Mini Pink Lemonade Cheesecakes - What fun!

I just settled in at a little table at Kip's Irish Pub in St. Louis Park. I'm at a Marriott for the evening because I am attending the Northland Belly Dance Forum all day tomorrow and didn't want to drive here in the wee hours of the morning. The morning starts with yoga at 7:30 and is followed by five workshops where I will be learning all sorts of stuff, even learning about dancing with a sword. I expect watching me in that workshop will be very entertaining because I have no clue of how to dance with a sword on my head, my hip or anywhere else. After the workshops, which finish at 5:00, I'll be going to a belly dance show that my instructor, Kate, is dancing in. It will be a full day but because I promised to ride my bike every day (see my previous entries and the 30 Days of Biking website), I packed my hybrid bike in my van and plan to ride around the parking lot or something tomorrow. Gotta do it - because I said I would.

Although belly dancing and biking are very fun to write about what I really want to write about tonight is cheesecake. Mini pink lemonade cheesecakes to be more specific. Why? Because I like cheesecake (I've probably made 30 or more in the last year) and because I purchased four cute little mini-cheesecake pans when I was on my trip to Seattle and I just had a chance to try them out.

One of my favorite finds on my Seattle trip was a great kitchenware store called Sur La Table. I love kitchen stores and especially have fun looking at pans and stuff in the baking section. I've been looking for mini-cheesecake pans for awhile and found 4.5 inch pans on the shelves at Sur La Table so I bought four and finally had a chance to use them last week.

I decided to make pink lemonade cheesecake for Easter so pulled out my cheesecake recipe book and got to work. Question is, how long to bake cheesecakes in mini pans? Awhile back I asked my chef friend, Karl Wilder of Fusion on the Fly this very question. His reply was to reduce the baking time by a quarter of the total time. This particular recipe recommends baking in a 9"pan for 15 minutes at 350 degrees followed by 2 hours at 200 degrees then 2 more hours in the oven with the oven turned off.

I mixed up my batter, pressed the crust into the pans and gave it a try. I had enough batter for eight pans but only had four so I filled the four and stuck the rest of the batter in the fridge for later. I did my 350 degree bake for 6 minutes followed by the 200 degree bake for 30. Checked the cheesecakes and decided five more minutes would be fine. So, total time of 35 minutes with 30 or so minutes more with the oven off. After they cooled I found they came out of the pan easily. These pans are way nicer than my 9" pan - I can't wait to get more of them and maybe even replace my 9" pan with another from Sur La Table (I discovered they have a store in nearby Edina, Minnesota - yay! - I will be going there soon). After plating the cheesecakes, I put on some topping made from sour cream and white chocolate and presented them after Easter dinner.
Part of the bakeware section of Sur La Table in Pike Place Market, Seattle.

The result? Perfect little cheesecakes that not only looked lovely but tasted delicious. I have since baked the rest of the batter and have shared these pink lemonade cheesecakes with a few friends, including writer friends Joy Riggs and Christine Lienke. Joy said this is her favorite cheesecake of mine so far (she's tried four or five of my cheesecakes, I think, so that's saying something). This cute little size cheesecake is so fun - they are easy to freeze and easy to share. In fact, I stopped one off just this afternoon to my friend, Ann, and have another one waiting in the freezer to share with Joy's son, Sebastian.
One of the mini pink lemonade cheesecake that I served for Easter.

I can't wait to make more. Next recipe that I'm going to try in my mini-cheesecake pans? Probably Margarita!


Comments

Joy Riggs said…
You could go into business making those cheesecakes, Myrna. The pink lemonade one is amazing. I don't know if the margarita one will top it, but I'm willing to be a taste tester anytime. Sebastian is, too.
April 17, 2010 at 8:46 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Change in Plans

Image
My kids, Rose and Ryan, started a theater day camp today called Young People's Theater Workshop (YPTW). YPTW is a program put on through the Northfield Arts Guild  during which the kids, grouped by age, write a play, rehearse it, and then perform it at the end of the three week session. Rose loves the camp and this is her fourth year. In her first year I saw a huge change in her confidence from the beginning of the session to the end. She has grown each year since and I expect she will benefit from the camp again this year. Ryan has never been in YPTW and has been somewhat reluctant to go. But, to save on gas (it's a 30 mile round trip to town), make our schedule easier and give me time to work, Owen and I decided that Ryan should give YPTW a try. Given how good the program has been for Rose, we're hoping Ryan will benefit from the program as well. I dropped the kids off this morning and right off the bat Ryan found two friends from his class at Greenvale. He found...
Read more

Making tracks

Image
I just looked out my office window and saw my snowshoe tracks in the snow. For some reason they surprised me. Seeing them I had concrete evidence that I actually have been getting out on my snowshoes every day. That I've actually been going somewhere. And, for some reason, I find this comforting. I've been fighting my 30 Days of Snowshoeing commitment and am kind of mad at myself for creating the challenge for myself. I haven't wanted to get out every day and snowshoe. It's cold outside. I don't like putting on my snowpants, my hat, scarf, gloves, jacket. Perhaps because I'm doing the challenge alone, unlike the 30 Days of Biking challenges where hundreds of other people biked every day and helped motivate each other, I don't really feel like it matters that I'm doing this. And I've lost momentum and motivation and simply want to sit inside and read a book. Or sleep. Or watch Monk and Cake Boss on Netflix. But I keep snowshoeing. Every day. Ev...
Read more

A Little Bike Schooling on the B Ride

I'll be honest with you, my two main motivations for riding my bike any distance are coffee and conversation. A good workout is also a motivator but going really fast is not. I'm more of a slow and steady - okay, really slow and not that steady - sort of bicyclist. But for months now I've wanted to join in on a group ride. From what I've heard people ride their bikes, chat away the miles and stop somewhere for a cup of coffee mid-way or at the end of the ride. Sounds like my kind of ride. Right? Maybe not. Most of the group rides I've heard about promise average speeds of 18 to 20 miles per hour or more and go 40 or more miles. Some sound brutal and talk about hill climbs and sprints. Granted, these are the "A" rides, rides geared towards competitive riders, riders who want to push their limits. "B" rides are supposed to be slower, "C" rides even more so but I've seen some C rides that sound too fast for me, some B rides with leng...
Read more