For the love of cheesecake

We are big cheesecake lovers in our house...Every celebration is a great excuse to make a cheesecake. My husband loves all different variation of it, from original to chocolate to any other imaginable combination...that being said, we always end up with leftovers and most of the time we end up throwing it away or worse...I end up having a desert everyday for couple of weeks. Neither one of these options is great, so I decided to take matters in my own hands and find a way to still satisfy the cravings for cheesecake but not having tons of leftovers.

Few months ago, Williams-Sonoma had their semi-annual sale, and of course I went a little crazy. One thing that I was very excited to find was mini cheesecake pans. I thought if I can make a bite size pieces of cheesecake, I can freeze them, so we can have it whenever we feel like it. The pan by the way is a BRILLIANT invention! You can use it not only for cheesecakes, but tea cakes, even individual potato gratins.

So, after months of anticipation I decided to take a plunge and make a batch of those tasty little morsels. I've made an original recipe cheesecake but dressed it up by covering one is chocolate ganache, another by adding some strawberries and adding sugar topping to the next, my take on creme brulee cheesecake. The recipe is very simple and easy to prepare, they also bake very fast because of their size.

For the crust:

1 cup of cookie crumbs
2 TBSP of sugar
Pinch of salt
2 TBSP of butter, melted

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix till combined. Divided the crust mixture among the 12 cups and press it to the bottom of the mold. Bake @ 300'F for 10 minutes.

For the filling:

16 oz of cream cheese soften
2 Eggs
1/2 cup of heavy cream
1/2 of sugar
Pinch of salt
1 tsp of vanilla extract

In the bowl of electric mixer, beat together cream cheese and sugar and cream until smooth, add eggs one at the time, followed by heavy cream and salt and vanilla. Pour the batter into the crust, dividing it evenly among the cups. Bake until the cheesecakes are just set, about 20 minutes. Let it cool completely before un-molding and then cool in a fridge for 2 hours more.

Coconut Fudge Cheesecake

Crust
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
3/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted
1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut, toasted
7 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup (packed) golden brown sugar

Filling
4 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup canned cream of coconut (such as Coco López)*
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut, toasted
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
4 large eggs

Topping
5 tablespoons whipping cream
5 tablespoons light corn syrup
8 ounces semisweet chocolate chips (about 1 1/3 cups)
3/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted
1/4 cup sweetened shredded coconut, toasted

Preheat oven to 350°F. Wrap foil around outside of 9-inch-diameter springform pan with 2 3/4-inch-high sides. Blend all ingredients in processor until nuts are finely ground and crumbs stick together. Press crust mixture over bottom and 2 inches up sides of prepared pan. Bake until set, about 10 minutes. Cool. Maintain oven temperature.

For filling:

Using electric mixer, beat cream cheese, sugar and extract in large bowl to blend. Beat in cream of coconut, shredded coconut and flour. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating until just combined. Pour filling into crust. Bake until top is brown and center is almost set, about 1 hour 15 minutes. Transfer to rack and cool. Cover and chill overnight.

For topping:

Bring cream and syrup to simmer in medium saucepan. Remove from heat. Add chocolate chips; whisk until smooth. Cool to just lukewarm. Pour topping over cake. Sprinkle edge with almonds and coconut. Chill until topping is set, about 2 hours. (Can be made 2 days ahead; cover and refrigerate.)