Bite Size Cheesecakes With Preserved Lemon And A Cornmeal Crust Food

BITE-SIZE NEW YORK STYLE CHEESECAKE

Steps:

• 1. Stir together crust ingredients.
• 2. Press into the bottom of mini muffin liners. You just want the crust to cover the bottom of the liner. You'll probably have some crust leftover. Bake crusts for 6 minutes @ 325 F. Allow crust to cool. (Turn up the oven for cakes to 350.)
• 3. Beat together cream cheese, sour cream, sugar, flour, and zest with an electric mixer until smooth. Add vanilla, then eggs, one at a time, beating on low speed until each ingredient is incorporated. Scrape bowl down between additions.
• 4. When the filling is very smooth, use a measuring cup with a pour spout to fill mini muffin liners.
• 5. Bake cheesecakes for 20 minutes @ 350 F. The tops will be puffed and slightly cracked when done.
• 6. Allow to cool in the pan for 5 minutes and then remove to wire rack to cool to room temperature. Chill until ready to serve (at least 2 hours).

BITE-SIZED CHEESECAKE CUPCAKES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line 12 muffin cups with foil cupcake liners.
• Place a vanilla wafer cookie into the bottom of each cupcake liner.
• Beat cream cheese, sugar, eggs, and vanilla extract together in a bowl until smooth; pour atop the cookies until the liners are about 3/4 full.
• Bake in preheated oven until center is nearly set and slightly collapsed, about 20 minutes.
• Refrigerate cupcakes 2 hours to overnight. Spoon cherry pie filling onto the cupcakes.

BITE-SIZE CHEESECAKES ON LEMON-PEPPER-CORNMEAL CRUSTS

Steps:

• To make the confit: Cut a slice off the top and bottom of each lemon to expose the flesh. Cutting from top to bottom and following the contours of the fruit, cut off the peel and white pith in 1-inch-wide strips. Scrape off any pulp adhering to the strips, but leave the pith intact. You should have several 1-inch wide strips of lemon peel and pith. Cut each 1 into long strips, about 1/4-inch by 3 inches each.
• Meanwhile, boil a kettleful of water. Pour about 2 cups of the boiling water into a small saucepan, bring back to a boil, add all the lemon rind, and boil 30 seconds. Drain in a strainer and rinse under cold running water. Repeat 2 times more, using fresh boiling water each time. Combine the sugar and 2 cups of water in the saucepan and bring to a boil. Add the blanched rind and reduce the heat to a simmer. Simmer until tender, about 1 hour.
• Drain in a strainer (reserve the sweet, lemony syrup for sweetening drinks, if you like). Arrange the strips on a wire rack, using your fingers to gently spread them out so that they do not touch each other. Let cool and store in an airtight container.
• To make the crust: Cream the butter until soft and smooth in a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add the sugar and continue creaming until light and fluffy. Mix in the egg and the vanilla. In a separate bowl, stir together the dry ingredients. Add the dry ingredients to the mixer and mix at low speed until almost blended. Turn the dough out onto a work surface and knead briefly, just until the dough comes together. Form into a disk and chill at least 2 hours or overnight.
• Flour a work surface. Roll out the dough 1/8-inch thick and prick all over with a fork. Use a cutter to cut out rounds of pastry that are slightly larger in diameter than your mini-muffin cups. Transfer the pastry rounds to a sheet pan and chill 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and bake until light golden brown, about 20 minutes. Let cool.
• Butter 2 mini-muffin tins and then lay a large piece of heavy duty plastic wrap over the tin. Push the plastic wrap down into each cup (this is to line it very well). Do not worry, the plastic wrap will not burn or melt in the oven. Heat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• To make the filling: Whip the cream cheese until light and fluffy in a mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Add the sugar and mix. Mix in the eggs and vanilla, then the flour and salt. Divide the filling among the lined cups, filling each one all the way up. Bake for 20 minutes. Let cool to room temperature, then chill.
• When ready to serve, cut the plastic wrap so you can remove each cup of cheesecake individually. Lift each one out of the cup and invert onto a cornmeal crust. Peel off the plastic wrap. When all the cakes have been assembled, top each one with a tiny mound of chopped lemon confit and serve.

LEMON CHEESECAKE WITH LEMON-ROSEMARY SHORTBREAD CRUST

Steps:

• For the crust: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Place an oven rack in the center position, without any racks above it.
• Place the cookies in a food processor; pulse to the texture of sand. Add the crushed cookies to a 10-inch springform pan and pour in the melted butter. Using your hands, mix together the cookie crumbs and butter until they are completely combined and hold together when pinched. Firmly press the cookie crust into the bottom of the pan. Press down on the crust with the bottom of a cup to ensure it is tightly packed.
• Bake the crust for 12 to 14 minutes, or until golden brown all over. Remove from oven and let cool. When the pan is cool enough to handle, wrap it in foil three-quarters of the way up the sides of the pan--this will prevent any water from getting into the cheesecake while it is baked in a water bath.
• For the cheesecake: In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add the cream cheese, granulated sugar, sour cream, eggs, lemon juice, lemon zest, vanilla extract and salt. Slowly turn the mixer up to medium-high speed; continue to mix for 2 minutes, until the ingredients are completely combined and smooth.
• Set aside 1/4 cup of the lemon curd and reserve it for the topping. With a rubber spatula, fold the remaining lemon curd into the cheesecake mixture. Pour the mixture over the cooled crust and spread it evenly, making sure to flatten the top. Gently tap the pan a few times on a flat surface to even out the mixture.
• Use the reserved lemon curd to make a fun design in the top of the cheesecake. For instance, you can dollop 15 small dots, about a heaping 1/2 teaspoon each, around the border of the cake and then 6 small dots towards the center of the cake and 1 dot directly in the center. Drag a skewer around the center of the first ring of dots to pull the lemon curd into a teardrop shape. Repeat with the interior circle of lemon curd drops.
• Place the foil-lined springform pan in a large roasting pan. Fill the roasting pan with hot water until it reaches about 1 inch up the sides of the pan. Bake the cheesecake for 55 to 60 minutes, until the edges are set but the center still has a pudding-like jiggle. Remove from the oven and let sit 10 minutes before removing the pan from the water bath. Let the cheesecake sit another 30 minutes. While the cheesecake is still warm, run a paring knife around the inside edge of the pan and then release the sides of the pan. (If you do this after the cheesecake has cooled completely, the cake may tear slightly.) Let the cheesecake cool completely before slicing and serving. Refrigerate any cheesecake not being served immediately.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 13-by-9-inch baking pan with foil, leaving a 2-inch overhang on two sides. Lightly grease the foil and sides of the pan with butter.
• In a food processor, pulse the sugar with the lemon zest and rosemary until well combined. Remove 2 tablespoons of the sugar mixture and reserve.
• Add the butter, vanilla and salt to the food processor with the sugar and pulse until combined. Add the flour, about 1 cup at a time, pulsing to combine after each addition. After the last addition, you may have to stir and scrape down the sides of the food processor to help incorporate all of the flour. Continue to pulse until the dough comes together.
• Turn the dough out into the prepared baking pan and press it in evenly. Poke the dough all over with a fork and sprinkle it with the reserved sugar.
• Use a knife to cut the dough into approximately 3-by-1-inch rectangles (or whichever shape you prefer). Bake until golden brown at the edges and golden in the center, about 25 minutes. As soon as the cookies come out of the oven, use a bench scraper or knife to re-cut the lines of the cookies. Cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then carefully remove the cookies with the foil and cool completely on a rack.