Sunday, June 7, 2015

No Bake Cheesecake Cups

I have to admit it. 
I didn't want to go to town to the grocery store.
I know, shocking much?
Especially since I love going to the store, even when the nearest store is 7 miles away. sigh
No Bake Cheesecake Cups

Actually I wanted to go to the next big city, which actually has two grocery stores, but it's 30 miles away and while I do need to shop, I'm feeling lazy.

But enough about me.

It was NPA last night and it was also a birthday night as well.  And I knew that one of the birthday people was a major chocoholic.

But since my A/C is still not functioning, I'm not baking what I wanted to make.  
However...
I had these Chocolate Cups in the pantry and I seem to remember from my distant past, well not that distant, but still...
When I used to live elsewhere we would make a 'mock' cheesecake up and it was good.   Maybe it didn't have the same mouth-feel as a baked cheesecake, but it was still a pretty darn good dessert.

So I decided to recreate it.   Or at least make some.
How badly can you screw up cream cheese?

This turned out to be a three spatula, two spoon recipe as well, sigh.
I guess you're wondering why this was a three spatula, two spoon recipe?

Let me tell you a story.  It's short, but sweet.
I had to scrape down the sides of the bowl as the cheese and milk were mixing.  Well, I licked that spatula, I had to make sure it tasted good.  So the next time I scraped the bowl, I had to get a fresh spatula.   And I could not help myself, I licked that one too.   By this time I was running out of clean spatulas.  So, I restrained myself from licking the third spatula when I scraped the bowl sides.  I just took a spoon out of the drawer and tasted.  Then I did it again, with a fresh spoon.   By the time it was finished I still had the third spatula,  un-licked, until I scraped all the filling into a piping bag, then I licked it, after spreading a little of the filling on to a graham cracker.
I called it all lunch.
And that's why this was a three spatula, two spoon recipe.

Recipe:

2  8 oz. packages of Cream Cheese, softened  ( I use the full fat cream cheese)
1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 teaspoon Lemon Extract (I used my own Home Made Lemon Extract)
1 teaspoon True Lemon crystallized lemon

Whip all together, scrape down the sides a couple of times to make sure the cream cheese is all incorporated.



 (That's spatula number one there, I scraped the bowl and then had to taste the filling.
And it was good, but the spatula ended up in the sink to be washed.)







and then either pour into a Graham Cracker Crust or do as I did,

No Bake Cheesecake Cups
fill up some Chocolate Dessert Cups and place into the fridge for a few hours to set up.







I was going to serve these with some Chocolate Caramel sauce, but the sauce became an offering to the Kitchen Goddess.   In other words, my great idea didn't work.
No Bake Cheesecake Cups

No Bake Cheesecake Cups
But I did have a can of Cherry Pie filling in the cupboard so I just brought some cherries to the party and let everyone place a cherry or two on top.


 Just a few of the offerings, we do have fun here.

Santa even made an appearance.  No pineapple this time though. 








**** I also wanted to pass on a tip or two here as well.   I use Wilton piping bags, and since I'm not as coordinated as I could be, I place the bag in a tall glass, or in this case the bottom of martini shaker,
and proceed to fill the bag.    If I'm having a day where I'm especially coordinated, I can do the pastry chef deal and hold it in one hand while I fill it up with the other, but that does not happen often. 
And I also found a really great 'cheat' for the lemon juice in my recipe.   It's called True Lemon and is basically crystallized lemon juice.   I use it in my ice tea and am playing with it for seasoning in dishes in place of salt.


Sidsel Munkholm - Author
Sidsel Munkholm - Author

Sid loves to cook, feed people and have fun in the kitchen. She shares her successes and the involuntary offerings she sometimes gives the kitchen goddess as well. And she's still looking for the mythical fairy to help her clean the kitchen after a marathon cooking session. Currently working on a cookbook showcasing the recipes from her Danish heritage.

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