Friday 6 May 2016

Mini Coffee Cheesecake


Do you know what stresses me up when I make cheesecake? It's not the fear of the cake cracking or water seeping into the pan.



It's the slicing of the cake. To get neat cuts, I need to heat up the knife. I do that by submerging my knife in a jug of hot water. Then I have to wipe the knife after every cut. Dip, wipe, cut, dip, wipe, cut. Arrrghh....


Not only that, I can't get equal sizes. Some slices are bigger (OK, deliberate when I slice my portion) and some smaller. The solution? Bake them in individual servings as in mini cheesecakes. 


So I dug out my muffin pans and lined them with cupcake liners, double layers for extra strength since cheesecakes are dense and heavy unlike cupcakes.

Then came the next headache. How much cream cheese should I use? 250g or 500g? 250g may not be enough and 500g may be too much. Arrrghh....

I referred to Joy Baking's Individual Cheesecake recipe and 454g of cream cheese was used. So OK, I used 500g. And it turned out that I had excess cheesecake filling. Arrrghh....


So I ended up with another cheesecake, a full sized one. Which means slicing. Arrrghh.....


These mini cheesecakes took only 25 minutes to bake and did not require the use of a waterbath. There were air bubbles in my batter (though I tapped my pan a few time before baking) which resulted in pockmarks on some of the cakes.

Since I had some extra ganache from another cake, I used it to decorate the mini cakes. But I did a sloppy job as you can see. Had I piped the topping, it would have come out a lot nicer. But I was running out of time. I had 3 cakes going (one unplanned) and I was like arrrghh......


I had to get dinner going and I wanted to watch CSI. Arrghh... So I cooked a quick one, this..

Roasted chicken drumsticks and potatoes.

...and I was all good. And now, my problem is how to share the recipe? How much cream cheese should I tell you to use? Arrghh....

Never mind, I will just make calibrations in my head and reduce the biscuit base that I used (180g which is too much) so as to accommodate more cheesecake filling. Hopefully it works out.









Mini Coffee Cheesecake
Recipe source : Phong Hong
Makes only 12, hopefully

Ingredients :
For base :
- 120g chocolate biscuits, finely crushed
- 50g butter, melted

For filling :
- 500g cream cheese, at room temperature
- 120g caster sugar
- 2 eggs
- 200ml whipping cream
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon plain flour
- 2 sachets Nescafe 3-in-1
- 1 tbsp rum (I forgot to put, but I think this will rock)

Method :
1. Line a 12 hole muffin pan with paper liners (if the liner is thin, recommended to use double layer)
2. Mix the finely crushed biscuits with the melted butter until well combined.
3. Distribute the crushed biscuits evenly between the 12 liners. Use your finger to press the biscuits onto the base of the liners. Set aside.
4. Beat cream cheese and sugar until well combined.
5. Add the Nescafe 3-in-1 and vanilla and beat till combined.
6. Add egg, one at a time and beat until well combined.
7. Add whipping cream, rum and lastly the plain flour. Mix everything to combine.
8. Distribute the cheesecake filling evenly among the liners.
9. Bake at 140C for about 25 minutes or until the filling is no longer jiggly.
10. Remove from oven and cool on cooling rack.
11. Once cool enough to handle, remove from the pan and cool further.
12. Once completely cooled, chill before serving.

30 comments:

  1. Yeah, I "sokong" them baked in cupcake liners as they're so much easier to eat. I once used these liners and put them on a tray (without the muffin pan)...well, you know what that looked like when they're out from the oven! >_< That's why I'm not a baker...haha! :D I noticed that when I use these cupcake liners, you can see oil stains on the liners. Is it like that or there's something wrong with my cake batter?

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    Replies
    1. Oh dear! hah..hah... You do need to put the liners in muffin pans unless if you can get those sturdy type of liners. Yes, oil stains is normal :)

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  2. Walau Eh! I am more impressed with your photography skills playing with blurry fern leaves to tease my eyes! That adds bonus points to make your cheesecake looking delicious and calling me to EAT!!

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    Replies
    1. hee..hee..thank you! My photography needs improvement.

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  3. I know what will happen in the coming few days...

    "Remember I made a mess and not able to tell you the exact grams of cream cheese to use? I decided to rectify that by baking another..."

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    Replies
    1. Eh, you psychic or what? hee..hee..hee...

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  4. Love the shape and the size, very pretty. Baked? I think I'd like that - not a fan of those chill-to-set cheesecakes. We had roasted chicken drumsticks for dinner last night too, missus cooked...I just ate. Hehehehehe!!!!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you! Yes, baked is better. I also do not like those chilled to set ones. How lucky of you, just eat only hee..hee...

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  5. Hi Phong Hong, lovely and cute cheesecake. Look delightful. Great to go with coffee. Cutting cheesecake very lecheh...every cut need to dip the knife in warm water and wipe dry. Then to get even pieces need some skill to do it too.

    Thank for sharing this wonderful recipe.
    Have a nice day, regards.
    Amelia

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, Amelia! I need more practice which means baking more which leads to eating more >.<

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  6. Hi Phong Hong, smart lady, you are queen of cheesecake making. I love baking cakes in cupcakes. Easy for giveaways and serving.

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    1. Thank you, Kimmy! You are right, baking as cupcakes saves a lot of headache.

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  7. Cheesecake is one of my favourite cake, hehe...

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  8. Oh I love cheesecake in little cute cupcakes. So pretty and convenient.

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    Replies
    1. Me too prefer baking cheesecakes like this in future. No more stress!

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  9. Great decision to bake the cheesecake as mini muffins/cupcakes as it is very convenient for me to pop into my mouth. Unfortunately I don't have any to pop. :( Looks delicious! Can't wait to read about your other 2 cakes.

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    Replies
    1. Hinting? hee..hee.... The 3rd cake did not turn out well, so I am undecided to post or not.

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  10. Hi Phong Hong,
    I like cheesecake cupcakes, no need to slice a big cake and easy to handle. Yours so pretty looking !

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, Karen! Yeah, now I prefer to make them into cupcake cheesecakes.

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  11. Phong Hong, your coffee cheesecakes are so lovely. I never bake any cheesecake because my two girls don't know how to appreciate cheesecake. I afraid I may end up eating all the cheesecakes myself.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, Yannie! In that case better to buy one slice when you crave for cheesecake :)

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  12. Hi Phong Hong,
    I can see that you really love cheesecakes! Your coffee cheesecakes looks very tempting and a very clever idea to bake them in mini sizes! Yup, cutting cheesecakes can be very messy indeed! The baked chicken looks yummy!

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    Replies
    1. Hi Joyce! Yup, I love cheesecakes. Perhaps a bit too much hee..hee...

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  13. Huh?coffee cheesecake ?? That's a great combination for me !

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If you love coffee, then of course it's perfect!

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