. I used rotisserie chicken which made it very quick and easy.

Buffalo Chicken Rolls

Buffalo Chicken Rolls

Makes about 24 to 27 (plus ends left for the chef!)

1 cooked chicken breast, finely chopped (about 1½ cups)
4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
4 ounces Buffalo Wing Sauce (I used Sweet Baby Ray's)
½ cup blue cheese crumbles
¼ cup chopped scallions
3 (6-inch) flour tortillas

In a bowl, mix together well all ingredients except the tortillas. Divide the mixture evenly between the 3 tortillas, spreading the mixture to the edges. Roll the tortillas, without pressing too hard on the filling. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour and up to 2 days. Slice off ends that will not make a proper roll, then slice across into ½ inch slices to serve.
 


My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.