Mocha Cheesecakes

Mocha Cheesecakes

Cheesecake: my eternal go-to for a quick, elegant cupcake. So easy! and everyone likes them so much! That said, I did get some complaints about the strength of the coffee flavor. If you are not a coffee fan, or prefer it to be a bit milder, you may want to adjust the amount of coffee you put in the recipe.

Crust:

1 1/2 cup chocolate graham crackers, finely ground (about 1 sleeve)

3 tbsp sugar

6 tbsp butter, melted

Preheat oven to 325 F.

Mix together all the ingredients until slightly moist. Press a thin layer into the bottom of your prepared cupcake liners.

Bake for 5 minutes.

Sour Cream Mixture:

1 1/2 cup sour cream

2 tsp coffee powder

3 tbsp sugar

Mix together until the coffee powder has dissolved fully into the mixture.

Set aside.

Cheesecakes:

3 tsp instant coffee/espresso powder

1 lb cream cheese (2 8-oz packages)

3/4 cup sugar

3 eggs

3/4 cup sour cream

2 tbsp flour

4 oz unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled

Leave oven at 325 F.

Mix the coffee powder with 2 tsp of warm water and set aside.

Beat cream cheese and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs, one a a time. Add sour cream and flour, and mix until well-combined. Add the espresso mixture and the chocolate.

Fill the cupcake tins about 2/3 full. 

Bake for ten minutes, then remove and top with sour cream mixture. 

Bake another 10 minutes. When the cupcakes are done, turn off the oven and let them stand in it for another 25 minutes.

Remove cupcakes from the oven and sprinkle with cocoa powder.

Garnish as desired. Makes 30.

Adapted for cupcakes from rightathome.com

Bonus: This weekend I made fifty mint-chocolate whoopie pies for a library fundraiser!

Apricot-Glazed Black and White Cheesecakes

Apricot-Glazed Black and White Cheesecakes

If you're ever in need of a cupcake recipe that's quick and basically as easy as falling off a log, cheesecake is the way to go. It has approximately five ingredients, and it seriously takes very little effort, and everyone always acts so amazed that you did it. Great ego boost for no sweat.

Crust:

1 cup crushed chocolate cookies (she recommends Nabisco's, but my grocery didn't have any, so I wound up using chocolate graham. I've seen someone else say that oreos work if you scrape out the filling)

1/4 cup sugar

4 tbsp melted butter

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Mix the sugar and the crushed cookies -- they can be more or less fine depending on how you like the texture -- then stir in the melted butter. Press about 1 tbsp into the bottom of each cupcake liner. You can also vary the thickness depending on how much crust you like in your cheesecake.

Bake about 7 minutes. Let cool.

Cupcakes:

1 lb (2 8 oz boxes) cream cheese

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1/c cup sour cream

Reduce the oven temp to 275 F.

Beat cream cheese until smooth. Add the sugar, then the vanilla. Drizzle the eggs in a little at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl to make sure they're well mixed in. Add sour cream and mix well.

Fill cups almost full, then bake 10 minutes, turn, bake 10 minutes. The sides will be set but the middles will be a little wobbly, which tricks you into thinking you haven't baked them long enough. BUT YOU HAVE.

Makes 24.

To finish:

2/3 cup apricot jam

When the cupcakes are cool -- you can refrigerate them overnight for best results -- top them by warming the jam in a saucepan or the microwave until it's kind of liquidy. The recipe recommends straining it, but if you prefer a little pulp, don't bother. Spoon around 2 tsp onto the top of each cheesecake.

I used a homemade jam that my mother canned, and didn't strain it (I'm lazy); it looked pretty and tasted even better. If you don't like apricot jam, substitute one that you do like -- the cheesecake has no real flavor in and of itself, so you can modify the topping however you want. A cherry jam with big chunks in it sounds pretty super.

Or, if you're not a fruit person, you can always use fudge sauce or caramel. Cheesecake is great because it's so versatile!

Now if only I actually liked it. :(

Adapted from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes.

Raspberry Marble Cheesecakes with Graham Cracker Crust

Raspberry Marble Cheesecakes with Graham Cracker Crust

Crust:

1 1/2 cups fine ground graham crackers (if they come in one of those boxes with the three packets of about six crackers each? One packet is about right.)

3 tbsp melted butter

3 tbsp sugar

Preheat oven to 325 F.

Mix together the graham crackers, butter, and sugar. Press one tablespoon into the bottom of each of your cupcake liners. Bake for 5 minutes.

Raspberry:

6 oz fresh raspberries

2 tbsp sugar

Puree the raspberries in a food processor until smooth. Pass the puree through a fine sieve to strain out all the seeds; discard seeds. Mix the sugar into the raspberry puree.

Cupcakes:

2 lb cream cheese

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 tsp vanilla

4 eggs

Beat the cream cheese until it's fluffy. I did not beat mine sufficiently, and there ended up being lumps in the finished batter. Don't be me!

Slowly pour in the sugar and continue to beat. Add vanilla.

Add eggs one at a time, beating until combined.

Spoon 1/4 cup of batter over each little crust. You can add more if you prefer a thicker cheesecake; it didn't affect the baking time for me. Put a small spoonful of raspberry over the batter, then swirl it into the batter with a toothpick or skewer. The picture to the right shows the process for this.

The recipe then asks you to take your tin and put it in a roasting pan, half filled with water, and bake like that. I wasn't sure why, so I did one batch as, and one just plain. The main difference that I saw was that the ones baked in water stayed puffier after they'd been taken out of the oven and didn't sink in the middles, but honestly it wasn't hugely significant? I'm not sure if it made a difference in overall moistness or something, but my conclusion was that you can if you want, but it's not vital.

Anyway, bake your cupcakes for 15 minutes, turn, and bake another 15 minutes (turning ensures wonderfully even baking). Remove from tins and place on wire racks to cool. Refrigerate after you're finished; cheesecake goes bad fast.

A final note: this recipe is a liar. It claimed to make 32 cupcakes; the actual result was around 45, and I ended up having to make another batch of crust. I would highly suggest halving the recipe so these suckers don't get gross before you can eat them all.

Adapted from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes.